Publishers have come to a realization – kicking and screaming – that they must participate in metadata. It is important to develop standards and improve the accuracy of inputting the data to reach companies outside of their traditional customer base. The Bookseller brought this news to us in their article, “Publishers need to focus on metadata.”

Meaningful metadata is crucial for the publishing industry especially when e-books and apps continue to grow at a rate faster than print books each year. Consumers are more distracted than ever. They can access every form of mass media on one device in their pocket so the publishing world’s share of that attention is microbial. Good metadata is key if there is any chance the consumer is going to commit their time.

It is important to remember the value of a solid taxonomy. How the content is classified impacts the findability of your data. Professionals should look for an experienced builder of solid standards-based taxonomies to associate content for appropriate machine-assisted indexing. Access Innovations can provide solutions that are ANSI compliant.

Melody K. Smith

Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in thesaurus, ontology, and taxonomy creation and metadata application.