[Kavita] Library Metadata Export Tool (JSON / XML / CSV) / Feature Submission

[abidfakhrealam]

Idea Description

Academic institutions and libraries increasingly rely on Library Management Systems (LMS) such as Koha, Evergreen, or Ex Libris Alma to organize, catalog, and expose resources to patrons and researchers. Kavita holds valuable metadata for digital materials (e.g., theses, research papers, manga, ebooks, archives), but lacks a way to export or share that metadata with external systems.

By enabling structured metadata exports, Kavita can become a digital gateway for enhancing research visibility, patron discovery, and integration with centralized library infrastructure.

Use Cases:

1. Integrate Kavita-hosted materials with institutional LMS platforms
2. Improve patron discovery by indexing Kavita content in Koha catalogs
3. Export research or student content for long-term archiving or recordkeeping
4. Offer machine-readable formats for analytics, dashboards, or search indexing

This export functionality would allow institutions to:

1. Sync Kavita’s content metadata with existing LMS platforms
2. Improve searchability and discoverability of digital collections (including student/faculty-created works)
3. Enhance the research visibility of archived or custom-uploaded content
4. Enable long-term archival and metadata audits

Proposed Feature:

✅ Export Metadata Formats:

1. JSON (default for machine interoperability)
2. CSV (for spreadsheet editing and bulk processing)
3. XML (standard for MARC or LMS system import)
4. MARCXML / MARC21 (Native format for LMS platforms like Koha, Evergreen, Alma)

✅ Metadata Fields (optional and configurable):

1. Title
2. Author(s)
3. Language
4. Summary/Description
5. Tags / Genres
6. Publisher
7. ISBN (if present)
8. Kavita ID (internal)
9. File name/path
10. Read status, ratings, reviews (optional)
11. Custom metadata (for internal use or LMS mapping)

✅ Export Levels:

1. Per library
2. Full server export
3. Filtered by smart filter, genre, or tag
4. Single series export (via UI button)

✅ Integration Points:

1. Manual export from Server Settings > Tools
2. Scheduled export to designated directory
3. API endpoint for external sync via cron or script

Impact for Libraries & Universities:

1. 🎓 Boosts visibility of student projects, thesis archives, and research papers hosted via Kavita
2. 🔗 Enables tighter integration with institutional catalogs, improving access for patrons
3. 📚 Facilitates centralized discovery, where Kavita-hosted content is visible alongside physical library items

Idea Category

Feature Enhancement

Duration of Using Kavita

4 months

Before submitting

• I've already searched for existing ideas before posting.