The latest version of Thema was ratified by the International Thema Committee in October 2024, a culmination of two years of development and consultation. Thema 1.6 is now live on TitlePage, so publishers can take advantage of 131 new subject codes and 411 new special interest qualifiers. This new version strengthens discoverability for booksellers and readers alike, with more targeted categories and qualifiers that respond to changing market demand, and to help match books with readers’ interests more precisely.
Highlights of Thema 1.6
A number of these new codes and qualifiers offer opportunities for Australian publishers and booksellers, particularly the following:
Expanded geographical coverage of Australia. More regional specificity helps position books with an Australian focus, and supports booksellers in matching local content to demand.
Increased Indigenous focus. Additional categories and qualifiers highlight Indigenous content and Connection to Country / Welcome to Country.
Support for UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). New qualifiers now cover individual SDGs offering a way to underscore books that address specific global issuers, making these titles more visible to conscientious consumers and educational markets
Additional subgenres and popular tropes. Thema 1.6 introduces more categories for popular fiction genres, including romance, with specific BookTok inspired tropes to tap into growing reader communities around these trends.
Find a full list of new codes and the updated Thema browser on the EDItEUR website.
Next steps for publishers
Review and enhance your Thema categories. With these updates now supported by TitlePage, this is an ideal prompt to give booksellers all the information they need to get your books into the hands of readers.
Prepare for a Thema-forward future. While BIC remains mandatory on TitlePage, Thema is strongly encouraged and will soon become a requirement as TitlePage transitions to a Thema-based search engine.
Update your backlist. Don’t forget that TitlePage can provide you with Thema translated BIC to help populate backlists.
Please reach out if you have questions about how the new Thema codes can best represent your titles.
We’ve recently updated the TitlePage search and title display to expand the price and availability data available to New Zealand booksellers.
When NZ supply information has been provided by publishers, we’ll continue to prioritise the localised data. We’re now displaying the currency code to indicate where a distributor might be providing an AUD price for NZ booksellers. But where NZ data isn’t available for a given ISBN, Australian supply information will be available for reference with an ‘AU:’ prefix.
We've also solved a registration bug that was effecting new signups from NZ Mac users.
TitlePage ONIX updates: what you need to know
ONIX 3.0 introduced significant improvements over its predecessor, enhancing data richness and flexibility. It marked a major step forward in addressing the evolving needs of the digital publishing landscape.
But metadata standards need constant evolution to respond to the changing needs of the industry. Two big changes for TitlePage offer a significant leap in the richness of metadata that you can provide within the Australian supply chain.
Codelist updates – new vocab for describing books
If ONIX is the language of product metadata, the codelists are its vocabulary. From the types of contributors involved in a book’s creation to the supporting resources or text types you might use to describe a book, we rely on codelists for controlled vocabularies.
Since its transition to ONIX 3.0 in 2019, TitlePage has supported up to codelist issue 49. In this latest TitlePage release, we've updated our system to support codelist issue 64, ratified earlier this year.
In future TitlePage will update quarterly for each new codelist issue, ensuring no delays for publishers eager to leverage the latest advancements in book metadata. Speak to your system administrator to make sure your internal software is also loaded with the latest codelists.
Out of the nearly 800 new codelist updates, here are just a few highlights to whet your appetite:
Identifying when the creator is or is assisted by generative AI
Flash cards and greeting cards, toys and handicrafts
ONIX 3.1 is here
TitlePage now supports ONIX 3.1, which was released by EDItEUR in 2023.The transition to ONIX 3.1 from ONIX 3.0 involves minor structural changes and the removal of deprecated elements.
While a comparatively minor update, it is not backwards compatible. As TitlePage did not support the deprecated elements, in practical terms the ONIX 3.0 accepted by TitlePage is ONIX 3.1 “ready”. Of course, more functionality will be added to ONIX 3.1 over time. All metadata provided to TitlePage will be translated to the new ONIX 3.1.
For a detailed comparison of the changes, please refer to the side-by-side summary in the TitlePage ONIX 3.X elements summary.
Publishers can continue to provide metadata to TitlePage in ONIX 3.0 format. Any publisher still operating in ONIX 2.1 should urgently upgrade to either ONIX 3.0 or 3.1, as ONIX 2.1 is now obsolete.
ONIX 3.1 will continue to support ongoing enhancements within the digital publishing ecosystem, and will continue to evolve to meet industry needs for the foreseeable future.
