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

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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.

BNC Podcasts & Video on Bibliographic Standards & Identifiers