BookNet Canada's Webform for ONIX creation and some other ONIX supporting software have simplified screens and are intended to used by rank beginners. Using ONIX properly has a real learning curve and the full manual is always the best resource.
But here we give you a quick answers.
First off: What are you doing in general? Well look at Amazon or Indigo On-line and you can see stuff up on books. If you've done that you already know most of what you need to know here. The best site to explore for what you can put into a file for Canadian publishers is
What you see here comes to you from ONIX through data they've downloaded from BiblioShare.
Second point is you're creating a "Product" record – something someone will buy by looking at your information about your book on another company's website. So if it's a print book pick it up. The Title comes off the title page and the subtitle is the secondary title found there. Contributor is the author, the measures are found by using a ruler and a scale, you say where a retailer can find the barcode... and so on.
If it's a digital book, go about it exactly the same way, except if you can't measure, weigh or barcode then DO NOT supply metadata. If it doesn't apply don't use it.
In short: You're describing what the consumer gets. Every product get's it's own ISBN and it's own ONIX record.
On a "simplified" form you should check out all options but if they don't apply don't sweat it – just leave it blank. Series are useful for marketing but not all books are in series.
| TagName | Short answer | Expected? | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Record reference | Use the ISBN-13 here | YES all records | Every ONIX record should carry a unique number – used to identify the metadata record. |
| Notification type | default as "03" | YES all records | Notification type is about the record as well. It tells the recipient how much trust to put in the metadata (pre-publication information can change) or might be used to convey advanced problems that a small publisher should email trading partners about. |
| product form | BC=paperback BB=hardcover DG=digital book (PDF or eBook) | YES all records | An ONIX record is a Product record as defined above. What form does it take in the broadest terms possible? That's what goes here. DO NOT code BA "book" it's there situations when a distributor doesn't know anything. Audio books are "A_" Ask for help if you need to describe a product with more than one Product Form |
| Product form detail | B102 is Trade paperback | All paperbacks | A place to add detail to what you've said for Product Form. If it's a paperback retailers need to know what type it is. And that's almost always a "Trade Paperback" . Look at the list and you'll find |
| Epublication type | 002 is PDF | Digital only | Digital book don't usually use Product Form Detail, but this the digital equivalent to it. |
| Barcode | Code: 10 is likely | Do you have a standard ISBN-13 based barcode? It's called an EAN13 Barcode. | |
| Work identifier | Use only when you've published this title in more than one "Form" | Digital book sellers in particular want this but each ONIX record describes a Product. If you sold the same "work" or title in multiple formats wouldn't it be nice if ALL the records shared an identifier? So in all such records select "01 Proprietary" and fill in a shared value in the box beside it – a unique code please – don't use the book title spaces and all as that's no help to anyone. | |
| Title prefix Title without prefix | Use only if your book title contains a prefix | Use "Distinct title" on its own if the book title doesn't have a prefix. Otherwise this is a support for indexing – help the retailer out by putting the Prefix in one box and the title without it in the box Title without prefix | |
| Distinct title | As it appears on the book | YES all records | |
| Imprint: Name code type Name code value | Use only if you're supplying your ONIX metadata to Amazon | More than you want to know available here: Imprint Codes and the need for consistent presentation of Supplier, Publisher and Imprint names | |
| Imprint name | YES all records | The Publisher is the company who published the book. The Imprint is the brand how the book appears They are usually the same thing but retailers like to know. | |
| Publication date | The date this ISBN was first sold | YES all records | Dates in ONIX are YYYYMMDD – no hyphens, slashes or marks. Dates are "text" fields |
| Publishing status | 02 is forthcoming 04 is Active | YES all records | A way for the supply chain to understand where your book is in it's lifecycle. Nothing is in print forever. "Forthcoming" is "before publication" and you should update your record to "Active" |