Hello and welcome to 2024!
Over the past year, TitlePage has undergone and released numerous major developments. To recap, the below are the major developments we have released so far:
SFTP - Publishers | Booksellers TitlePage has added SFTP support for better security.
ReST access and API tokens for bookstores The TitlePage RESTful Web Services offer a modern and comprehensive set of APIs for accessing bibliographic, price and availability information for products in the Australian book industry.These new APIs mean that booksellers, through their Point of Sale provider, can gain more flexible access to TitlePage data.
BIC to Thema translation - (What this means for: Publishers | Booksellers) This translation development is complete, and TitlePage now translates BIC to Thema for any record provided without native Thema.
TitlePage Express TitlePage’s browser extension that automatically detects valid ISBNs (ISBN-13) on webpages and provides quick access to TitlePage bibliographic data and images.
TitlePage search engine TitlePage quick search function allows you to search for TitlePage’s ISBNs, authors, directly from your internet browser’s address bar.
New TitlePage display The “new” TitlePage display went live to all TitlePage users on 6 June 2023. This display aims to offer a clean and modern book data, greatly improving readability. Booksellers and librarians can now access much more detailed information about books and their authors, while publishers have new ways to easily share additional materials and resources to support their titles.
You’ll also find that there have been additional smaller updates along the way - we've implemented a number of minor bug fixes and performance enhancements to improve your TitlePage experience. Navigate down the changelog posts below to find the release notes for these updates.
As always, you can let us know your ideas (or report any bugs) by clicking on the “GIVE FEEDBACK” drop down on our Roadmap site.
Transition to Thema: what you need to know
In February 2022, BIC announced that the BIC subject category scheme will become obsolete in February 2024. This doesn't mean those codes will cease to function overnight, but it is being phased out in favour of Thema.
We understand the scale of this change, and our goal is to make this transition as straightforward as possible.
Based on feedback from publishers and booksellers, TitlePage and the APA are adopting a flexible approach to ensure a smooth transition to Thema.
TitlePage translation
TitlePage will play a pivotal role by automatically translating BIC categories to Thema as we receive records without native Thema classifications.
This translation development is complete, and TitlePage now translates BIC to Thema for any record provided without native Thema. This translated Thema can be provided to you for ingestion into your systems to populate backlists.
The gradual rollout will ensure a seamless transition and avoid impact to TitlePage performance, while enabling retailers to use Thema alongside BIC sooner.
Explore training & resources
The APA has coordinated Thema training workshops with EDItEUR in early 2024. Learn more and book here,or express your interest for future sessions and we will schedule more based on demand.
Further training resources are available here:
You can also find answers to Frequently Asked Questions regarding this transition, which will be updated throughout the project.
In this month's update, we've implemented a number of minor bug fixes and performance enhancements.
Changes
Metadata subscription feed schedule | 31 October 2023
Booksellers receiving CSV exports may have noticed that the feed has now been updated to send 3 hours earlier to accommodate ongoing daylight savings times. This was in response to the delivery schedule of feeds gradually being delayed due to daylight savings, affecting business processes.
Bug fixes
Record reference error - block update change | 23 October 2023
When publishers were providing block or partial updates for titles which did not exist on TitlePage, publishers would receive a record reference error message. This has now been corrected and refined so that only block 6 updates without a record on file should be skipped. If a block update was provided for blocks 1-5, notification type will be changed to '03' if an existing record is not found.
As always, you can let us know your ideas (or report any bugs) by clicking on the “GIVE FEEDBACK” drop down on our Roadmap site.
TitlePage has undergone some changes that may affect your operations. These updates are part of our ongoing efforts to enhance security and usability on TitlePage, with further upgrades in development.
It’s crucial that the information below is not ignored, but it is intended for knowledgeable IT staff, so we suggest contacting your technical partner if uncertain. Please note, if you use CircleSoft, BookNet, Ebility or Tower, we are already in touch with them. If you are using another system, please reach out to them as soon as possible.
Consider all your systems
When considering the changes below, evaluate all the systems you have interacting with TitlePage, whether it's your point of sale, website, or API - or simply the browser you use to interact with TitlePage.
Using up-to-date browsers and systems doesn't just give you a better experience, it helps maximise security and performance.
HTTPS access
TitlePage has long supported HTTPS, a secure way to browse the web. We're shifting further in this direction to improve security. We're actively working to minimise, and eventually eliminate, legacy HTTP traffic. This improves data security by encrypting information during transmission.
