ONIX is the book industry's metadata standard. Through ONIX, publishers can communicate essential book information across many different sales channels to help customers make informed purchase decisions. However, if you're not familiar with XML, ONIX files can look like scary computer talk and that's no good. This presentation is a primer for people who don't regularly work with ONIX, but want to get an idea of what's in an ONIX file and how it works. Topics covered include: -Reference tags & short tags -Code lists -Product identifiers -Title & subtitle -Contributors -Description -Price composites -Rights composites -Publication and on-sales dates

1. ONIX
For people who don’t really work with metadata

2. ONIX is a wonderful tool.
It enables publishers to send consistent, streamlined data to
a variety of retailers in an efficient manner.
!
If you don’t really work with metadata, though, and you’re
new to XML mark-up, it can look like scary computer talk.
!
This primer is intended for people who don’t work regularly
with ONIX, and just want to get an idea of what’s in there.
!
So if someone asks you to check whether a feed contains US
rights, or a GBP price, you’ll know where to look.

3. Each data element in an ONIX feed has a
tag that tells the parser what type of
information it contains.
!
There are two ways to present the tags:
you can use reference tags (the long
version)or short tags. Which type of tag
you decide to use is entirely up to you.
!
You can find the definitions of the reference
tags and their corresponding short tags on
the EDiTEUR website. For this tutorial, we’ll
be looking at ONIX 2.1 codes.
!
The two examples on the left are the
reference and short versions of the same
composite. <m174> is the short tag
equivalent of the reference tag
<FromCompany>.That tag tells you which
organization is delivering the ONIX feed.
Anatomy of an ONIX Feed:
Data Elements
ReferenceTags
ShortTags

4. Anatomy of an ONIX Feed:
Code Lists
Some of the data elements in an ONIX feed have a
fixed set of values that the user must choose from.
!
In order to find out what the options are, you need
to first go to the data element in the ONIX Books
Overview, which you can download from the
ONIX Release 2.1 page on the EDiTEUR site.You
find the element, and then look up the
corresponding code list number.
!
In this case, the data element is <b221>, which is
the short tag for <ProductIDType>.The <b221>
composite tells you what type of ID (13 digit ISBN,
10 digit ISBN, etc.) is going to follow in the <b244>
element, IdentifierValue.

5. From the EDiTEUR website:
ONIX for Books Overview v. 2.1.
!
This is where you go to find out
what the data element (<b221> in
this example) represents, and what
code list corresponds to it.
!
The code lists are hyperlinked, so
you can open them up in your web
browser. We’ll see what that looks
like on the next slide.
ANATOMY OF AN ONIX FEED:
CODE LISTS
Anatomy of an ONIX Feed:
Code Lists

6. Anatomy of an ONIX Feed:
Code Lists
And here is the list of available codes for use in the <b221> (Product IDType) element.
In our example, the code used was 15, which means that the ID is an ISBN-13.

7. Now, we’ll decipher some common ONIX elements:
• Product Identifier
• Title and Subtitle
• Contributors
• Description
• Price Composites
• Rights Composites
• Publication and On-Sale Dates

8. Is it ONIX 2.1 or 3.0?
• You’ll find this information right at the top of the feed. In every ONIX feed, there’s a
DocumentType Definition (DTD) statement that defines what standard the
document will follow.
• For ONIX feeds, the DTD is always an EDiTEUR document, because EDiTEUR
governs the ONIX standard.
• The DTD statement will either read 2.1 or 3.0, depending on what version of ONIX
the publisher is using.

9. What’s the ISBN?
Reference Tag Short Tag Purpose Value Notes
<RecordReference> <a001>
Unique identifier for the product -
does not have to be the ISBN, could
be a proprietary ID
Variable length, alphanumeric
<ProductIDType> <b221>
Tells you what scheme the identifier in
the Product IDValue composite,
<b244>, is taken from
From ONIX Code List 5: Product identifier type code
!
Common Codes:
03 = 13 digit GlobalTrade Item Number
15 = ISBN-13
02 = ISBN-10
01 = Proprietary
<IDValue> <b244>
Contains the 13 digit ISBN specified
in <b221>
<NotificationType> <a002>
Indicates whether the product is
upcoming, being published, or being
taken down
From ONIX Code List 1: Notification or update
type code
!
Common Codes:
03 = advance notice or already released
What to look for in the ONIX feed:

