Multiple API calls to retreive full title plus author names?

[Libertie]

Is it possible to obtain full_title (or title plus subtitle) and author_name in a single API call? Currently I have to do two calls and merge the results.

For example, https://openlibrary.org/isbn/9781571311498.json shows title, subtitle, and full_title and https://openlibrary.org/search.json?isbn=9781571311498 shows author_names. I want both, so I'm making two API calls that seem otherwise redundant.

I'd love any advice!

[tfmorris]

You can specify any number of fields to be returned by search. See https://openlibrary.org/dev/docs/api/search

[Libertie]

Thanks @tfmorris ! I have played with the fields parameter, but haven't had any luck retrieving a full title.

Using the example above, the following link does not return full_title or subtitle as expected: https://openlibrary.org/search.json?isbn=9781571311498&fields=title,subtitle,full_title,author_name. If there is an alternate way to specify and receive a full title, please let me know!

[tfmorris]

There's no such field as full_title. If you use the fields listed in the docs, they should work.

[Libertie]

My mistake! I assumed that full_title was a valid field since it is returned by the /isbn method above. Still, I am not able to retrieve subtitle using /search.json. For example at https://openlibrary.org/search.json?isbn=9781571311498&fields=title,subtitle,author_name.

subtitle is, however, provided by https://openlibrary.org/isbn/9781571311498.json, but this call does not include author names.

[tfmorris]

Works don't have subtitles. Only editions do. Usually the work title will be just the main portion of the title, but sometimes you'll see it containing "<title>: <subtitle>", depending on the data source. The edition title won't necessarily match the work title for things like translations, etc. You SHOULD be able to get the edition subtitle using fields=editions,editions.subtitle, BUT it looks like fetching of editions fields is broken since the examples on the API doc page return empty fields sub documents. I'd suggest filing a bug report.

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Message ID: <internetarchive/openlibrary/repo-discussions/13199/comments/17757963@ github.com>

[Libertie]

Thank you for pointing me in this direction. I was able to retrieve edition data (including editions.subtitle) with an API search, but only when I added the key field also. Otherwise, as you noted, the edition data is always empty.

[tfmorris]

I'm glad you found a workaround, but it still sounds like a bug to me, particularly since the examples in the docs don't work.