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How ONIX works is simple: An ONIX record represents a single salable product with a unique ISBN. An ONIX file contains multiple records and it allows a retailer or other company to load book metadata in bulk direct to their database. An ONIX record can contain everything a business needs to know to sell the book as well as all the material they need to display to consumers so they can make a buying decision. The publisher provides the retailer with everything they need and can maintain control of many or all aspects of their product's presentation to the public, as well as set up special pricing, licensing arrangements and so on in a file format designed to be both comprehensive and updated regularly. As marketing needs change an ONIX record can, and should be, updated. Problems are minimized because all trading partners should get the same data. All this assumes a publisher stores their information in a database of some sort, though ONIX specific software does exist.
ONIX 2.1 vs ONIX 3.0
One point that's confusing is ONIX comes in two incompatible versions, and both remain in use: 2.1 developed between 1999 and 2009 (see the next section), and 3.0 developed from 2009 ongoing. It's best to think of 3.0 as both a different mapping (explained below) and a tweaked version of 2.1. Design choices made in 2.1 couldn't accommodate digital products and that forced changes that "broke" the structure or logic of 2.1. EDItEUR developed new and better logic, then made small changes for clarity and functionality throughout ONIX 3.0. They "tweaked" 2.1 making 3.0 overall simpler, more accurate and smarter. And then development continued providing new metadata support and improvements for another decade. Business needs are not static and metadata changes.
Anything you can say in ONIX 2.1 can be said in ONIX 3.0. In many if not most cases, it can be said the same way, but if you think of a publisher having a database of information the metadata "mapping" of it to ONIX 2.1 is different than the mapping to ONIX 3.0. Mapping in this sense is not only placement (the order and many tag name used in 2.1 and 3.0 are different) but would include conversion of values in the publisher's dataset. As here's an example:
A publisher would
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know
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and record however they like that this ISBN is the EPUB
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digital version, then map that knowledge appropriately to the ONIX standard.
- In ONIX 2.1
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- a digital books primary format code, called Product Form, comes from ONIX Code List 7 and is "DG"
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- . The fact it's the EPUB is conveyed by a List 10 EpubType code of "029".
- ONIX 3.0 also uses Product Form as well but it's source Code List is number 150 (not the same list as 2.1) and and the basic digital book's code is "EA"
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- . It is supported by a List 175 Product Form Detail (not EpubTye) code of "E101".
If your head is spinning don't worry as all of that is likely handled by your software. This just illustrates that it's the same information but
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to give some meaning to being a different "mapping".
The above example seems to be one-to-one but in other sections, say describing Territories and Rights, the actual logic ONIX 3.0 use is different in small ways that to allow for greater clarity. Again, the publisher should know what they mean , but would need to map it differently. and the map used to ONIX 2.1 or 3.0 is different A goal of ONIX 2.1 was to support international sales and it comes close to doing that, but use discovered problems. ONIX 3.0 "tweaks" the information , presents it subtly differently and achieves that support with much more clarity. 2.1 could be ambiguous – 3.0's changed structure less so. So to fix the problems resulting in subtle differences and greater clarity. Like format, it's the same publisher information but presented differently and if mapped to different structures and 3.0 is supported by fewer and clearer logic rules. If you care about accuracy you'll appreciate ONIX 3.0.
The most important problem to be solved by any publisher is to actually know what rights they have and the territories they service and the same for companies they contract with to provide that service. That's hard to track . ONIX but once you have that electronically (however you record it) the ONIX standard makes trading the information easy.
The digital supply chain is in many ways distinct and is largely compatible with ONIX 3.0 (if ONIX is accepted). The confusing part is both versions of ONIX work well for print . Most retailers will accept either 2.1 or 3.0 but prefer 3.0 because it supports digital products better. The print supply chain use of ONIX predates ONIX 3.0 and North American publishers and the print supply chain invested heavily in ONIX 2.1 development. While ONIX 3.0 is not hugely different for print products the fact it's not a one-to-one conversion with 2.1 means development work is required to use 3.0 and companies are reluctant to make the change.
The experience of companies who have done the development is to make a transition from 2.1 to 3.0 report that it's easier to change do than they expect, but overall the expected but it's sad and undeniable fact that many print publishers and retailers in North America have not made the transition yet. This means that anyone starting out has to at least consider supporting both ONIX 2.1 and 3.0.This issue will be sorted out over the next few years.
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ONIX 2.1 is no longer a supported standard
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If you need help, contact biblio@booknetcanada.ca.
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ONIX is currently defined as: ONIX 3.0
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.6
Changes for ONIX 3.0.6 April 30 April 24, 2019 This is an exceptionally small revision that added the following two
- a Measure composite to Product Part (needed because knowing the size of each component in a multiple part product can be important)
- URL links in Website composites can now repeat to provide language support. (Use of the Language attribute in ONIX 3.0 allows for, say, the main description to be provided in more than one language – so separate composites where the only difference is the language used in the description. URLs can also appear in different languages and so are now allowed to repeat in the composite)
Changes for ONIX 3.0.5 October 26, 2018 is latest version of ONIX. It is a fairly minor revision adding another recent revision change.
- Adding a new element to Block 3 (Content) to support chapter-level audio time codes
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- Two Block 6 (Product Supply) additions:
- to support pallet quantity and
- designate tax exempt.
- Several other minor updates and changes are detailed in the specification (look under "Introduction" for a summary of revision changes and details under "Document History." Appendix A1 is a complete list of all ONIX composite and elements in ONIX file or schema order.)
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The time for making the transition to ONIX 3.0 has now come and all publishers and data recipients should at a minimum familiarize themselves with the new constructs and data elements ONIX 3.0 can support. The value in the transition to ONIX 3.0 comes from the ability to better sell books and identification of any new data points that would help your business work better will increase the likelihood of their adoption by the industry. Already identified
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