Action: this move to HTTPS may also require updating your API endpoints, as an HTTP to HTTPS redirect can disrupt API integrations. Certain domain structures, coordinated with POS providers, will temporarily maintain HTTP while transition occurs.
HTTP support will not be indefinite, so if you're unable to switch from HTTP to HTTPS, please inform us as soon as possible to discuss alternative solutions.
Transport Layer Security (TLS)
By December, older TLS versions will no longer be supported. To ensure data safety, systems need to support TLS 1.2 as a minimum. This change is in line with our hosting provider, AWS.
Action: Please consult your software or POS providers to understand if this affects you.
SOAP to REST
While we still offer legacy support for the TitlePage SOAP APIs, we strongly encourage you to transition to our new, advanced REST APIs. They're more robust, are easier to work with, and better suited for modern web practices. Our modern RESTful web services offer a wider range of functionality – and this is just the beginning.
Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP)
While many of you currently retrieve TitlePage metadata via FTP, we’ve upgraded to support SFTP. It's the same process but with enhanced security measures.
Action: Switch to SFTP simply by updating your connection details to ‘sftp://…’
During this transition, the same credentials you currently use to access FTP will allow you to access SFTP.
Although FTP will still be functional, FTP support will not be indefinite.
Browser and system requirements
Outdated browsers can hinder your TitlePage experience, whereas modern browsers are evergreen. Legacy browsers will limit you to the older product display, and may experience further service issues as the legacy gap increases.
Action: To fully enjoy the new (and future) TitlePage features, please ensure you meet the following system requirements:
Minimum Operating Systems:
Mac: OSX El Capitan
Windows: Windows 7
Supported browsers:
Microsoft Edge version 80 onwards
Google Chrome version 80 onwards
Mozilla Firefox version 78 onwards
Safari 14.1 onwards
Opera version 68 onwards
Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP)
If you're currently sending your metadata via FTP, you should know that we've added SFTP support for better security.
Action: Switch to SFTP simply by updating your connection details to ‘sftp://…’
The same credentials you currently use to access FTP will allow you to access SFTP.
In this month's update, we've implemented a number of minor bug fixes and performance enhancements.
Bug fixes
Opening in new tab | 18 July 2023
Clicking on a title should now automatically open in a new tab. There had been a bug which did not allow users to right-click on a title and open the page in either a new tab or window. Opening in a new window would revert back to the search page instead of the title information page. This has now been updated to clicking on a title that would automatically open in a new tab, skipping the right-click motion.
HTML text rendering | 27 July 2023
The rendering issue has now been corrected. Previously in some cases, the HTML formatting markup was not rendering and displaying incorrectly, showing plain text symbols instead, on both the TitlePage display and TitlePage Express browser extension. This bug mainly affected publishers providing XHTML markup within their feed, as our ONIX 3.0 exporter (from ONIX 2.1 to ONIX 3.0) had not translated the text format correctly and defaulted to plain text “06”.
As always, you can let us know your ideas (or report any bugs) by clicking on the “GIVE FEEDBACK” drop down on our Roadmap site.
In this month's update, we've implemented a number of minor bug fixes and performance enhancements.
Bug fixes
TitlePage Express | 14 June 2023
Bug relating to the handling of hyphenated ISBNs has now been resolved. This allows the browser extension to search TitlePage successfully for ISBN-13s that are displayed including one or more hyphen.
Supply information display | 23 June 2023
Occasionally, there was duplication of supplier information on the new TitlePage display, this has now been corrected.
Publication date has been removed from the “Key Info” tab as the information is already listed in other components of the new display.
When multiple or complicated market information was supplied within metadata feeds, the supply information was only displaying the Australian market. This has now been corrected and should display supply information for all markets provided within the publisher’s metadata.
BIC information | 27 June 2023
Previously, BIC Main Subject was only displayed on the “Key Info” tab and was missing from the “Classifications" tab. Both BIC and Thema Main Subject (if provided) should now be displayed on both the “Key Info” and “Classifications” tab.
As always, you can let us know your ideas (or report any bugs) by clicking on the “GIVE FEEDBACK” drop down on our Roadmap site.
In August 2022 we made our new TitlePage display available to booksellers for the first time, offering a clean and modern view of book data, greatly improving readability.
