BookMachine

  • Explore
    • About
    • BookMachine Blog
      • Audio
      • Business
      • Design
      • Editorial
      • Marketing and Publicity
      • Production
      • Tech
    • BookMachine Editorial Board
  • Membership
  • Publishing Events
  • CAMPUS
  • For Companies
    • BookMachine Agency
    • BookMachine Sprints
    • BookMachine for Teams

    Cart

    No products in the cart.

    Sign in Sign up

    BookMachine

    Cart

    No products in the cart.

    BookMachine

    • Explore
      • About
      • BookMachine Blog
        • Audio
        • Business
        • Design
        • Editorial
        • Marketing and Publicity
        • Production
        • Tech
      • BookMachine Editorial Board
    • Membership
    • Publishing Events
    • CAMPUS
    • For Companies
      • BookMachine Agency
      • BookMachine Sprints
      • BookMachine for Teams
    Sign in Sign up

    The First Step Towards a Metadata Strategy

    Ian Synge October 14, 2019
    Ian Synge

    For a popular topic in the industry today, metadata is easily misunderstood. I believe that is because everyone has their own subtly different definition of what exactly “metadata” means – and for good reason. Metadata in action is very context dependent, and really can look and act differently depending on the application.

    Regardless of the nuances, we can all agree: metadata is important.

    Stream the Webinar

    Relative Meaning of Metadata

    Let’s dig into the variations in context a bit.

    If you’re a trade publisher, your metadata goals will focus on visibility. Trade book consumers no longer walk to their local bookstore or Powell’s City of Books and ask a knowledgeable staffer for help. Now, readers have to self-serve on ecommerce websites. Therefore, trade publishers rely on metadata to surface content on delivery channels like book wholesalers or platforms like Amazon.com.

    For a scholarly publisher, the use cases become more diverse. Of course, scholarly publishers also need metadata to enable readers to source content through keyword searches. Additionally, these publishers rely on metadata to support workflows, like those in Open Access (OA) publishing. Metadata can also play a part in the overall reach or influence of these publishers’ titles.

    In B2B publishing, metadata facilitates the collection of content for delivery across multi-channel platforms. These publishers are motivated to leverage their editorial work in as many ways as possible in order to maximize the amount of revenue that comes in. Metadata opens the door for them to tie into a system like an ad sales platform, for example.

    Maximizing Metadata

    There are things that any publisher can start doing today that can lead to real progress in the adoption of a healthy metadata strategy. I recommend answering these questions as a shortcut to making metadata strategy seem like less of an abstract idea and more like a real tool for delivering practical value.

    • What do I want to do with my information?
      • Do I need more sales?
      • Do I need more discoverability?
      • Do I need better interoperability between systems?
    • What is my vocabulary?
    • What do I already have in place?
    • Who are the members of my community, and how do they behave?
    • How do people find content within my current system?
    • What are the frustrations that people experience in my current system?

    When applied strategically, metadata optimizes business processes and removes impediments. You can sell more – and sell more effectively. If users can find your content, they can consume your content.

    Get Started

    For me, it’s important to keep in mind that getting metadata right is the journey of a thousand miles, as the Chinese proverb says. There will be diversions along the route. The destination may change. But regardless, the journey starts with a single step. Sometimes, you just need to start.

    What are you waiting for?

    Ian Synge is a Principal Consultant at Copyright Clearance Center with particular specialisation in knowledge management, taxonomies, and categorisation. He has delivered projects for major international organisations in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia focusing on helping them dynamically make sense of large datasets. Ian has a longstanding enthusiasm for knowledge organization; his Ph.D. thesis (Aberystwyth, 2002) focused on the taxonomic interpretation of naval diplomacy during the late cold war.

    Our thanks to the Copyright Clearance Center for giving us permission to share this article from their very informative blog – check out all their articles here.

    Categories: Articles, Metadata

    Next event

    Wed 27

    Wednesday Wisdom: Live interview with Typefi and Hachette Antoine

    27 January @ 1:00 pm - 1:30 pm GMT

    View More…

    Blog Topics

    • Audio
    • Business
    • Design
    • Editorial
    • Marketing and Publicity
    • Production
    • Tech

    Recent posts

    • Get 10-15% off BIC Training courses

    • The Printing Charity

    • Get 25% off a BookBrunch subscription

    • Get 20% off Society of Young…

    • Save £37 on your first year…

    BookMachine sponsors, partners & supporters 2021

    Mailchimp Partner
    BookMachine We love your books
    © 2021 - BookMachine Ltd.
    • BookMachine Privacy Policy
    • BookMachine Terms of Use
    • Cookie policy (UK)
    • Contact us
    • Become a CAMPUS Tutor
    • Cookie Policy (EU)


    Sign up to our Newsletter

    Report Content

    Harassment or bullying behavior
    Contains mature or sensitive content
    Contains misleading or false information
    Contains abusive or derogatory content
    Contains spam, fake content or potential malware

    Block Member?

    Please confirm you want to block this member.

    You will no longer be able to:

    • See blocked member's posts
    • Mention this member in posts
    • Invite this member to groups
    • Message this member
    • Add this member as a connection

    Please note: This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin. Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete.