BISG WEBCAST -- ONIX For Books v3.0 -- Supporting New Metadata For eBooks

This BISG WEBCAST took place Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. ET To register for future BISG Webcasts, please visit: http://www.bisg.org/event-cat-6-webcasts.php . Brought to you in partnership with the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) www.bisg.org 1

“Working to create a more informed, empowered and efficient book industry supply chain for both physical and digital products.” www.bisg.org www.bisg.org 2

Michael Smith Executive Director International Digital Publishing Forum International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) is a non-profit trade and standards organization for the digital publishing industry representing over 120 companies and organizations. IDPF is dedicated to the development and promotion of electronic publishing. www.bisg.org 3

David Martin, ONIX Support Team, EDItEUR Brian Green, Executive Director, International ISBN Agency David Martin is an independent consultant on Currently Executive Director of the International ISBN standards for business communication in the book Agency, until the beginning of this year Brian Green was trade, working principally for EDItEUR, where he also Executive Director of EDItEUR. From 2003-2008, leads the team responsible for ONIX for Books. Brian was Chair of ISO TC46 SC9, the ISO Committee responsible for identifiers in the information community. David has been involved with metadata standards for most of his career, at INSPEC, at the British Brian managed BIC, the UK book trade standards body, Library, where he was Director of Automated from 1991 until 2006 and, prior to that, was Director of Services for six years, and as a founder Director of Technology and Publishing Management at the UK Book Data Ltd (now part of Nielsen BookData). Publishers Association after working in the publishing industry for many years. www.bisg.org 4

 London-based global trade standards organization for books and serials supply chains  Established 1991  ONIX family of communications standards  ONIX for Books  ONIX for Serials (online subscription products including ebooks)  ONIX for Publication Licenses  EDI  RFID  Secretariat for International ISBN Agency www.bisg.org 5

 The first standard in the ONIX family  “ONline Information eXchange”  Result of an AAP initiative in 1999  Response to growth in online book retailing  Requirement for “rich product metadata” – never needed in this form before  Release 1.0 published May 2000  Developed since then by EDItEUR in close collaboration with BISG and BIC  Implemented widely around the world www.bisg.org 6

 Version history  v1.0 2000 (no longer supported)  v2.0 2001  v2.1 2004 (retained backwards compatibility) o Separation between structure and code lists  Governed by International Steering Committee  Representatives from the 15 countries which have local ONIX committees  ONIX standard is designed to be very widely applicable  Local committees (including BISAC) work on implementation guidelines appropriate to local market www.bisg.org 7

 Because users (through the International Steering Committee) told us you needed a new release  Primarily to provide better support for digital products  Some other requirements could not be met by a 2.X revision  Decision taken to move to v3.0  Extensive structural work  No longer backwards compatible  Shares code lists with v2.1 (Issue 10) www.bisg.org 8

With special reference to digital products… www.bisg.org 9

 Removal of ‘deprecated’ elements  Digital products (ebooks and more)  Multiple-item products, sets and items in series  ‘Marketing collateral’  Market-specific data, for products sold internationally  Breakdown of product records into ‘blocks’, to allow partial updates  New schema language options (RELAX NG)  But where no change was needed – no change… www.bisg.org 10

 An admitted problem area in past ONIX releases:  sets, series, multi-media products, multiple-copy packs (classroom sets), trade packs (shrinkwraps), etc  Problems of definition:  is this a set? a series? a pack? or what?  Inconsistencies of description and encoding  Repetition of title elements when a set or series title is a necessary part of a product title  Solution: a radical simplification of approach - forget about ‘set’, ‘series’, ‘pack’, etc… www.bisg.org 11

 Multiple-item product: any product made up of two or more items  Bibliographic collection: any collection of products with a collective designation  Not mutually exclusive  Consistent approach to the description of any multiple-item product, and any collection  Collective (‘series’) title elements can be used as part of product title without repetition  See How to describe sets, series and multiple- item products in ONIX 3, downloadable from the EDItEUR website www.bisg.org 12

 Publishers and others are using, and will use in future, a much greater variety of supporting materials to promote sales, particularly in the web environment  Previous ONIX releases used:  an <OtherText> composite to handle text content either as part of the ONIX record itself or by links to text accessible elsewhere  a <MediaFile> composite for links to non-text media, eg images  Structures are too limited to meet current and future requirements  Rigid distinction between text and non-text media is unhelpful  Both composites have been removed and replaced www.bisg.org 13

