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ONIX 3.0 allows for multi-language metadata. India is a goode good use case as there are 3 major languages and an audience who are multi-lingual but might be most comfortable in one language over another. In such an environment wouldn't it be great to provide the metadata in the language the reader is most comfortable in? ONIX 3.0 provides it by allowing many composites to repeat if language attributes are provided. So rather than awkwardly repeating the title three times in one entry, you provide the Distinct Title three times in separate composites set up for each language and identified by it's attribute. A retailer could work with such information and provide display options that could help sell books.

BookNet Canada is unaware of any North American retailer ready to use such a facility but there's no harm in having this information ready if you think it can help sell books. Before retailers implement they test and experiment – and think kindly on publishers who can support their efforts.


UPDATE:  Coding for a Multilingual Text (a book with more than 2 languages and intended for any them – this is a separate issue than providing the metadata in more than one language discussed in Metalanguage vs Language of Text).  Graham Bell posted in 2022-03-15 to the ONIX implementers group and example of handling a multilingual text and it offers both a way to do and pragmatic advice:

Where the text actually originated in a third language like Portuguese or whatever – and this third language is also in the book. That could look something like this in the ONIX

<Language>
    <LanguageRole>07</LanguageRole> <!-- translated language of a multilingual edition -->
    <LanguageCode>eng</LanguageCode> <!-- English -->
</Language>
<Language>
    <LanguageRole>07</LanguageRole> <!-- translated language of a multilingual edition -->
    <LanguageCode>cmn</LanguageCode> <!– Mandarin -->
</Language>
<Language>
    <LanguageRole>06</LanguageRole> <!-- original language of a multilingual edition -->
    <LanguageCode>por</LanguageCode> <!-- Brazilian Portuguese -->
    <CountryCode>BR</CountryCode> <!-- note use of a country code or region code to qualify the language -->
</Language>
However, some recipients might not be able to handle these codes – although 06 and 07 have been a part of this codelist for 15 years. If you do run into problems, then you could probably do this:
<Language>
    <LanguageRole>01</LanguageRole> <!-- language of the text -->
    <LanguageCode>eng</LanguageCode> <!-- English -->
</Language>
<Language>
    <LanguageRole>01</LanguageRole> <!-- language of the text -->
    <LanguageCode>cmn</LanguageCode> <!-- Mandarin -->
</Language>
<Language>
    <LanguageRole>01</LanguageRole> <!-- language of the text -->
    <LanguageCode>por</LanguageCode> <!-- Brazilian Portuguese -->
    <CountryCode>BR</CountryCode>
</Language>
Clearly the first example is much better, as it indicates the relationship between the languages and highlights Portuguese as the ‘original’. The second just says ’there are three languages’.


Summary

Don't rely on this page for all you need to know. You should go read the P.10 Language section in the ONIX for Books Implementation and Best Practice Guide. It's short, practical and comprehensive, providing language knowledge without the sophomoronic humour.