On Nov 28, 2021, at 6:01 AM, Peter Velikonja <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> As Kyle mentioned, a screenscraping method is inefficient and will
> get you incomplete results.  As a vendor to public libraries, I routinely
> request (and receive) MARC dumps.  Some libraries are better than
> others at pulling these from their ILS, but records based on MARC come
> from the Library of Congress and are therefore public information -- to
> which you are entitled if you reside in the US.  A number of libraries
> make dumps available through various Open Data initiatives -- spotty but
> can be useful.  Screenscraping can be good for spot-checking, but if
> you want a complete catalog, working with an ILS administrator is, in
> my view, a better path.


I concur. See if you can get an MARC dump. If you are seeking the bibliographic information, then this probably the most complete, accurate, and efficient. --Eric Morgan