Only Connect: Better Use of Library, Publisher and End-User Metadata in a Networked World 31 st International Supply Chain Seminar Tuesday 13 th October, 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair Renee Register Senior Product Manager OCLC Cataloging and Metadata Services

A Personal Prologue: Confessions of a secret librarian

My father’s books

The Secret Cataloger  My father

A “real” librarian

On to Ingram … metadata is my life!

The rise of electronic title data in the publisher supply chain

Secret librarians exposed!

Metadata players in the web environment  Publishers  Wholesalers  Retailers  Data aggregators  Search engines  Libraries  End users

A (very) quick tour of publisher supply chain data

Data starts with the publisher Titles can become best sellers based on pre- publication metadata

And begins to flow through the supply chain

Each player has dedicated metadata staff and …

Proprietary databases with value-add services and technology

Proprietary ordering tools, selection lists, approval plans, etc. are built on the data

Traditional retailers now have web stores built on data

Business intelligence tools and services are built on title metadata

Libraries use publisher supply chain metadata to select and order

But most library systems require metadata in MARC format as well

The creation of MARC is normally outside the publisher supply chain data stream

But Library of Congress, OCLC and others have begun experimenting with using title data in ONIX as a starting point

Each year the amount of “stuff” increases and requires more data creation and management!

Our data and workflow silos encourage redundancy and inhibit interoperability

Envisioning new paradigms for better use and interoperability

On to OCLC, the Mecca of metadata for librarians

All this data to play with – but am I too late?

Is cataloging dead?

Not yet but … We must redefine what cataloging means in the 21 st century  Current ways of creating, sharing and maintaining metadata are restrictive, labor intensive and have large gaps in the chain  These gaps increase cost and create redundancies  They are simply unsustainable for libraries and the publisher supply chain

Publishers, Libraries and Secret Librarians  The paradox of ubiquity Because metadata is now expected in the web environment, it’s taken for granted – even within our own organizations.  Metadata is both more visible and more important for discovery and business functions than ever -- but perhaps less valued.  It will never be magic or “free”! It is created somewhere and has to be maintained. It’s often free to end users but we spend a lot more time and $$ creating and maintaining it than we realize.

Where do we go from here?  Encourage a paradigm shift Away from siloed data Away from highly localized, labor intensive and redundant practices Less one-at-a-time work, more automated processes Toward a more holistic view of metadata  Build network level processes and tools that can be deployed in multiple environments and by multiple communities, including end-users  Re-use and re-mix metadata from various sources in ways that support multiple communities

Collaborate, innovate and synthesize as metadata grows over time

ISBN Subtitle LC Classification Edition BISAC Subject Headings Dewey Classification LC Subject Headings Series Annotations Tables of Contents Reviews Title Author Cover Image End-user tags, ratings Sales and usage data Publisher

Some OCLC activities toward this end: Expose WorldCat on the web

Build end-user tools and display end- user data

Mine existing data in support of new services: WorldCat Identities  Research  Vision  How do we get there  New slides from Andy

Build terminologies services and mapping between subject schema

BISAC Subject Heading Authorities and mapping between BISAC & DDC

Dewey.info Use Dewey behind the scenes as a language-neutral information tool

Dewey.info Although the Dewey classification is owned by OCLC and licensed for use in libraries, the top three levels of the system have been released under a Creative Commons license in order to make the linked data Summaries compatible with other freely licensed data sets and to encourage others to work with the service. Panzer also promised more services to come from OCLC, including some that will show off "the versatility of Dewey as a general subject description and access tool.“ -- Library Journal

Build crosswalks and data mining services that allow “mash-up” of publisher and library data

Create opportunities for collaboration between publishers and libraries

Sponsor collaborative research

Use the power of WorldCat to create new services for the publisher supply chain...

Provide metadata in ONIX and/or MARC

Build tools that support global metadata needs Virtual International Authority File (VIAF)

Virtual International Authority File (VIAF)

For more information about OCLC Research projects and services of interest to the publisher supply chain    _virtual_international_authority_file_VIAF.pdf _virtual_international_authority_file_VIAF.pdf   lt.jsp lt.jsp   

Recent Research on Supply Chain and Library Workflow and Data flow OCLC/NISO study: “Streamlining Book Metadata Workflows” Research Information Network study: “Creating Catalogues: Bibliographic Records in a Networked World” LC study on Bibliographic Record Production Report and updates on the OCLC Symposium for Publishers and Librarians

Only Connect E.M. Forster Epigraph to Howards End

For my father Charles Hansel,