EDItEUR just released a new series of Application Notes. These notes are short white papers that look in-depth at a single ONIX topic that users are asking about or that EDItEUR is aware can be problematic.
You can see and download the full list of Application Notes here, but I thought I'd take the opportunity to highlight a few of them.
While the titles of the notes reference ONIX 3.0, the information in the first three applies equally to ONIX 2.1. And understanding the changes made in sales rights in ONIX 3.0 will, actually, improve your 2.1 data.
- NEW! Audiobooks in ONIX is a three-page primer on what you need to include when describing an audiobook (and it includes points where you can look forward to future development).
- Embedding HTML markup in ONIX 3.0 data elements is a seven-page treaty that forms the basis of any advice I give on HTML and, since your HTML shouldn't change with your ONIX version, it applies equally to ONIX 2.1.
- Weights and dimensions in ONIX 3.0 is not one you'd expect to see, is it? Surely these are obvious. Yes, the basics are obvious but it's devastating when you realize that you can't depend on telling portrait from landscape orientation in your metadata feed. And trust me, among 2.5 million entries, you can't... Many argue that bad data is worse than no data and I agree with them. Read this once, do this one thing right, and be happy ever after — it's five pages, including a big diagram, lots of white space, and a short code list.
- Describing Open Access monographs in ONIX 3.0: These four pages tell you what you need to know about metadata and your books in the Creative Commons.
- Sales rights in ONIX 3.0: The best for last. If you learn something from weights and dimensions (and you will), imagine what clarity a treasure like this brings.
