what's new & what to do in 2018 publishing standards - tom richardson - jan 2018
TRANSCRIPT
What’s New & What to Do in 2018 Publishing Standards
A Prescriptive Perspective
Tom Richardson
January 16, 2018
Standards and Certification
There is need for change
Standards and Certification
There is need for change
and that is cause for optimism.
Standards and Certification
Retailers, libraries and other end users say
the publisher metadata that’s available is
inadequate to their planning and business needs.
Standards and Certification
Retailers, libraries and other end users say
the publisher metadata that’s available is
inadequateto their planning and business needs.
Publishers and content creators cite metadata creation costs as prohibitive.
Standards and Certification
The North American publishing industry
is talking about it and diverse players,
including libraries,
are looking for ways to work with publishers.
Standards and Certification
If you feel you have done the work you need to, and you’re not seeing an uptake of it, or it’s not being delivered to you,and you’re not seeing the results you want:
That’s what you need to talk (and listen) about.
Standards and Certification
Identifiers
ISBN-13 rules for book metadata.
It’s well past time to update any ISBN-10 based reports.
Standards and Certification
Libraries.
Can we work more closely with them?
Standards and Certification
A library’s clients are diverse.
• Accessibility metadata is important to them and should be part of digital plans & feeds.
• “Discovery data” & “related to” specific groups is important to them. They are directly matching clients and books together.
Librarians are professionals that have high expectations for metadata.
Standards and Certification
Print and digital supply chains may seem split to a publisher, but
• They are just format options in the metadata.
• They are just purchase options for libraries.
• They are just options for consumers.
If your company handles the print and digital metadata separately you should think about amalgamating it.
Standards and Certification
Library metadata is based on work identifiers,
ISBNs are secondary order numbers.
Standards and Certification
A proprietorial work identifier is not very useful in an aggregated database of metadata.
Standards and Certification
ISNI Internationals Standard Name Identifier
http://www.isni.org/search
Around 50% or more of your authors
already have an ISNI.
Start adding them to your Contributor data.
Standards and Certification
Long term, should we work more with libraries?
Not every metadata problem can or should be solved by publishers on their own.
Standards and Certification
Subjects -- Thema & BISAC
BISAC rules as a North American subject standard.
BookNet Canada recommends that you develop Thema alongside BISAC.
Standards and Certification
Thema
• It allows Canadians to participate fully in its development.
• We can add Canadian-specific values.
BISAC and Thema working together may actually improve subject classification.
Standards and Certification
BISAC Subject Codes are designed for what sells in the US & North America
• Ideal for the one or two codes that define a book to a retailer and place it in the overall North American market
Standards and Certification
Thema Subject Codes are also designed to support retail sales
• Ideal for creating a subject overview with markers for geography, time, language as well as merchandising and specialized qualifiers
Standards and Certification
Accuracy. It’s important in all
– subject classifications,
– keywords and
– audience assessment.
And all metadata in general.
Standards and Certification
Subject classification is always worth thinking about.
Standards and Certification
Metadata & ONIX
ONIX 2.1 is no longer a supported metadata standard
ONIX 3.0 use is increasing but print metadata remains exclusively 2.1
Standards and Certification
There is recognition that the status quo can’t be maintained
ONIX 2.1 is increasingly being required to be delivered in “flavours.”
Standards and Certification
ONIX 2.1 vs 3.0 matters a lot less than it seems.
ONIX 3.0 really is just a “tweaked” version of ONIX 2.1.
Standards and Certification
Data creators say implementing the changes are too hard.
End users don’t know if the changes are an improvement
because they can’t get enough to test from.
Standards and Certification
Delivering Timely, High-Quality Metadata
BISG Webinar from Jan 10, 2018
Available at: www.bisg.orgEvents / Watch Past Webinars / General section
(at bottom)
Standards and Certification
What’s Canada’s route forward?
Standards and Certification
Discovery metadata is as much a business need as developing an intricate Price communication strategy to handle sub-licensing options.
Standards and Certification
The need to accept 10% data
Standards and Certification
Feedback – how do we increase it?
Standards and Certification
PUBLISHERS:
• If you’ve improved your data, be sure to tell retailers how it’s changed and what they can rely on.
• Look for, promote, and politic for feedback.
• Be accurate, say nothing you don’t mean and update your data regularly.
• Check your actual ONIX metadata – what’s in your database isn’t always in the file.
Standards and Certification
DISTRIBUTORS:
• Work with your publishers to improve the accuracy of their metadata.
• Discuss what values should be supplied when you know the data hasn’t been updated in a timely way
Standards and Certification
RETAILERS, LIBRARIES / WHOLESALERS AND ANY OTHER DATA USER
• Feedback. Talk about and document your pain. Help publishers and distributors improve.
• What can you trade, what metadata do you support, how might you contribute to publisher metadata that would save you time?
Standards and Certification
Accept that hundreds of data suppliers servicing thousands of publishers will never create perfect data.
Learn to cherry pick the good data.
Look for the best 10% and don’t base your data practice on an average of what 90% supply.
Thank [email protected]
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