 Three new data element groups:  <TextContent> is strictly for text which is carried within the ONIX record, and which is made available for use by the receiver: short and long descriptions, cover blurbs, review quotes etc.  <CitedContent> is for third-party content, in any medium, which is cited by way of reinforcing the promotion of a product: bestseller lists, TV or radio features, feature articles etc.  <SupportingResource> is for content, in any medium, which is offered by the publisher (or sender of the ONIX record) to be used by supply chain partners for promotional purposes, either by downloading or linking: images, audio and video clips, widgets, sample chapters. The composite is generalised so as to handle an unlimited variety of content and media types by adding codes. www.bisg.org 14

 Most English-language publishing operates simultaneously in different national or regional markets.  Publication dates, availability status, price and much else are market-specific.  Some ONIX feeds relate only to a single marketplace, some (for example, to and from data aggregators at an international level) cover several markets.  Already partly recognised and supported in previous releases – but some elements – such as publication date - were assumed to be “global”.  ONIX 3.0 goes a stage further, by regrouping supply- related content into a new unified structure, specific to a designated marketplace. www.bisg.org 15

 Elements for specifying ebook formats were added in 2001, in association with an AAP ebook project  These were apparently very little used: not much digital product metadata was being sent in ONIX 2.1  Probably because most ebook development was happening outside the “mainstream”?  But now digital products have joined the mainstream  ONIX is the mainstream product information standard for the book industry www.bisg.org 16

 Product form  DRM  Usage constraints  Supply channels www.bisg.org 17

 Separate elements for digital product formats in ONIX 2.1 have been scrapped.  Product form description for digital products is now integrated with physical products in Product Form and Product Form Detail coding.  Top-level <ProductForm> coding is based on delivery method: ‘D’ codes for content delivered by physical carrier, ‘E’ codes for content accessed online or delivered by download (also new ‘L’ codes for licences sold separately).  Format specified in <ProductFormDetail> (eg PDF, EPUB).  Content specified in Product Content Type elements (text, audio, video etc).  ONIX 3.0 works best if ISBN guidelines are followed. www.bisg.org 18

 New element <EpubTechnicalProtection>  Enables DRM to be specified separately from format  Coded to specify (eg) ‘No DRM’, ‘Digital watermarking’, ‘Adobe DRM’ etc – more values will be added as required  Example: ebook supplied as a download in EPUB format with Adobe DRM: <ProductForm>ED</ProductForm> Digital download <ProductFormDetail>E101</ProductFormDetail> EPUB format <EpubTechnicalProtection>03</EpubTechnicalProtection> Adobe DRM <PrimaryContentType>10</PrimaryContentType> Text www.bisg.org 19

 New elements added for optional encoding of a limited set of usage constraints  Usage type: preview, print extract, copy extract, etc  Usage status: permitted without limit, permitted with limit, prohibited  Usage limit expressed quantitatively  Example: preview permitted, up to 30 pages <EpubUsageConstraint> <EpubUsageType>01</EpubUsageType> Preview <EpubUsageStatus>02</EpubUsageStatus> Permitted with limit <EpubUsageLimit> <Quantity>30</Quantity> <EpubUsageUnit>04</EpubUsageUnit> Pages </EpubUsageLimit> </EpubUsageConstraint> www.bisg.org 20

 Past ONIX releases assumed a physical supply chain: publisher to wholesaler to retailer  Variety of supply channels (and pricing models) for digital products, e.g., publisher to consumer / publisher to library packager to consumer / packager to library publisher to selected wholesalers to retailers publisher to selected retailers to consumer  Handled in ONIX 3.0 by new guidelines and code values rather than new elements: <Supplier> composite can now be coded to indicate a variety of ‘supplier roles’ Where pricing is too complex to be represented in ONIX, an item can be listed without price, as ‘refer to supplier’ www.bisg.org 21

 Full ONIX 3.0 specification, data element summary, and XML technical notes published in April. Slightly revised versions issued in July, correcting textual errors reported by users. Only one change of substance: relaxation of one of the ‘rules’ associated with multiple-item products.  DTD, XSL and RNG schemas also published in April. A small but important amendment was made in July, to add a release number attribute to the ONIX Message element.  Code Lists Issue 10 was published in July: a further issue is likely by 2010.  Additional guidelines are being developed or are planned in a number of areas.  Any changes from here on will be backwards-compatible. www.bisg.org 22

 Guidelines on “How to describe digital products in ONIX 3.0” coming soon to the EDItEUR website.  BISG Metadata Committee, as part of its work on maintaining ONIX “Best Practice” guidelines for North America, is finalising a complete ONIX 3.0 sample record for an ebook distributed by download through trade channels – to be available from the BISG website. www.bisg.org 23

