BookNet Canada’s mandate to consult on and develop standards with the Canadian book industry’s needs in mind is not limited to words on a screen. For multi-media resources, refer to the following resources:

Podcasts

Want to make sure you never miss an episode of the podcast? You can subscribe for free on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, TuneIn, or SoundCloud.

New BISAC codes for Indigenous books - January 2020 Episode

In this podcast episode, we go over the recent release of new BISAC subject codes for 2019, what they mean for Indigenous books in Canada, and asks publishers Theytus Books, Second Story Press, and Kegedonce to share their thoughts.

The podcast audio can be found at https://soundcloud.com/booknet-canada/new-bisac-codes-for-indigenous-books.

The transcript can be found at https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2020/1/27/podcast-new-bisac-codes-for-indigenous-books.

ISNI, the dream identifier - April 2019 Episode

In this episode, we talk about ISNI, the International Standard Name Identifier. It's an identifier with potential in the supply chain for your trading partners and as a marketing tool. Tom Richardson, Bibliographic Manager at BookNet Canada and Kendra Martin, Marketing Administrator at Dundurn Press, join us to shed light on how ISNI is and isn't being used.

The podcast audio can be found at https://soundcloud.com/booknet-canada/isni-the-dream-identifier.

The transcript can be found at https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2019/4/30/podcast-isni-the-dream-identifier.

Keywords and Second Story Press - September 2017 Episode

Second Story Press is serious about keywords. Allie Chenoweth, Marketing & Promotions Coordinator, joins us to talk about their approach on this month's podcast.

The podcast audio can be found athttps://soundcloud.com/booknet-canada/keywords-and-second-story-press.

The transcript can be found at https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2017/9/25/podcast-keywords-and-second-story-press.

Best practices for book classification - January 2016 Episode

In this month's episode, we ask our Bibliographic Manager, Tom Richardson, to ruminate on how subject metadata can be optimized to better serve the book industry. What's the best subject code to market your book? How many subject codes should you use? Why does it even matter? Strap in for 20 minutes of subject codes, meandering, and lots of telling it like it is.

Video

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An Introduction to ISNI - Recorded June 2020

EDItEUR’s Chris Saynor and Tim Devenport, the Executive Director of the International ISNI agency, will give you an introduction to, and answer burning questions about the International Standard Name Identifier. Do you know how to distinguish between Victor Hugo the writer and Victor Hugo the salsa musician? How does Margaret Attwood the Human resources specialist and author distinguish herself from Margaret Atwood? Saynor and Devenport will explain what the ISNI is, how it works and look at some of its uses.

The video and transcript are available at https://www.gotostage.com/channel/6780588516804323846/recording/b8893f4baeb648c68af96db813779863/watch.

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/introduction-to-isni.

Transitioning from ONX 2.1 to 3.0 - Recorded May 2020

Amazon has announced a deadline for all those still using ONIX 2.1 to upgrade delivery of their metadata to ONIX 3.0 by the end of this year. This applies globally, and to all physical products. Deadlines for digital products are expected to follow soon after. For those still using ONIX 2.1 with Amazon – or with any other data supply chain partner – and wondering about the challenges of the upgrade, the changes you might need to make, and the commercial benefits,BookNet and BISG and delivered a detailed two-hour live webinar covering all these points, delivered by EDItEUR’s Graham Bell.

The slides are available at https://www.editeur.org/files/Events%20pdfs/20200505%20ONIX%202.1%20to%203.0%20Transition%20BISG.pdf?source=EDItEUR.

Audiobook metadata in ONIX - Recorded April 2020

In this session for metadata mavens, #eprdctn professionals, and audio oracles alike, EDItEUR’s Chris Saynor will discuss all facets of working with ONIX metadata for audio titles. What's different in ONIX for audiobooks? And how do you send good metadata for audio, including chapter-level metadata?

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/audiobook-metadata-in-onix.

What is quality in metadata? - Recorded April 2020

The publishing industry regularly reinforces a belief that it's normal for end users to use data badly and that it's up to the rest of us to design our business communications around their limitations. It's an attitude that leads to benchmarking against minimal metadata support rather than maximizing a book's discovery potential.

