Metadata

What you have to do and what you ought to do

Metadata, the information about a title which describes and defines it, has been growing in importance and prominence as computers have grown in importance and prominence. As machines talk to machines, the information publishers attach to their products becomes the only way they get transacted by the supply chain and located by customers.

Metadata exists on a continuum that ranges from “core” information that specifies the product (like title, author, ISBN, and price) to “enhanced” information that might help a customer choose it (like reviews, awards, or customer comments.) In between are elements that might not be essential, but might be very helpful, such as the printed books ISBN within the metadata for the corresponding ebook.

To discuss this subject, we have Jon Windus of Nielsen, the company that delivers most of the metadata in the UK book industry; Karina Luke of Penguin, who manages the metadata for one of the biggest publishers; and a bookseller (still being selected.) The panel will be moderated by Graham Bell of EDItEUR, the global organization responsible for bibliographic standards in the book industry.

Graham Bell
Chief Data Architect, EDItEUR

Graham joined EDItEUR, the global standards body for the book, e-book and serials supply chains, in 2010. He is focussed on the continuing development and application of ONIX for Books, and on other EDItEUR standards for the book and serials sectors.

Graham previously worked for HarperCollins Publishers in the UK where he was Head of Publishing Systems. He led the development of bibliographic and digital asset management systems, and was involved with the launches of many digital initiatives including e-audio, e-books and print-on-demand programmes. He has over a decade of experience with ONIX for Books. Prior to HarperCollins, he worked as an editor and in IT roles within the magazine industry.

Ruth Jones
Director of Publisher Business Development, Ingram Content Group

Ruth Jones is Director of Publisher Business Development at Ingram Content Group, a leader in distribution, print-on-demand and digital solutions. Ruth has over 20 years’ experience in the publishing, library and electronic information industries. She joined Ingram from the British Library where she was Head of Product Development, responsible for the development of information products and services. Prior to that, Ruth was General Manager of Extenza e-Publishing, and has extensive sales, marketing and editorial experience gained predominantly in the academic and business education markets.

Karina Luke
Digital & Data Supply Chain Manager, Penguin Group (UK)

Karina has worked at Penguin for 11 of her 18 years in the publishing industry. She has spent the last 3 years managing their digital & data supply chain, and has been focussed on digital transition.

Karina is passionate about all things operational, specifically metadata and the digital supply chain and she brings experience from previous roles to her current position. Previous roles have included international sales/rights, customer operations, stock management and the physical supply chain.

She’s excited about being part of the digital revolution, seeing the opportunities and changes this will bring to the world of publishing.

Jon Windus
Product Development Director, Nielsen Book Services

Jon is Operations Director for Nielsen Book, the leading provider of product information, sales measurement and supply chain solutions to the book trade. At Nielsen, Jon has overall responsibiity for metadata operations and product and service development.

Jon has worked in senior roles in information publishing for 20 years and has overseen the conception, development and production of a wide range of print directories, CD ROMs and web sites (from Netscape 2.0 and IE 3 onwards) as well as various web service APIs for Nielsen bibliographic data.

Jon is active in various BIC groups and chairs their Metadata Futures group.