The Book Industry Study Group has published Development, Use, and Modification of Book Product Metadata, a report on how publishers, retailers and other vendors in the digital supply chain create and use metadata. A five-page summary is available for free for BISG members and the full report can be purchased for $199 for BISG members and $499 for nonmembers.
The 37-page report was produced by Brian O’Leary of Magellan Media Consulting and includes recommendations to improve the quality and accuracy of metadata, the key bibliographic element in describing digital content and making it easy to find and to distribute. The report was produced from interviews with more than 30 industry vendors and includes discussions of best practices in creating metadata, including 31 core metadata elements, like price, ISBN, etc., and 39 additional data elements focused on marketing, such as worldwide subject categories, keywords and awards and prizes. The report can be purchased through the BISG website.
Ken Michaels, chief operating officer of Hachette Book Group and co-chair of BISG, said, "This is a very important report for BISG and the industry. There is a direct correlation between good metadata and increased sales, so we need to make every effort to ensure our customers are seeing the best possible information about the books and content they want to purchase."
