Genres, sub-genres, and topics
Three taxonomies and when to use each.
Genres, sub-genres, and topics are how your catalogue is organized. Used well, they make browsing intuitive. Used poorly, they make a mess.
Genre
The top-level category. A book has exactly one genre. Common library genres include:
- Fiction
- Biography
- History
- Reference
- Children's
- Mystery
- Science
- Cooking
- Self-help
Your genres should reflect your collection. A specialty library will pick a different set — a theological library might use Theology, Liturgy, and Church History; a culinary library might use Baking, Cuisine by region, and Food History. Pick names that match your books.
Manage genres at Settings → Catalog → Genres. Add, rename, or merge.
Sub-genre
A finer slice of a genre. Optional. A book has at most one sub-genre.
Examples:
- Fiction → Historical, Mystery, Romance, Literary, Young Adult
- History → American, European, Ancient, Modern
- Biography → Historical figures, Cultural icons, Modern lives
Topics
Cross-cutting themes. A book can have any number of topics. Topics are free-form tags you create as you go.
Examples: Leadership, Travel, Cooking, Parenting, Personal Finance
Tags
Short labels for filtering. Tags are different from topics — they're shorter and more functional.
Examples: for-teens, summer-reading, book-club, staff-pick
Which to use when
- Genre — Where does this book live on the shelf? (Fiction, Biography, History)
- Sub-genre — Within that section, what's the niche? (Historical Fiction)
- Topic — What's it about? (Leadership, Parenting, Travel)
- Tag — Who's the audience or what's the use case? (for-teens, summer-reading)
Keeping it clean
- Pick a set of ~10-15 genres and stick with them
- Add sub-genres only when your genre has too many books to browse
- Topics tend to grow — that's fine, they're not displayed prominently
- Merge or rename anytime from Settings
For more on best practices, see "Naming conventions for genres and topics".