The document summarizes the changes made to the BISAC Subject Codes in 2015, including the addition of two new sections - Young Adult Fiction (YAF) and Young Adult Nonfiction (YAN). This was done after several years of discussion and surveys which found support for separate codes for young adult/teen content. Guidelines are provided on classifying works between the new YA sections and existing Juvenile sections. Publishers are advised to implement the new codes by the end of January to avoid data issues.

1. BISAC Subjects 2015 Edition
Connie Harbison
January 14, 2016

2.  The Subject Committee has a long history of considering
changes to the JUV/JNF sections based on comments from
users.
 September 2003: “There is definitely a need for a new
section for Young Adults. The section could most likely
include both Fiction and Non Fiction terms, depending on
the quantity of terms that will be needed for non-fiction.”
 Then in October 2003 (after research): “This month’s
attendees reversed the consensus reached in the prior
month, concluding that a separate Teen or Youth section
was not in the best interests of the overall Code List.”
 Topic taken up again in 2011.
 Dedicated meeting open to all BISG membership held June 2011
 Outcome: “The overall feeling seemed to be that a significant and
visible ROI would be needed to make such a large change.”

3. Issue raised again in 2014.
BISG office:
 Sent survey to entire membership
 Conducted focused interviews with stakeholders.

4. Would you find it valuable if BISAC included
specific codes for young adult/ teen
content?

5.  3M
 Amazon.com
 Baker & Taylor
 Barnes & Noble
 Bowker
 Capstone
 Hachette
 Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt
 Nielsen
 Penguin Random
House
 Simon & Schuster

6.  Young adult/teen content would
benefit from its own subject
classification:
 Potential sales opportunity
 It has become its own subject
 Awards (esp. ALA awards) tracking
 Helps with unreliable or not provided
audience codes and age/grade ranges

7.  Committee met several times in February 2015 to discuss
scenarios for creating YA sections.
 The committee agreed on presenting the following four scenarios:
 Add two new sections for YA Fiction and Nonfiction; leave JUV/JNF as is.
 Change literal of JUV/JNF and make sections more robust for YA.
 Inactivate all JUV/JNF; add sections for Picture Books, Middle Grade, and Young
Adult.
 Do nothing – leave JUV/JNF sections as they are.
 Two town hall meetings were held in March 2015.
 During these meetings, perceived problem was addressed as well as
how each scenario would solve that problem.
 Committee recommendation was the addition of the new
sections.

8.  Changes may allow for more granular sales
analysis of juvenile titles.
 Provides a standard for age range distinction
between “Children” and “Young Adult”.
 Publishers must ensure that the BISAC they provide
corresponds to age range.
 In some cases, the changes will force adoption
of newest version of BISAC.

9.  Potential for massive recoding and migration
issues for both publishers and data aggregators.
 Requires publisher compliance between BISAC
provided and ONIX age range and audience
provided in age range composite.
 Titles spanning the age “cut-off” between
Children and Young Adult (e.g., the Harry Potter
series or Robert Sabuda titles) may lead to
confusion.

10.  What if the change is met with resistance and
failure to adopt?
 Parties using different versions will be providing data with a
different meaning than intended.
 Migration must be done at once – you cannot send part of
your list in one edition and part in another edition.
 Failure to implement the changes in a timely and accurate
manner could actually result in lost sales.
 Failure to migrate properly will result in data corruption.

11.  For the 2015 edition, the Subject Codes
Committee created two new sections, YOUNG
ADULT FICTION (YAF) and YOUNG ADULT
NONFICTION (YAN).
 Survey was distributed by BISG to determine most
preferred name for section (Young Adult vs. Teen).
 Based on the legacy JUVENILE FICTION and JUVENILE
NONFICTION sections, but adapted for the young adult
audience.
 JUV/JNF Subjects not relevant to YA audience were
removed and relevant subjects from the (adult) FICTION
section were added to YOUNG ADULT FICTION.

12.  Committee closed 2015 Edition in
September.
 21st edition of the BISAC subjects.
 2015 edition includes:
 512 additions (446 YAF/YAN);
 75 literal changes;
 18 inactivations
 Approved November 2015; released December
2015.

13. Grade range: 10-12
Ages range: 15+
Now:
JUVENILE FICTION / Fantasy & Magic
JUVENILE FICTION / Love & Romance
Will change to:
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Fantasy /
Wizards & Witches
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Romance /
Paranormal

14.  The Subject Committee will provide users with
recommendations for moving from inactivated to
valid codes.
 May not be a one-to-one move (from one code to another);
may instead provide users with a number of options
depending on the title’s subject matter and audience.
 The Subject Committee has developed a mapping
table to assist publishers with transition to the new
edition.
 Mapping table is one-to-one mapping from JUV/JNF to
YAF/YAN.
 In some cases, a more specific YA code will have to
be assigned manually.

15. Grade range: 7-9
Ages range: 12-14
Now:
JUVENILE FICTION / Fantasy & Magic
JUVENILE FICTION / Mysteries & Detective Stories
Will map to:
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Fantasy / General
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Mysteries & Detective
Stories
Better subject (than Fantasy /
General):
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Magical Realism
(no direct map from a JUV heading)

16. Grade range: 7-9
Ages range: 12-14
Now:
JUVENILE FICTION / LGBT
JUVENILE FICTION / Love & Romance
Will map to:
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / LGBT
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Romance / General
Best subject:
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Romance / LGBT
(no direct map from a JUV heading)

17.  The Committee suggests the following
age/grade demarcations for each section:
Heading Age Range Grade Range
JUVENILE FICTION (JUV) 0-11 Preschool-6
JUVENILE NONFICTION (JNF) 0-11 Preschool-6
YOUNG ADULT FICTION (YAF) 12-18 7-12
YOUNG ADULT NONFICTION (YAN) 12-18 7-12

18.  For content that spans age or grade ranges, the user must
decide for which audience the material is better suited –
children or young adults.
 Often heard comments that users wanted to mix the new
young adult headings with “adult” headings for those titles
that have appeal to readers over the age of 18. (For
example, users expressed the desire to use both YAF and
FIC headings on titles.)
 The Committee does not endorse this as a best practice.
 Because the Committee’s stance is that the young adult
headings should not be used with headings outside of
their own section, we cannot guarantee that data
recipients will not modify BISAC subjects in violation of
that best practice.

19.  Committee recommendation for 2015 Edition
implementation target date:
 Publishers have expressed concern that their data recipients will
reject the YAF and YAN codes if their systems are not ready and
erroneously add JUV and JNF codes to YA titles.
 Data senders could also continue sending JUV and JNF headings
on YA titles if they do not adopt the new codes in a timely
manner, thus causing issues for recipients.
 Recommended implementation date – end of January.
 Education (e.g., webinars) planned through by
BISG.

20.  Contact:
connie.harbison@baker-taylor.com
 For complete 2015 Edition (including
inactivations), go to:
https://www.bisg.org/bisac/bisac-subject-codes
@BISAC_Subjects