As you may already know, the ONIX 2.1 version was sunset at the end of 2014 and was replaced by the current ONIX 3 version. No new codes have been available for the ONIX 2.1 version since code list 36 — that’s close to 40 versions behind the expected code list 75 release at the end of October 2026.
Here at BookNet Canada, October 30, 2026 is our end of support date for ONIX 2.1. After October 30, 2026, downstream clients will no longer be able to call ONIX 2.1 data from BiblioShare. All data we output will be ONIX 3 data after that date.
So what exactly does this mean for you?
Who and what this effects
The decommissioning of the BiblioShare ONIX 2.1 data ingestion and distribution framework is likely to have an impact on anyone who is relying on that data for internal systems or is using that data to populate software solutions for the industry and has not yet developed any calls to the ONIX 3 services. For many of the custom solutions that BookNet has built off of this data, we have taken the path in our code to target the 3.0 data and then if there is no 3.0 data available for the ISBN in question, we fall back to the 2.1 data. As you can imagine, this can be complicated to support.
Where things are at for BiblioShare and the different versions of ONIX
There are just over 1.5 million active records in both the ONIX 2.1 and ONIX 3 data sets, with there currently being slightly more active records in the ONIX 3 data set. Since June 1, BiblioShare has added an average of 11,500 records per day to the ONIX 3 data set, compared to 850 records per day in the ONIX 2.1 data set. This is almost a complete reversal of what we were seeing even just a year ago. Several major data suppliers are no longer supplying BiblioShare with ONIX 2.1 data at all so that means anyone using that data for business purposes is in danger of missing data or using stale data.
What happens now?
We’re aware the ONIX 3 data set isn’t perfect, but it is the most complete and up-to-date data set we have right now, and we are working hard to improve and expand the coverage as quickly as we can.
Before decommissioning the ONIX 2.1 set, we will map over any records that only have ONIX 2.1 records in order to preserve the completeness of the data set.
What we really require of our users now, if you haven’t already done this, is to get you set up to send us your full 3.0 records or if you are ingesting the data via our services, start calling the 3.0 services.
Do you need an account setup for 3.0? Do you have questions? Reach us at biblioshare@booknetcanada.ca.
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