Codelist Issue 74 for ONIX 3.0 has been released.* Complete listings of the ONIX codelists can be downloaded from the EDItEUR website.
- Issue 74 stand-alone codelist documentation as a readable PDF or HTML file (open and read it in your web browser)
- Issue 74 TXT, CSV, XML, JSON files for loading into your data management applications
- Issue 74 XSD, RNG, DTD schema modules for use with existing XML schema files (but note that it’s better to download the latest 3.1 schemas since they incorporate a couple of small improvements as well as the new Block 8)
- The ‘strict’ XSD 1.1 with Issue 74 (the strict XSD must be updated each time there is a new issue of the codelists, as it includes some codelists within the XSD itself)
- The online browser for the ONIX code lists at ns.editeur.org/onix has been updated to issue 74
Need help finding and using the documentation? Read this.
Graham Bell, Executive Director of EDItEUR, introduced the changes thus:
This update includes a small number of additions, and a relatively large number of minor additions and clarifications to the notes:
- a new code in List 150 for multi-component retail products that contain a mix of digital and physical product parts
- initial methods to link to declarations and certifications of ‘no use of AI-created content’
- a method to link to a US CPSC General Certificates of Conformance (and Children’s Product Certificates)
- new languages, new retail sales outlets
- new method to list map projections for cartographic products
- new codes for dual and duet audiobooks
- additional notes in lists 81 and 196 to clarify accessibility
Everyone should review the document summarizing the changes and update their systems. Ask if you have questions, but out of that list, these are of particular note to the Canadian book supply chain.
List 73 – Website Role: linking to “no AI-generated content” declarations and certifications
- Code 55: “Link to third-party certification of absence of AI-generated content” — for use xwithin <Contributor> or <Publisher>, linking directly to a certification from a scheme such as Human-Authored, Books by People, or Proudly Human, with <WebsiteDescription> carrying the certification scheme’s name.
- Code 56: “Link to first-party declaration of absence of AI-generated content” — the same idea, but for a publisher’s own self-declaration rather than a third-party certification.
A few things worth knowing before you implement these codes:
<WebsiteLink> must resolve to a page that identifies the specific product or work being certified, not just the scheme’s homepage.
Certification schemes vary in what they actually cover — some allow de minimis AI use in ideation, research, or spell-checking; some don’t cover illustrations or AI-narrated audiobooks; most are still evolving. EDItEUR is explicit that these codes are intended for exploratory use, and feedback is welcome.
For Canadian publishers starting to field questions about AI-generated content, this gives you a standard way to answer them — but expect it to keep evolving over the next few issues.
List 150 – Product form: new code for mixed physical/digital products
- Code SH: “Multiple-component retail product, partly digital” — for a multi-component product where at least one part is physical and at least one is digital, with the format of each component mandatory in <ProductPart>.
This code isn’t limited to book-plus-ebook bundles. It’s meant for any product where physical and digital components are genuinely part of the same package: games with both physical pieces and companion software, or educational products that combine physical materials with a digital component as a single purchasable unit. If your catalogue includes hybrid physical/digital products, this is likely a code to start applying to your product forms.
List 203 – ONIX adult audience rating: content advice for death, grief, and suicide
- Code 12: “Content advice (death and grief)”
- Code 13: “Content advice (suicide)”
EDItEUR has also renamed the existing labels on this list from “Content warning” to “Content advice.”
These codes, like the rest of List 203 (code 01 in List 28), are only to be applied to books aimed at an adult audience. EDItEUR has said the broader question of extending content advice to teen readers is worth reconsidering in a future issue, but for now, List 203 remains adults-only.
These are the main changes of note for the Canadian Supply Chain, but a number of other changes may be of interest as well:
- List 143 – US CPSC hazard warning type: new code 10 for a US Consumer Product Safety Commission General Certificate of Conformity or Children’s Product Certificate, with the certificate’s URL carried in
<ProductFormFeatureDescription>. Relevant for any Canadian publisher or distributor shipping children’s products into the US market. - List 81 – Product content type: new codes 52 and 53 for “Audiobook – dual” and “Audiobook – duet,” distinguishing multi-voice audiobooks (each voice reading their character’s sections) from the fuller “duet” style where dialogue is performed by alternating voices. Worth adopting as Canadian audiobook output continues to grow.
- Lists 81 and 196 – accessibility: a substantial clarification pass on the accessibility codelists’ notes, updating terminology and cross-references without changing the meaning of existing codes. If you maintain accessibility metadata, it’s worth re-reading the updated notes even though the codes themselves haven’t moved.
- List 79 – Product form feature type: new code 66 for specifying map projections (e.g., Mercator, Winkel tripel) on cartographic products.
*An updated note to ONIX 2.1 users
As we’ve stated several times in these update posts, ONIX 2.1 users should note that codelist updates no longer apply to ONIX 2.1 and users must continue to use Issue 36. ONIX 3.0 code lists and schema modules no longer contain codes or lists unique to ONIX 2.1. And, finally, ONIX 2.1 is no longer supported by EDItEUR in their documentation. After all, ONIX 2.1 was sunset on December 31, 2014.
BookNet Canada plans to decommission the ONIX 2.1 dataset in October 2026 so any creators should be making plans to switch to ONIX 3 if they have not already and downstream data recipients should be starting to leverage the 3.0 dataset.
BookNet Canada continues to recommend that you use and periodically update your copy of EDItEUR’s best practices guide. It’s an essential ONIX 3.1 guide, but much of the information in it applies equally to ONIX 3.0.
