--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
title: gscholar-rss
author: Francesco Ariis
summary: Google Scholar to RSS feed scraper
tags: google scholar, scholar, rss, feed, atom
published: 2018-11-05 00:00:00
revised: 2018-11-10 00:00:00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

============
gscholar-rss
============

``gscholar-rss`` (`Hackage entry`__) is an RSS scraper for Google Scholar,
so you can be warned via RSS on the latest academic research of your choice.

.. __: http://hackage.haskell.org/package/gscholar-rss

Getting gscholar-rss
--------------------

To get ``gscholar-rss``, you can alternatively:

- download the appropriate binary from the `binaries page`__ and put it
  somewhere visibile in your ``$PATH``. **Or**

.. __: http://ariis.it/link/repos/gscholar-rss/bin/

- compile it yourself. This means getting Haskell for your platform
  (e.g. on Debian ``sudo apt-get install haskell-platform``).
  Once you installed it:

  ::

     cabal get gscholar-rss
     # now `cd` into the newly created folder and run
     cabal new-build

  will create a binary (the location is displayed upon completion -- check
  for a line similar to ``Linking /home/f/spool/gs-rss...``).

Using gscholar-rss
------------------

- *visit* `Google Scholar`__ and perform a search.

.. __: http://scholar.google.com

  .. image:: gscholar.jpg
    :alt: Google Scholar page, "sort by date highlighted

  as highlighted by the picture, most likely you want to select the
  "Sort by date" option.

- *copy* the search URL
  (in my case ``http://scholar.google.it/scholar?hl=en&scisbd=1&as...``)
  and pass it as an argument to ``gscholar-rss``. Don't forget to add
  quotations around your URL!

  ::

    ./gscholar-rss "http://scholar.google.it/scholar?hl=en&scisbd=1&as..."

This should generate a well-formed RSS feed.

Integration with feed-readers
-----------------------------

Many feed-readers allow taking advantage of external programs to fetch
a feed; this is exactly what ``gscholar-rss`` needs.
Refer to the documentation of your feed-reader of choice on how to do
that. As examples:

- **Newsbeuter/Newsboat**: the relevant manual section is `Scripts and
  Filters (Snownews Extensions)`__, which means writing entries like
  this in your url-file:

.. __: https://newsboat.org/releases/2.13/docs/newsboat.html#_scripts_and_filters_snownews_extensions

  ::

    "exec:gscholar-rss 'https://scholar.google.it/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0,5&q=haskell&scisbd=1'"

- **Liferea**: `Website scraping with liferea`__.

.. __: https://lzone.de/liferea/scraping.htm


Repository and contact
----------------------

Here is the `darcs repository`_.

.. _`darcs repository`: http://ariis.it/link/repos/gscholar-rss/

If you want to report a bug or request a feature, `write to me`_.

.. _`write to me`: /static/articles/mail/page.html