Representatives from 12 book publishing companies across Wales attended a special training session at Castell Brychan, Aberystwyth, in February 2020 on international metadata standards for the book sector.
Representatives from 12 book publishing companies across Wales attended a special training session at Castell Brychan, Aberystwyth, in February 2020 on international metadata standards for the book sector.
The event was organised by the Books Council of Wales as part of its annual programme of training for the publishing sector.
The training was provided by EDItEUR, the organisation which specialises in book metadata, identifiers and e-commerce standards – particularly ONIX, the internationally recognised standard for sharing metadata for books, e-books and audiobooks.
Head of Business and Finance at the Books Council of Wales, Mererid Boswell, said: “Technological advances are developing very quickly in the publishing industry as in other areas, and it is vitally important that publishers are familiar with the latest systems. By using ONIX to its full potential, it is possible to ensure that books are discovered easily and efficiently – thereby increasing sales. This is particularly relevant for smaller publishers or titles in minority languages such as Welsh.”
Garmon Gruffudd, Chair of Cwlwm Cyhoeddwyr Cymru which represents Welsh-medium publishers, said: “It’s good to see that the Books Council is investing in training for publishers, particularly in international fields such as ONIX and the importance of metadata in terms of identifying, discovering and selling books.”
The training session also introduced participants to Thema, the new global book subject classification for the trade, and ISNI, the international standard name identifier.