This quixotic presentation will try to change that attitude. The best data, the data that can drive diversity and discovery, will appear on far less than 10% of the entries in a data aggregation across a supply chain. The trick is many books, likely well over 30%, need the actionable support of one or two of those far-less-than-10% subtle data points. Don't believe it? What percentage of authors in the Canadian supply chain are Canadian? You're around 10% already. Now subdivide that group anyway you like...

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/what-is-quality-in-metadata.

#standardsgoals for 2020: Standards & certification roundup - Recorded March 2020

Bibliographic standards are always changing to keep up with the ever-evolving realities of the book industry and it’s in the best interest of your business to keep up, too. In this session, Bibliographic Manager Tom Richardson will answer your pressing questions and show you what’s new, what’s important, and what’s coming up in standards.

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/standardsgoals-for-2020-standards-certification-roundup-tom-richardson-booknet-canada-tech-forum-2020.

Project TAMIS: Using AI to Address the Discoverability Challenge - Recorded March 2019

In this session, Christian Roy, President at Brix Labs gives an insight about the findings of Projet TAMIS, a project launched by Éditions du Septentrion (a history book publisher based in Québec City) in collaboration with Brix Labs (a consulting agency with a focus on technology applied to cultural industries) to address discoverability challenges. Researchers are using algorithms, open source code, and free or cheap APIs to extract descriptive information about books from books and to do it at a granularity and scale that would not be possible for humans. These findings could have huge potential to enrich traditional metadata, as well as create new ways to discover books.

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/project-tamis-using-ai-to-address-the-discoverability-challenge-christian-roy-brix-labs-tech-forum-2019.

#standardsgoals for 2019: Standards & Certification Roundup - Recorded March 2019

Bibliographic standards are always changing to keep up with the ever-evolving realities of the book industry and it’s in the best interest of your business to keep up, too. Should you be using BISAC or Thema subject codes (or both)? Which version of ONIX are your business partners using? What improvements to your metadata should you prioritize for 2019? In this session, Tom Richardson, Bibliographic Manager at BookNet Canada answers your pressing questions and shows you what’s new, what’s important, and what’s coming up in standards.

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/standardsgoals-for-2019-standards-certification-roundup-tom-richardson-booknet-canada-tech-forum-2019.

Metadata, Agility, and Consensus - Recorded March 2019

Keely Kundell, Editorial Assistant and Brendan Flattery, Assistant Manager, Digital Commerce at Harlequin Enterprises talk about their new module for metadata that will revolutionize the way they can reach consumers, market their books, maximize data integrity, and optimize data at scale. This talk focuses on the strategies they used to grow consensus, identify key opportunities for development, and eventually overhaul large systems and workflows to focus them around metadata best practices.

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/metadata-agility-and-consensus-how-to-build-excitement-make-agile-changes-and-consolidate-brendan-flattery-harlequin-books-keely-kundell-harlequin-books-tech-forum-2019.

Keywords and Discoverability on Amazon: A Canadian Context - Recorded March 2019

eBOUND Canada conducted a pilot study using a sample of ebooks published by Canadian publishers, to gauge the efficacy of adding audience-driven keywords to the metadata for a sample of fiction and non-fiction titles. Using a combination of AI and manually-generated keywords, they tracked the impact of keywords on discoverability and sales on Amazon over a two-month period. eBOUND’s Manager of Technology Shannon Culver and key consultant on the study Amanda Lee present the results of the study, and make recommendations as to how publishers can utilize their metadata to work with vendors' algorithms and improve the discoverability of their titles.

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/keywords-and-discoverability-on-amazon-a-canadian-context-shannon-culver-ebound-canada-tech-forum-2019.

Inclusivity, Diversity, and Harmonizing the Metadata Supply Chain - Recorded March 2019

Chris Saynor, Standards Editor at EDItEUR shares how Thema, the subject category scheme for the global book trade, can be used to help identify and improve the discoverability of titles suitable for a more diverse and inclusive audience. He also talks about EDItX reports and transactional standards that are being updated for the digital age and to harmonize with ONIX 3.0 for the benefit of the book supply chain.

