Book Metadata Checker

Book metadata is the data that follows your title through the supply chain: the ISBN, title, contributors, description, subject classifications, format, price, publication date, and territorial rights. When any of it is missing, malformed, or misplaced, retailer and distributor systems reject the record — or worse, publish the wrong information.

A book metadata checker examines the file you send to trading partners and reports exactly which fields break the rules before your recipients see them.

What metadata validation covers

• Structure. For ONIX for Books files — the industry standard for book metadata — every element must appear in the order the official schema defines. Structural errors block entire feeds.
• Identifiers. ISBNs must be present, correctly formatted, and pass check-digit verification. Duplicate record references within a feed cause records to overwrite each other.
• Core descriptive data. Titles, contributor names and roles, descriptions, and subject codes drive discovery on every product page.
• Commercial terms. Prices need currencies, dates need valid formats, and supply details must be complete for a record to be purchasable.
• Code-list conformance. ONIX fields draw from EDItEUR code lists; values outside the list are meaningless to receiving systems.

Checking ONIX metadata files

Most publishers exchange metadata as ONIX XML. Our free validator checks ONIX 2.1, 3.0, and 3.1 files against the official EDItEUR schemas, groups every issue by book record, and explains each problem in publishing language with concrete repair steps — no sign-up required.