After testing and feedback from booksellers, this display went live to all TitlePage users on 6 June 2023 alongside a range of upgrades to TitlePage including APIs, a browser extension, and new searching and linking functionality.
The new product record, based on the comprehensive ONIX 3.0 metadata standard, also takes the ambitious goal to display all information that could be provided by TitlePage Publishers – up to 4000 possible values spread across more than 1000 fields.
Only a small subset of what is possible has previously been displayed on TitlePage, so Publishers now have the opportunity to greatly enrich the information they make available to TitlePage users, and the users of TitlePage data in their POS and websites.
Booksellers and librarians can now access much more detailed information about books and their authors, while publishers have new ways to easily share additional materials and resources to support their titles. The new display prioritises the information booksellers need most frequently, while allowing easy navigation to more detailed supporting information.
If you have any questions or comments on the new display, please let us know via titlepage@publishers.asn.au or via the support widget on TitlePage.
What this means for publishers?
This means Publishers should assess their ONIX feeds and the data they provide to take full advantage of the new TitlePage display.
Booksellers are especially keen to see the following data and resources in particular:
key supply info (such as stock ETAs, returns conditions, pack sizes, dimensions, safety warnings)
more info on authors/contributors (nationality, bio, photos)
supporting resources (such as teacher/student notes, age range/audience, book club guides, related products/alternative editions)
key marketing metadata (prizes, reviews, endorsements)
There is a place in ONIX 3.0 for any and all information and resources created by publishers to support and promote their titles – and now, a place on TitlePage as well.
Should you have any questions about the TitlePage developments, get in touch via titlepage@publishers.asn.au.
TitlePage Web Services API Guide
The TitlePage RESTful Web Services offer a modern and comprehensive set of APIs for accessing bibliographic, price and availability information for products in the Australian book industry.
These new APIs mean that booksellers, through their Point of Sale provider, can gain more flexible access to TitlePage data. This includes new release and promotional information or resources, and the wealth of comprehensive metadata that TitlePage offers. There’s also the potential for live bookseller stock updates and greater e-commerce opportunities, which could help readers more easily locate products at their local bookshops.
For publishers the new API services also present opportunities for real-time stock and supply chain updates, a highly requested feature from booksellers.
To get started with the TitlePage APIs, download the API documentation to understand what’s involved and request an access token to use the API service.
TitlePage Express is a browser extension that brings TitlePage data directly to your internet browsing. It finds ISBNs and provides quick access to TitlePage bibliographic data and images.
Using TitlePage Express
TitlePage Express automatically detects valid ISBNs (ISBN-13) on any webpages, and displays a small blue TitlePage icon next to them. This icon provides users with one click access to detailed information about that ISBN.
Easily discover the title, subtitle, author and format information, along with images, metadata keywords, and more – all from an ISBN and one click.
Installing TitlePage Express
You can download the TitlePage Express extension in the Chrome Web Store, which is also available on Microsoft Edge. A guide to TitlePage Express can be found here.
Visit the TitlePage Zendesk to learn how to turn TitlePage into your browser’s ‘book search engine’.
The enhanced searching and linking features on TitlePage are designed to make your experience faster, easier, and more seamless than ever.
We've optimised our platform to allow effortless linking back to TitlePage, ensuring the most accurate and up-to-date bibliographic information is always easily accessible.
Our new search functions allow you to search TitlePage directly from your browser's address bar. This not only accelerates your search experience, but also streamlines your workflow by providing direct access to TitlePage's comprehensive book information.
Our URL structure simplifies your search and navigation. Here's how it works:
To access information about a specific book, use the ISBN-13 in the URL like this: www.titlepage.com/item/9780734421142
Alternatively, to conduct a broader search, use the search term format in the URL like this: https://titlepage.com/item/?s=SEARCH TERM Your search term could be an author name, title, ISBN-13 or a combination of author or title (partial or complete title) to search for books on TitlePage. Where your search has multiple words/parts, you can simply use a space in between as above, but if you want to use this link elsewhere or send to someone else, use a + to ensure it’s recognised as a standard hyperlink. Here are some examples to get you started:
These enhanced linking features are designed to streamline your browsing experience. If you're not logged in to your TitlePage account when you click a link, you'll first be directed to the login page to ensure secure access.
If your search yields a single result, you'll be taken straight to that specific product record. If there are multiple results, you'll land on a search results page, where you can easily navigate to the book details you need.