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Revision 22 by raybb January 26, 2023
Revision 23 by Mek November 27, 2023
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0 The Open Library Books API provides a programmatic client-side method for querying information of books using Javascript. 0 The Open Library Books API provides a programmatic client-side method for querying information of books using Javascript.
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2 ## APIs 2 ## APIs
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4 Open Library has 3 types of Book APIs. 4 Open Library has several APIs for accessing Book data.
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6 1. The **Works** API (by Work ID) 6 1. The **Search** API
7 2. The **Editions** API (by Edition ID) 7 2. The **Works** API (by Work ID)
8 3. The **ISBN** API (by ISBN) 8 3. The **Editions** API (by Edition ID)
9 4. The **Books** API (generic) 9 4. The **ISBN** API (by ISBN)
10 10 5. The **Books** API (generic)
11 ## Works & Editions APIs 11
12 ## The Book Search API
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14 If you are looking for a single API to meet all of your book needs, it's likely the [Book Search API](https://openlibrary.org/dev/docs/api/search).
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16 ## Learnings about Works v Editions
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18 When we [refer to books](https://openlibrary.org/about/lib) on Open Library, we're often referring to a specific work and possibly a specific edition of this work.
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13 A Work is a logical collection of similar Editions. "Fantastic Mr. Fox" could be a Work which contains a Spanish translation edition, or perhaps a 2nd edition which has an additional chapter or corrections. Work metadata will include general umbrella information about a book, whereas an Edition will have a publisher, an ISBN, a book-jacket, and other specific information. 20 A Work is a logical collection of similar Editions. "Fantastic Mr. Fox" could be a Work which contains a Spanish translation edition, or perhaps a 2nd edition which has an additional chapter or corrections. Work metadata will include general umbrella information about a book, whereas an Edition will have a publisher, an ISBN, a book-jacket, and other specific information.
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15 Both Work and Edition pages on Open Library (i.e. the pages you navigate to) may also be returned as json or yml (in addition to HTML) by modifying the page URL. 22 Both Work and Edition pages on Open Library (i.e. the pages you navigate to) may also be returned as json or yml (in addition to HTML) by modifying the page URL.
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24 Learn more about the [fields](https://openlibrary.org/about/work_edition) that belong to works and editions.
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565 Earlier these details were provided when `details=true` parameter is passed. It is equivalent to `jscmd=details` and it is retained only for backward-compataibilty. 565 Earlier these details were provided when `details=true` parameter is passed. It is equivalent to `jscmd=details` and it is retained only for backward-compataibilty.