This spotlight explains how to use place and time qualifiers effectively – especially in light of the new and expanded Australian place qualifiers added in Thema 1.6.
From evocative landscapes to historical backdrops, publishers know that setting matters. Place and time often play a defining role in how a book is understood and discovered, and how readers engage with a story. Whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, a book’s connection to a particular setting or period can be central to how it's marketed, sold, shelved, studied, or discovered.
Thema separates out place and time as qualifiers that can be used alongside any subject category. This lets you build specificity from general codes: a title tagged simply “History” can become “20th century history” or “History of the South Coast (NSW)” – or both. Rather than overwhelming the subject scheme with ultra-specific codes, Thema lets you layer in detail when it’s needed. That makes it powerful, flexible, and adaptable across different contexts.
Time and place qualifiers are two of the most powerful tools in this system:
This structure isn’t just about tidy classification – it’s about reflecting how people think, read, and search. Readers often seek out books that reflect their own lives, communities, or histories. Others are drawn to places and periods very different from their own. This holds whether they’re reading for pleasure or purpose – like educators curating lesson content, researchers tracing regional histories, or booksellers recommending a local read.
Place and time qualifiers are particularly valuable for:
- Fiction with a strong sense of time or location – where the setting is as key as the characters.
- Adding precision to nonfiction or educational resources with broad subject codes.
- Titles with regional relevance, or export potential to readers with ties to particular places.
In this spotlight, we’ll explore how to use place and time qualifiers effectively – especially in light of the new and expanded Australian place qualifiers added in Thema 1.6. We'll also explore the time period qualifiers, and when they are most useful. We’ll explain the concept of synonyms especially in relation to place names, and why what’s currently in Thema is only a starting point.
How do qualifiers work? What are Time Period and Place qualifiers?
In Thema, qualifiers add detail and nuance to a subject code. While the subject category tells us what a book is about, qualifiers help describe where, when, how, or for whom. They don’t replace the subject – they enrich it.
In Thema, a book can have multiple subject codes and multiple qualifiers – each providing more context. And importantly, each qualifier applies to every subject code listed, so they should all be relevant to the book as a whole. The book is about something, but the details are in the qualifiers that modify the subject.
In some cases, a time period qualifier could relate to when the book was written rather than when it was set – but this is a special case, where the publication informs the subject matter as much if not more than the period of the setting.
For example, Victor Hugo's sweeping 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame is probably more helpfully qualified with a 19th century time period qualifier than 15th – as it stands as one of the most beloved works of 19th century French literature.
National extensions in Thema
Australia’s newly expanded set of place qualifiers in Thema 1.6 is a great example of National Extensions in action. They allow books to be discoverable not just under 1MBF – Australia, but through more precise regional or cultural references like 1MBF-AU-VB – Great Ocean Road, or 1MBF-AU-XB – Uluru.
Because of Thema’s hierarchical nature, outside of the local market, a recipient can choose to categorise with less specificity: 1MBF-AU-VB – Great Ocean Road might be too specific, but 1MBF-AU-V – Victoria , or even 1MBF – Australia might still be very valuable.
The Australian market does not currently have any National Extensions time period qualifiers, but this is something we should collectively consider. Universal time period markers are available to all markets, but may miss the contextual nuance and detail that could be added with a National Extension.
For example, a book discussing the British colonial period of Australia's history could use one or more of:
- 3MLQ – Later 18th century c 1750 to c 1799
- 3MN – 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899
- 3MPBA – c 1900 to c 1909
However it is probably more helpful for us to request an Australian national extension time period qualifier that covers the years of 1788–1901 in an explicitly Australian context.
If there’s a time period that is especially relevant to a national context, those could be added as national extensions. These codes may still be usable internationally if the time range is appropriate, even if the label has local meaning.
Examples of national extension time period qualifiers from other markets include:
- 3KLY-GB-F – c 1455 to c 1487 (period of the English Wars of the Roses)
- 3MLQ-US-B – c 1765 to 1783 (American Revolutionary period)
- 3MPBLB-PL-A – 1943 (period of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising)
- 3MPQ-ES-C – c 1982 to present (Spanish democratic period)
Like the national extension place qualifiers, a recipient can still choose to be less specific by travelling up the hierarchy – for example, from 3KLY-GB-F – c 1455 to c 1487 (period of the English Wars of the Roses) to 3KLY – 15th century, c 1400 to c 1499.
What Australian time period qualifiers are needed that can’t be effectively described using universal time period qualifiers? Get in touch if you have suggestions!
Australian place qualifiers
Thema 1.6 introduced an expanded set of Australian place qualifiers to better reflect the cultural and geographical landscape of the market. These are national extensions of the core 1MBF – Australia code, developed through the APA’s participation in the Thema International Steering Committee.
