LibriVox Forum

Hello gnasher san,

gnasher729 wrote:then download with extended=1 20 books at a time, keeping track which are missing, and downloading the rest, which is about 1,700. A simpler method would be downloading two at a time, which will will either return both books, or only the second one.

I'm now thinking which value is most efficient.
You mentioned 2 and 20.
I'm thinking about 5, 10, 15, 30 etc.
Another solution is to use variant offset. This is possible because I already know the number of sections for each project. Only the number for projects in progress will change.

Anyway I'm going to update my synchronizing scripts.

Cheers,
Masa

Hi All,

I have a query regarding rate limit on hitting librivox API.
Is there any restriction or any limit which says that we can hit librivox API for these many times per seconds ??
I tried searching in the discussion forum but couldn't find any thing on that.
If at all any such limits/restrictions are there please respond.

Regards
Yogesh

At the moment no because people are sensible and we haven't needed it.
But should your use of API interfere with our prime directive - which is making audio versions of all public domain books then the API will be restricted.

Anne

Hi,
which API to use to get cover image for all the books ??
or is there any API which gives for individual book by passing ID ??

Regards
Yogesh

Some options:
- fetch the html page and extract the info
- extract the archive.org URL, add '?output=json' and fetch in the usual way; see misc/image, e.g. https://archive.org/details/extraordinary_twins_1002_librivox?output=json

As an aside: I didn't get a forum notification for your question so perhaps others didn't see it either. Maybe there are options I'm forgetting or never discovered.

Thanks Scott for the reply. I am not sure why there is no notification for this post .
anyways i am posting my query again hope this time there should be a notification and expect more replies ..!!

I can try by accessing below URL and get it cover image through misc/image, e.g.
https://archive.org/details/extraordinary_twins_1002_librivox?output=json

but is there any other way to do it ??
like - by passing book id and required field as "station_art" ???
any help would be appreciated...!!!!

Regards
Yogesh

Hey

Im looking into the API, and hoping for some improvements (using $like searches). Is this in any way possible?

Kind regards Jesper

jesper247 wrote:Im looking into the API, and hoping for some improvements (using $like searches). Is this in any way possible?

I'm not affiliated with LibriVox, but if you read through the thread, you'll see that the answer is basically "sorry, we don't have the resources to make any changes".

It's possible to reconstruct the catalog and then create your own search engine; several people seem to have done that to a greater or lesser degree.

Scott

Do any of you techy people on this thread know how to work with iTunes and their Podcast Ap, ask them if they would include the Section Number along with the titles (of books they display that are downloaded from Librivox). All they display is what's in the TITLE FIELD in the MW. And when you've downloaded a 45 chapter book, and every section ends with "End of Section 12" and yet no numbers appear in your iPhone display to show you where 13 is, it gets really hard to figure out where you are, how many chapters left to go, etc. I'd be really interested in helping resolve this problem, as iTunes is the largest podcast platform in the world at the moment. I simply don't know how to proceed except to always include the Chapter Number in the Title field.

(An aside: perhaps a new thread is better since Podcast app workarounds aren't related to the API.)

I've had lots of problems with the Podcast app for audiobooks, and am not sure how to influence Apple to fix them. If one optimistically assumes that someone at Apple will eventually notice, then the best thing to do is document the issues in a way that's simple for a developer to understand, with step-by-step notes and screenshots of what's wrong, and perhaps a simple mockup of suggested fixes.

In this case, a developer might download a bunch of LibriVox books and not see a problem -- since many books include the chp number in the chp title. So, here's one example from my recent playlist that lacks numbers:
8528 https://librivox.org/the-borough-treasurer-by-j-s-fletcher/
(read wonderfully by MaryAnn)

But, it's not clear whether automatic section numbers are useful for podcasts, so this feature may not be an easy sell to Apple. (Or, if I'm wrong and it's equally good for podcasts, a 'pitch' to Apple should perhaps include some examples there too.)

Podcasts and books often have different needs. My own alternative: release an app aimed at audiobooks. The first version is done (free and with no ads); just waiting for the app store review process... Meanwhile there are several other apps (some free; some paid) that are book-centric rather than podcast-centric.

Not in any way saying that it wouldn't be nice if the iTunes podcast worked with our files, but based on the number of cries for help I get via the help line either people don't use it or it works for them . I think I might have had one, about downloading . Most people who listen on phones seem to use one of the many apps available and the complaints are usually because they think we make and run the apps and are charging for the non LV content the apps provide.
I use the m4b format on a baby ipod to listen and would never go back to the mp3 player . I love being able to have bookmarks in a number of books at the same time so I never have to find my place. I don't have anything I could use an app on.

Anne

Hi!

I have a question concerning searching by title using the API. I know I can use the "^" sign for searching any titles that start with the word behind it (like, if I want to find "Canterville Ghost" by Oscar Wilde, I use https://librivox.org/api/feed/audiobooks/?title=^canterville ). But what if I want to find that title, but only with the word "Ghost"? Is there any way for me to do something like "_Ghost", so that the API will find the book? It seems strange to me that it can search by the first word, but not the last or any other...

Thank you for any help and sorry for my bad english, not my first language

Peter

I don't know if there's a solution. LibriVox doesn't have a budget for updating the API so many of us just maintain our own version of the catalog and search that.

ScottLawton wrote:I don't know if there's a solution. LibriVox doesn't have a budget for updating the API so many of us just maintain our own version of the catalog and search that.

I visited IA the other day and saw they had completed their fund drive -- raising $2 million dollars in just a few months. Wikipedia had one recently also as I recall. Made me wonder, why can't LV do a fund drive? And how much money does our "donation" button bring in?

We have had fund-raising drives in the past, Michele. The last was in 2013 but it did not reach its target of $50,000, and still has not done so. Donations continue to trickle in via the Donate button. I am currently awaiting the latest update from Internet Archive on our credit balance.
Ruth