10. Who wrote this book?
Reference Tag Short Tag Purpose Value Notes
<SequenceNumber> <b034>
Tells you whose name should appear first in the
contributor field
1 = First (and so on)
<ContributorRole> <b035>
Tells you what role this person played in the
creation of the work
From ONIX Code List 17: Contributor role code
!
Some common codes:
A01 = Author
A12 = Illustrated by
B01 = Editor
B06 =Translator
<PersonName> <b036> The name of the contributor Always written as First Name Last Name
<PersonNameInverted> <b037>
Contributor’s name, written as
Last Name, First Name
Using <b037> tells the system to invert the names on the product page
<BiographicalNote> <b044> A little information about the author Suggested maximum length of 500 characters
<CountryCode> <b251> Where the contributor is from Two digit ISO country code
<RegionCode> <b398> Where exactly the contributor is from From ONIX Code List 49: Region Code

11. What is this book about?
Reference Tag Short Tag Purpose Value Notes
<TextTypeCode> <d102>
Tells you what type of description is going to
follow in the <Text> composite
From ONIX Code List 33: Other text type code
!
Some common codes:
01 = Main description
02 = Short description
03 = Long description
<TextFormat> <d103>
Tells you the format of the text sent in the
<Text> element
From ONIX Code List 34:Text format code
!
Some common codes:
02 = HTML
03 = XML
05 = XHTML
06 = Default text format
!
<Text> <d104> The text specified in the <TextTypeCode> Variable length

12. When will this book be available?
Reference Tag Short Tag Purpose Value Notes
<PublishingStatus> <b394> Identifies the status of the published product
From ONIX Code List 64: Publishing Status
!
Some common codes:
00 = Unspecified
01 = Cancelled
02 = Forthcoming
03 = Postponed Indefinitely
04 = Active
!
<PublicationDate> <b003> Date of publication, Formatted as eitherYYYY, YYYYMM, orYYYYMMDD
<AnnouncementDate> <b086>
Date when information about the book can be
issued to the general public (embargo date)
Formated asYYYYMMDD
<CopyrightYear> <b087> Year in which the book was copyrighted Formatted asYYYY only

13. Where is this book available?
Reference Tag Short Tag Purpose Value Notes
<SalesRightsType> <b089>
Tells you what type of sales rights the publisher
has for a given territory
From ONIX Code List 46: Sales rights type code
!
Some common codes:
01 = For sale with exclusive rights in the specified territories
02 = For sale with non-exclusive rights in the specified territories
03 = Not for sale in the specified territories (reason unspecified)
06 = Not for sale in the specified territories (publisher doesn’t have rights)
<RightsCountry> <b090>
Tells you the countries in which the book is or is
not available
Requires at least one two digit ISO country code
<RightsTerritory> <b388>
Tells you the territories or regions in which the
book is or is not available
From ONIX Code List 49: Region Code
!
Some common codes:
CA-ON = Ontario, Canada (or any other province with the two digit codes
concurrently)
ROW = Rest of World
WORLD = Worldwide rights
The publisher
has worldwide
rights for this
book
The publisher has
exclusive rights in
Canada for this
book, no US rights,
and non-exclusive
rights for the Rest of
the World

14. THE
Reference Tag Short Tag Purpose Value Notes
<PriceTypeCode> <j148>
Tells you what type of price (wholesale, agency,
library) will follow in the <j151> composite
From ONIX Code List 58: Price type code
!
Some common codes:
01 = Registered Retail Price excluding tax (used for CAD, USD)
02 = RRP including tax (used for GBP,AUD, EUR, NZD)
41 = Agency price excluding tax (used for CAD, USD)
42 = Agency price including tax (used for GBP,AUD, EUR, NZD)
!
<DiscountCodeTypeCode> <j363>
Tells you what type of discount code will follow
in line <j378>
From ONIX Code List 100: Discount Code Type
!
Some common codes:
01 = BIC discount code (used by UK publishers)
02 = Proprietary discount code
<DiscountCodeTypeName> <j378>
Name of the type of discount code stipulated in
<j363>
Free text, maximum 50 characters
In this case, the <j378> composite is indicating that the discount code is a
proprietary CoreSource PLUS code.
<DiscountCode> <j364> Discount code from ONIX Code List 100
<PriceAmount> <j151> Price in integers, with explicit decimal point
where required
<CurrencyCode> <j152>
3 digit fixed currency code Codes enumerated in ONIX Code List 96: Currency Code - ISO 4217
<CountryCode> <b251> Code indicating which country/countries the
price applies to
Codes enumerated in ONIX Code List 91: Currency Code - ISO 3166-1
How much does this book cost?
Wholesale CAD price Agency GBP price

15. There is LOTS of other information included in an ONIX feed, but
those are some of the most common, and necessary, elements.
!
If you have questions about how to create or read an ONIX feed,
you can send an email to shannon_culver@eboundcanada.org.