Onix (publishing protocol)

ONIX stands for ONline Information eXchange and is a data format for the exchange of bibliographic and product data across the entire value chain in bookstores.

The ONIX standard is published by an international group ( EDItEUR ) and is based on XML. With his help, information can be exchanged or processed automated on books and other publications as metadata between publishers, booksellers, libraries, book wholesalers, aggregators and other stakeholders. Was initiated by the highly differentiated exchange format from the British and American book market. Since the early 2000s ONIX is applied in Germany.

Data format

The using a Document Type Definition (DTD) specified ONIX standard includes a plurality of data fields, such as product form, title, author (s ) and price, some of which are mandatory and others are optional ( such as images or descriptive texts ). The information about one or more products are in each case combined in a so-called message, which results in a complete data set. All data is not transmitted directly to the message, such as multimedia content is integrated as a Media File link. Updates to price / availability may be transmitted in a partial record

Best Practice

A working group of VLB, book wholesalers KNV, Libri and Umbreit and the German National Library promotes the use of standards through the publication of best practices, and has ever developed a guide for book - standard messages for e-book standard message.

Use

In German-speaking a good spread was reached with the version of ONIX 2.1. Larger publishers generate the data format itself Numerous service providers support the creation. Smaller publishers can make use of the offer of VLB to convert their recorded there media data in the ONIX format and to transmit it to book wholesalers and other aggregators.

ONIX version 3.0, released in 2009, is the first ONIX version since 2001, which is not backwards compatible. Transmissions, the new version was the lack of representation possibilities of digital products in 2.1. Many no longer common data fields ( deprecated ) be abolished. The principle of the complete data set is canceled. Various partial records are possible. The processing is much more complex.

The great advantage of version 3.0 is the improved imaging of digital products such as e -books. ONIX 3.0 is expected to be used in German-speaking countries from 2015.