## The script is not working anymore, due to the reCAPTCHA step Springer added. ## Python script to download all Springer books released for free during the 2020 COVID-19 quarantine ![Python package and testrun](https://github.com/alexgand/springer_free_books/workflows/Python%20package%20and%20testrun/badge.svg) ### Books available It used to have 409 english books (it took about 4 hours to complete the download ~ 14 GB, both PDF and EPUB, on my machine), but Springer has since removed some of them from the open access. ### Usage **Note**: If you want just one or two specific books, get [the excel file](https://resource-cms.springernature.com/springer-cms/rest/v1/content/17858272/data/) and manually download those or use the script to help you download (see **Download book selectively** sub-section). By default the script stores the books in `./downloads` subfolder according to the subject ("English Package Name" column of the excel file). #### Download all English books (PDF and EPUB) Use the following command to download all PDF and EPUB books to the default download folder `./downloads` ```bash python3 main.py ``` To download them to a subfolder of your choice, say `books` ```bash python3 main.py -f ./books ``` You can download to an absolute path, say `C:/ebooks/springer/` ```bash python3 main.py -f C:/ebooks/springer/ ``` To download books in separate chapters (PDF only) ```bash python3 main.py --dl_chapters ``` #### Download all German books (PDF and EPUB) To download the German books use ```bash python3 main.py --lang de ``` This language flag can be combined with any of the above and below mentioned options. If not specified, `--lang en`, i.e. English, is the default. #### Download all books of specific format To download all PDF books only, run ```bash python3 main.py --pdf ``` or all EPUB books only ```bash python3 main.py --epub ``` #### Download only specific book categories You can download selective books by categories. Make sure category name with space(s) is enclosed in double quotation marks, like so ```bash python3 main.py -c Engineering "CoMpuTer sciEnCe" ``` The category name is case-insensitive. #### Download book selectively You can download books by indices (refer to the excel file for the titles) ```bash python3 main.py -i 2 345 70 90 0 213 ``` #### Verbose mode If you need to know what you are downloading, enable the verbose mode with `-v` option ```bash python3 main.py -v -c "Behavioral science and psychology" "chaos AD" UFO "Life science" -i 2 34 400 ``` You will get the following summary before the downloading starts ``` Book Title English Package Name 2 All of Statistics Mathematics and Statistics 34 Essential Astrophysics Physics and Astronomy 37 International Perspectives on Psychotherapy Behavioral Science and Psychology 40 Applied Behavior Analysis Behavioral Science and Psychology 70 Psychology of Perception Behavioral Science and Psychology 95 Handbook of Consumer Finance Research Behavioral Science and Psychology 311 Clinical Methods in Medical Family Therapy Behavioral Science and Psychology 313 Motivation and Action Behavioral Science and Psychology 381 Perceptual Organization Behavioral Science and Psychology 396 Evidence-Based Practice in Clinical Social Work Behavioral Science and Psychology 397 Foundations of Behavioral Health Behavioral Science and Psychology 398 Social Psychology in Action Behavioral Science and Psychology 400 A Course in Rasch Measurement Theory Education 13 titles ready to be downloaded... The following invalid book categories will be ignored: 1. chaos AD 2. UFO 3. Life science ``` ### Running in a virtual environment (Bash commands): ```bash python3 -m venv .venv source .venv/bin/activate pip install -r requirements.txt python3 main.py ``` ### Virtual environment on Windows (auto-detects Python version): Just double-click the `run_VirtualEnv.bat` file from Windows Explorer, or type-in its name at the command-line and press ENTER. Do install Python first, either from [python.org](https://www.python.org/downloads/) or from the [Microsoft Store for Windows 10](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/search?q=python). ### Virtual environment on Windows (Python 3.x): ```winbatch python -m venv .venv .venv\Scripts\activate.bat pip install -r requirements.txt python main.py ``` ### Virtual environment on Windows (Python 2.7.x): ```winbatch python -m virtualenv .venv .venv\Scripts\activate.bat pip install -r requirements.txt python main.py ``` ### Sources: * https://group.springernature.com/gp/group/media/press-releases/freely-accessible-textbook-initiative-for-educators-and-students/17858180 * https://www.springernature.com/gp/librarians/news-events/all-news-articles/industry-news-initiatives/free-access-to-textbooks-for-institutions-affected-by-coronaviru/17855960 * https://resource-cms.springernature.com/springer-cms/rest/v1/content/17858272/data/ Thanks Springer! ## Docker container to do all the work Considering you cloned the repo in a folder, as: ```bash cd \home\[user]\workspace git clone https://github.com/alexgand/springer_free_books.git cd springer_free_books mkdir downloads ``` You can run the scripts like that: ```bash docker build . -t springer-image docker run --rm -v [local_download_folder]:/app/downloads springer-image ``` and the downloads will be at [`local_download_folder`]. ## Troubleshooting On macOS, if the script produces a `[SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED]` error, then security certificates may need to be installed. Instructions for doing so can be found [here](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/50236117/scraping-ssl-certificate-verify-failed-error-for-http-en-wikipedia-org). If that doesn't work, see alternate instructions [here](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/44649449/brew-installation-of-python-3-6-1-ssl-certificate-verify-failed-certificate/44649450#44649450).