Purpose of the Course
Recent research shows that good metadata leads to increased sales*. With that in mind, this advanced course mixes the theoretical discussion of metadata with practical examples and guidance, and links metadata very clearly with supply chain effectiveness and commercial success.
Please note: the training on data elements relating to digital products, open access, audio material and chapter-level metadata has been transferred to the new ONIX Essentials Plus course.
* Nielsen White Paper: The Link Between Metadata and Sales
Benefits of Attending
Experienced ONIX users will learn how to optimise their metadata and deal with the more complex aspects of ONIX by attending this course.
Course Level
This course (provided as an online course in three, half-day training sessions) is aimed at experienced ONIX users with a good background in ONIX 2.1, 3.0 and/or 3.1. Delegates should previously have attended the BIC ONIX: Essentials Plus training course, or have extensive experience with ONIX, gained over several years. Attendees do not require a technical background — the course is suitable for both publishing and reseller staff, and software developers seeking advanced domain knowledge.
Please note: Some training material on data elements relating to digital products, open access, audio material and chapter-level metadata that was previously part of this course has been transferred to the new ONIX Essentials Plus course. If a delegate completed the ONIX essentials course prior to 2022, some content may have been missed. This missed material may be covered again in this course provided that time allows.
Course Outline
The content of this course is modular and will be tailored to the particular interests of delegates; consequently, each course will be different. However, the overall content will be as follows:
- The importance of core semantics;
- Conceptual modelling, WMI entity stack in indecs and interoperability with library metadata models;
- Identifiers; GTINs and ISBNs; ISNI and name identification; ISCCs, work IDs and the product lifecycle;
- Linked data and schema.org optimization of web pages;
- Discoverability, keywords and structured subject coding including Thema;
- Sales rights and restrictions; advanced international pricing and multiple markets, tax, discounts, commodity codes and international trade
- Collections, sets and series
- Chapter-level metadata (for audio, scholarly etc)
- Open access
- Multi-item/multi-component products
- Multilingual metadata
- Promotional events
- Practical XML validation
- Block updating
- ONIX Acknowledgement message
- ONIX 3.0 migration; differences from 2.1, changes and benefits; migration strategy
- ONIX 3.1 migration
- New data elements in recent ONIX revisions (3.0, 3.0.1–3.0.8, 3.1, 3.1.1)
- Underused features and opportunities
Delegates may choose to submit real-world books and metadata of their own for discussion and pointers for improvement (you must contact info@BIC.org.uk at least one week in advance. It cannot be guaranteed that all issues will be looked at or ‘solved’)
Read the full course outline here.
The Trainer
Graham Bell, EDItEUR. (Read about BIC Trainers, here).
Feedback for this Course
Read the feedback received from previous attendees of this course,
Date & Frequency of this Course
Tues 18th, Weds 19th and Thurs 20th November 2025 – register here. (Last session in 2025)
Course Location
Online / Live Virtual Training.
Course Length
This is a 1.5 day course which will be delivered in three, half-day training sessions, 1.00pm-5.30pm (UK time) on the date specified, above.
Prices
BIC & EDItEUR Members: £470 + VAT
Friends of BIC: £560 + VAT
Non Members: £640 + VAT
Prices do not include the Eventbrite processing fee.
Combined discount available:
Please note that any individual who registers to attend both the BIC ONIX: Essentials Plus and ONIX: Advanced Topics training courses at the same time, will be eligible to receive a £100 discount on the combined cost of their tickets. This offer is open to BIC Members, Friends of BIC and Non-Members. Contact us for further information and to receive your discount code (prior to booking your place); tickets purchased using this discount code will not be transferrable within your organisation. This offer can not be used in conjunction with any other or discount code.
The fully discounted rates apply to BIC and EDItEUR members only.
Not sure if your organisation is a member? Check the BIC Members list. Check the EDItEUR’s Members list.
Registration
Registration is via Eventbrite. Payment is accepted via VISA, Mastercard and American Express. Registration links in ‘Date and Frequency’.
Alternative Payment Option: If you would prefer BIC to invoice your organisation directly, please contact us. Please note that this process will incur a £25.00 administration fee.