Open Library Book Finder Scraper

Extract comprehensive book data from Open Library with ease. Collect book details including titles, authors, ISBNs, publishers, and ratings at scale. Perfect for building book databases, market research, and academic analysis.

Features

• Flexible Search — Find books by general query, author name, or subject category.
• Rich Metadata — Extract detailed information including publish years, page counts, and publishers.
• Image Collection — Capture high-quality book cover URLs for visual displays.
• Global Reach — Filter results by language to find books in specific regions.
• Advanced Sorting — Order results by relevance, rating, or publication date.

Use Cases

Academic Research

Gather extensive datasets for bibliographic analysis or literary studies. Track publication trends across different subjects and time periods.

E-commerce & Bookstores

Enrich your own book catalogs with high-quality metadata and cover images from one of the world's largest open book databases.

Personal Library Management

Build a searchable database of your own collection or wishlists by searching for specific authors or topics.

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Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
query	String	No	—	General search term to find books
author	String	No	—	Search for books by author name
subject	String	No	—	Search books by subject or category
results_wanted	Integer	No	20	Maximum results to collect
sort	String	No	"relevance"	Sort order (relevance, new, old, random, rating)
language	String	No	—	Filter by language code (e.g., 'eng', 'spa')
proxyConfiguration	Object	No	—	Proxy settings for reliable scraping

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Output Data

Each item in the dataset contains:

Field	Type	Description
key	String	Unique Open Library identifier
title	String	Main title of the book
subtitle	String	Subtitle if available
author_name	Array	List of authors
first_publish_year	Number	Year of first publication
number_of_pages_median	Number	Median page count across editions
publisher	Array	List of major publishers
isbn	Array	List of ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 codes
language	Array	Languages the book is available in
subject	Array	Subject categories
ratings_average	Number	Average user rating
url	String	Direct link to the book page
cover_url	String	URL to the high-resolution cover image

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Usage Examples

Basic Search

Find books about a specific topic:

{
    "query": "artificial intelligence",
    "results_wanted": 20
}

Search by Author

Find all books by a specific writer:

{
    "author": "Stephen King",
    "sort": "rating",
    "results_wanted": 50
}

Advanced Filtering

Search for Spanish science fiction books:

{
    "subject": "science fiction",
    "language": "spa",
    "results_wanted": 100
}

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Sample Output

{
    "key": "/works/OL1952010W",
    "title": "Clean Code",
    "subtitle": "A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship",
    "author_name": ["Robert C. Martin"],
    "first_publish_year": 2008,
    "number_of_pages_median": 431,
    "publisher": ["Prentice Hall"],
    "isbn": ["9780132350884", "0132350882"],
    "language": ["eng"],
    "subject": ["Computer programming", "Software engineering"],
    "ratings_average": 4.5,
    "url": "https://openlibrary.org/works/OL1952010W",
    "cover_url": "https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/8230554-L.jpg"
}

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Tips for Best Results

Optimize Your Query

• Use specific keywords for more accurate results.
• If searching for an author, use the dedicated author field rather than just the general query.

Start Small for Testing

• Use the default results_wanted of 20 to verify your search criteria.
• Increase the limit once you are satisfied with the results.

Use Proxies for Scale

• When extracting hundreds of books, enable Apify Proxy to avoid rate limiting.

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Integrations

Connect your data with:

• Google Sheets — Export for analysis
• Airtable — Build searchable databases
• Slack — Get notifications
• Webhooks — Send to custom endpoints
• Make / Zapier — Trigger automated workflows

Export Formats

• JSON — For developers and APIs
• CSV — For spreadsheet analysis
• Excel — For business reporting
• XML — For system integrations

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is the data up to date?

The scraper pulls data directly from Open Library's live database, ensuring you get the most current information available.

Can I extract all ISBNs for a book?

Yes, the actor collects available ISBNs, though it limits the list to the most relevant ones to keep the dataset clean.

What if a book has no cover?

The cover_url field will be omitted or null if no cover image is found in the database.

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Support

For issues or feature requests, contact support through the Apify Console.

Resources

• Apify Documentation
• API Reference

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Legal Notice

This actor is designed for legitimate data collection purposes. Users are responsible for ensuring compliance with Open Library's terms of service and applicable laws. Use data responsibly and respect rate limits.