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/inclusivity-diversity-and-harmonizing-the-metadata-supply-chain-standards-at-editeur-chris-saynor-editeur-tech-forum-2019.

Thema Refresher - Recorded June 2018

Publishers! As interest in Thema's multilingual subject category scheme grows among retailers in Canada and abroad, make sure you're up to speed on what it is, how it works, and if it's in your best interest to start using it in your metadata. Join Tom Richardson, BookNet Canada's Bibliographic Manager, to learn the basics of Thema, find out our recommendations for publisher adoption, and discover the tools and resources you can start using today.

Backlist Keywords - Recorded March 2018

Keywords are a powerful tool for book discoverability and visibility. They have the ability to amplify your marketing efforts and bring backlist titles new life. But how do they really work? What’s their secret? And how can you create keywords that will actually impact your book visibility and sales? This session will give you deeper insights into what keywords are, how they work, and what you can do to join the keywords revolution.

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/backlist-keywords-joshua-tallent-tech-forum-2018.

The Metadata is the Message - Recorded March 2018

Your marketing message lives in your metadata, and that message should be clear. Together with real-life examples, this session offers tips and tricks for enhancing your ONIX data, avoiding common metadata missteps, and minding best practice. For anyone interested in marketing, title data, ONIX, or general book industry intrigue.

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/the-metadata-is-the-message-tricia-mccraney-tech-forum-2018.

Understanding Your Metadata’s Journey - Recorded March 2017

Publishers around the world struggle with how their metadata morphs as it travels from their domains into the wilds of retailers, distributors, and other partners. Despite the use of industry standards like ONIX, there is still a lot of inconsistency that can happen when a title record is sent out to so many different destinations. In this session, we will look at that flow of data and consider some of the best practices you can use to make your metadata more consistent and more robust across various end points. We will talk about: the flow metadata takes both inside and outside a publishing house; how the flow of metadata is affected by different metadata formats; real-world examples of metadata that is delivered to different retailers, with explanations of the differences and quirks you’ll encounter; and, best practices for creating and maintaining your metadata.

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/understanding-your-metadatas-journey.

Demystifying the Inner Workings of Amazon Keywords - Recorded March 2017

Take a deep dive into the mysterious world of Amazon keywords. Using lessons learned from one publisher’s journey to uncover the online retailer’s inner workings and enhance discoverability, Erica Leeman will offer advice on best practices, workarounds, and successful workflows. From character limits to lemmatization, no stone is left unturned.

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/demystifying-the-inner-workings-of-amazon-keywords.

New from BookNet Canada: Standards and Certification & What’s in a Date - Recorded March 2017

What’s come undone? It’s not that we didn’t know what we were heading for… Tom Richardson reflects on standards we haven’t yet implemented, especially ONIX 3.0 for print books.

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/new-from-booknet-canada-standards-certification.

Sales Rights and Territory in ONIX - Recorded September 2016

BNC Bibliographic Manager Tom Richardson unpacks your feedback and discusses ways to help companies achieve more clarity and efficacy in their sales rights and territory statements through ONIX.

The slides are available at http://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/bnc-webinar-sales-rights-territory-in-onix-tom-richardson.

Metadata Management: Sophisticated Solutions - Recorded April 2016

The publishing marketplace is becoming more complex every year, and publishers are finding it necessary to expand their horizons in order to adapt to these changes. The key to mastering this increasing complexity is understanding the need for a more sophisticated approach to metadata management. The Excel spreadsheets of yesterday are not able to handle the complexities of the publishing world today. Join Joshua Tallent as he explains how the publishing marketplace is evolving, with clear examples and advice that will help you expand your reach and bring more discoverability to your titles around the world.

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/metadata-management-sophisticated-solutions-for-a-complex-marketplace-tech-forum-2016-joshua-tallent.

