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Professional users expect to be able to create book lists or "selects" from databases based on the primary Audience code values. Children and Adult are a common responsibility breakout for duties – and increasingly Young Adult is handled on its own. It’s always been recognized as it’s own section of Children’s books. YA publisher is intentionally associating their book in it’s broad category Publishers should associate their book with it’s best broad audience category in order to direct it to the librarian or retail book buyer best able to assess your bookit.
ONIX Code List List 28 for Audience Codes
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An example can help: A novel like Huckleberry Finn may be sold in stores and used in schools, but the “01” trade book and the “04” school book would be different and designed for their audience group. An “04” book would include additional supporting materials designed for a limited grade range and may include reinforced binding. The trade book may still contain an introduction that provides context for reading a problematic text, and it’s even possible it may be bought by schools who may want a less expensive book without extensive supporting resources. It’s even possible that a book club might prefer to use a school edition for it’s rich supporting resources and a retailer may choose to stock it. The point is simply that a single audience category still supports those choices better than an ambiguous layering of multiple codes. You can help professionals and consumers find your book by being specific and accurate. An example where a dual Audience Code might make sense is a beautifully illustrated scholarly book on the ecology of sea shores that is designed to fulfill the needs of beachcombers and as well as academics. In such an exceptional cases, especially for publishers associated with a specialized market, adding a trade code makes sense when it’s appropriate for the book to be sold outside of the publisher’s typical market.
When in doubt, use “Trade” identifiers as they are the most common and generic.
Audience Codes and Subject Codes support each other
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If a librarian or book buyer assesses your range information as wildly inaccurate it will taint the rest of your good work.
If in doubt, don't supply it.
Want to know more? The US based Book Industry Study Group (BISG) has two publications:
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