But these are only the beginning, and require input from the publishers and booksellers using these codes in order to refine what level of specificity is required by our market.
Just a few of the new Australian place qualifiers include:
These codes reflect both widely used geographic descriptors and culturally significant regions, where significant volumes of publishing activity exists. You should always use the most specific code available. If a work covers multiple regions, multiple place qualifiers can be used (but keep it meaningful – don’t add ten).
What are synonyms and “Also class here” notes?
Within Thema, you’ll often see notes like “also class here”, and synonyms. These are not separate codes – they’re classification instructions and search mapping. This helps guide consistent tagging and interpretation, and can map a user’s search to the most appropriate category area, even if an exact search match doesn’t exist.
These exist across the entire Thema structure – for example, “cooking mysteries” don’t (yet) deserve their own subject category, but instead are an “also class here” for FFJ – Crime and mystery: cosy mystery. But these synonyms are particularly relevant for Place qualifiers, and this is an area where we as an Australian market can readily add more.
Thema intentionally avoids creating separate codes for every locality or alternative name. Instead, synonyms (and local naming knowledge) guide users to the best-fit qualifier.
In some cases, a location may be known by multiple names – such as traditional and colonially imposed place names, or a name that has changed due to historical or political reasons. These can be handled through the use of synonyms.
For example:
- 1MBF-AU-QH – K’gari has ‘Also class here: Fraser Island, Kgari’ to enable searches for both to find the books in question. More work is needed to add Indigenous names to the existing – and future – Australian place qualifiers.
- 1MBF-AU-NB – Blue Mountains has ‘Also class here: Blue Mountains National Park, Three Sisters, Leura, Katoomba, Jenolan Caves’
That means if your book is set in or about Leura, the correct qualifier is still 1MBF-AU-NB – the synonym just helps confirm that this is the right place code to use.
As you are using these codes, make a note of where additional synonyms and class here notes are needed and let us know.
How to apply place and time qualifiers
Step 1: Consider whether place or time are core to the book
Is the story about a place or time, or is that just incidental?
Place and time qualifiers should only be used when they meaningfully contribute to the classification of the work. Is the story deeply rooted in a particular landscape or historical moment, or is that context incidental? Whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, ask is this book about a particular place or time – or does it simply happen to take place there?
For example:
- A non-fiction account of a Queensland flood
- A local history of the Barossa Valley
- A biography grounded in a particular town, region, or cultural landscape
- A YA novel that explores identity through the lens of suburban Perth
- A travel guide or memoir organised around a specific region
- A First Nations story tied to Country
These are all books where setting or era is more than just a backdrop – it shapes the subject matter, perspective, or readership.
Another way to assess place is to consider:
- Would someone from or interested in that region find the book more relevant or appealing because of its connection to that place?
- Would a bookseller or librarian highlight it for that reason?
If yes, add the place qualifier!
On the flip side, if the book could easily take place somewhere else without altering its meaning, leave it out.
Step 2: Choose the right place qualifier (1*)
Place qualifiers help express when a book is about a particular location – whether that’s geographic, cultural, ecological or political. Use the most specific place code available to ensure the title is accurately classified and more easily discovered.
For example:
You can also combine place qualifiers to capture multiple relevant locations – such as a travelogue through the Kimberley and Central Australia. Avoid using generic 1MBF – Australia if a more specific regional code is appropriate.
Would a reader be searching for a more specific locality than is currently available, but it doesn’t currently come up as a synonym? Especially for Australian locations, it won’t be added unless you suggest it. Either suggest it as a synonym for an existing place qualifier, or make a case that there is a significant volume of works published about or set in this location, and that it therefore deserves its own qualifier.
Step 3: Add time period qualifiers (3*) when useful
Time qualifiers help anchor a book in a specific era, adding clarity and improving discoverability – especially for history, historical fiction, and educational materials. Use them when time isn’t just incidental, but meaningfully shapes the book’s subject, content, or appeal.
Time qualifiers are particularly useful when:
- A non-fiction title covers a defined historical period (for instance Cold War politics, post-war reconstruction, or the Gold Rush).
- The publication era is relevant to the book’s theme or context, and it might be considered a source about that era (for instance feminist texts of the 1970s).
- A fiction work is set in a recognisable historical moment that is core to the narrative (for instance World War I, or the Depression era).
Don’t add a time qualifier just because the book is “in the past” – if the specific era isn’t central to how the book is marketed, shelved, or understood, it likely doesn’t need one. As always, be guided by whether time enhances the discoverability and relevance of the subject.