New from BookNet Canada: Standards and Certification - Recorded April 2016

It's been a big year for standards, from the rollout of ONIX 3.0 to the new BISAC codes for young adult books. Are you up-to-date? Got a handle on how to best use metadata to move your books through the supply chain? Find out what you need to know from the man who knows it all: BookNet's Tom Richardson.

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/new-from-booknet-canada-standards-certification-tech-forum-2016-tom-richardson.

Educational Standards - Recorded September 2015

This webinar shares the design of the BISG’s new Educational Taxonomy along with ideas on how Canadian publishers can use the terms to aid discovery of appropriate educational materials and resources online. It will also show the importance of related metadata elements for educational titles.

BISG’s new Educational Taxonomy lists the key terms that describe current and emerging educational standards, concepts, learning objectives, and methodologies used in the classroom, such as Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and more. It was developed by the BISG Educational Standards Taxonomy Working Group and incorporates feedback from potential users and from educators and librarians on their search habits. It is available for free download here.

New from BookNet Canada: Standards & Certification - Recorded March 2015

What's new and upcoming for BNC Standards and Certification? Find out from Tom Richardson, Bibliographic Manager at BookNet Canada.

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/new-at-booknet-canada-standards-certification-tech-forum-2015-tom-richardson.

ONIX 2.1 to 3.0 - Recorded January 2015

Join Graham Bell, Executive Director of EDItEUR, to learn what you need to know about transitioning from ONIX 2.1 to ONIX 3.0 in this essential webinar. What are the differences between the two versions? Which changes are easy to make, and which will take more planning? How can you get started?

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/20150126-onix-21-to-30-transition-bnc.

Standards Implementation and Business Planning - Recorded March 2014

With the spring season starting, it’s time to think about upgrading your metadata to support Thema and ONIX 3.0. But how do you ensure that your team and equipment are ready to cover these bases? What changes do you need to make to play in an international market? How can you hit more home runs and score higher sales without breaking your budget? When do you move from the practice of new standards to game day with trading partners? This quick pep-talk will look at staffing considerations, software solutions for different sized companies, and the value and cost of metadata improvements... baseball metaphors included.

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/christen-thomas-book-net-tech-forum-2014-booknet-101.

Combining Print and Digital Metadata Workflows - Recorded March 2014

As the bookselling industry expands across formats and borders, organizing metadata is becoming more complex. Books need to be created in a variety of formats, and each of those formats needs its own unique ISBN. Each of those ISBNs, in turn, needs its own metadata record, which makes for a lot of entries in BiblioShare! While the dream of a single metadata feed for all product forms still eludes us, there are ways that you can streamline the process of creating and updating the records for different formats in BiblioShare. We'll discuss some of those strategies in this session.

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/shannon-culver-book-net-tech-forum-2014-booknet-101.

This Year's Model: Metadata Models and Representations - Recorded March 2014

Join Graham Bell of EDItEUR to learn what a "work" means in different classification systems, and more.

The slides are available at https://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/graham-bell-book-net-tech-forum-2014.

Global Ebook Domination Through Better Metadata - Recorded March 2013

Kobo’s Ashleigh Gardner gave an information-packed workshop at Technology Forum 2013 that covered some important tips and trends for selling ebooks internationally. In this video you’ll learn some pricing basics and how to ensure your ONIX records have all the information necessary to sell your books into as many territories as possible. And you’ll also get country-by-country pricing trends and tax structure tips that will help inform the decisions involved in selling your ebooks worldwide.

Watch the video to develop a strong international pricing strategy and build a killer ONIX record for global ebook domination.

Integrating Metadata - Recorded March 2012

Good workflow equals good metadata. In an agile publishing environment, good workflow relies on a single source of truth – a repository of information that is added, updated and managed by the people who know most about the products at the time they know it. At TechForum 2012, Laura Dawson walked us through the publishing process from acquisition to final sale, demonstrating the output of metadata at each stage of the process. Metadata is not meant to be in only one person's hands. Learn how to when and how to involved the whole organization in metadata creation and management to ensure your books find their readers.

BookNet Canada User Documentation

BNC Podcasts & Video on Bibliographic Standards & Identifiers