 For existing users: not backwards compatible  Requires more extensive system work than upgrade to 2.x  Never a “right time”  Particular challenge for data aggregators  Support for multiple versions  Input and output  Essential for all who need to communicate ebook metadata  Important benefits for others, but less immediate pressure  ONIX for Books 2.1 will continue to be supported, but future development will build on 3.0 www.bisg.org 24

 ONIX for Books was conceived so that publishers could get better product information to consumers at the point of (online) sale.  That has always been the focus for the development of the format.  But are we missing other requirements for metadata flows in the ebook production and supply chain which might fit naturally into an ONIX envelope?  Perhaps you can tell us, direct, or through IDPF and BISG. www.bisg.org 25

Brian Green, Executive Director International ISBN Agency www.bisg.org 26

‣ Under “Rules of assignment”, the 2005 revision of the ISBN standard (ISO 2108) says:  Different product forms (e.g. hardcover, paperback, Braille, audio-book, video, online electronic publication) shall be assigned separate ISBNs  Each different format of an electronic publication (e.g. ‘.lit’, ‘.pdf’, ‘.html’, ‘.pdb’) that is published and made separately available shall be given a separate ISBN. www.bisg.org

‣ E-commerce systems require ISBNs ‣ Bibliographic databases require ISBNs ‣ Detailed sales/usage reporting requires ISBNS ‣ At the time of the ISBN revision, identification by file format seemed adequate. We thought that the e-book supply chain would be similar to print books. Not so! www.bisg.org

‣ For printed books, publishers assign ISBNs to each format and that ISBN remains constant throughout the supply chain ‣ For ebooks, many publishers only produce a single generic file format (e.g. “.epub”), and intermediaries add technical rights protection (DRM) and make different versions with different user functionality ‣ Other players in the supply chain need to be able to identify these different versions (e.g. for discovery, EDI, usage reporting) ‣ But not all publishers provide ISBNs for them www.bisg.org

Publisher / distributor Library jobbers Wholesalers Libraries Booksellers Readers www.bisg.org

ISBN “X” Publisher / distributor ISBN “X” ISBN “X” Library jobbers Wholesalers ISBN “X” ISBN “X” Libraries Booksellers Readers www.bisg.org

Publisher E-book aggregator / manager E-book aggregator /manager Library jobbers Wholesalers Libraries Booksellers Readers www.bisg.org

Epub file Publisher E-book aggregator / manager E-book aggregator /manager Library jobbers Wholesalers Libraries Booksellers Readers www.bisg.org

Epub file Publisher Epub file+DRM (proprietary) Other formats E-book aggregator / manager E-book aggregator /manager Library jobbers Wholesalers Libraries Booksellers Readers www.bisg.org

Epub file Epub file+DRM Publisher Epub file+DRM (diff. proprietary) (proprietary) Other formats Other formats E-book aggregator / manager E-book aggregator /manager Library jobbers Wholesalers Libraries Booksellers Readers www.bisg.org

Epub file ISBN “A”? Epub file+DRM Publisher Epub file+DRM (diff. proprietary) (proprietary) Other formats Other formats E-book aggregator / manager E-book aggregator /manager Library jobbers Wholesalers Libraries Booksellers Readers www.bisg.org

Epub file ISBN “A”? Epub file+DRM Publisher Epub file+DRM (diff. proprietary) (proprietary) Other formats Other formats E-book aggregator / manager E-book aggregator /manager Proprietary identifier Library jobbers Wholesalers Libraries Booksellers Readers www.bisg.org

Epub file ISBN “A”? Epub file+DRM Publisher Epub file+DRM (diff. proprietary) (proprietary) Other formats Other formats E-book aggregator / manager E-book aggregator /manager ISBN “A” for Proprietary all formats identifier Library jobbers Wholesalers Libraries Booksellers Readers www.bisg.org

Epub file ISBN “A”? Epub file+DRM Publisher Epub file+DRM (diff. proprietary) (proprietary) Other formats Other formats E-book aggregator / manager E-book aggregator /manager ISBN “A” for Proprietary all formats identifier Library jobbers Wholesalers Own ISBN-like identifiers Libraries Booksellers Readers www.bisg.org

Epub file ISBN “A”? Epub file+DRM Publisher Epub file+DRM (diff. proprietary) (proprietary) Other formats Other formats E-book aggregator / manager E-book aggregator /manager ISBN “A” for Proprietary all formats identifier Library jobbers Wholesalers ISBN “A” Own ISBN-like + metadata identifiers Libraries Booksellers Readers www.bisg.org

Epub file ISBN “A”? Epub file+DRM Publisher Epub file+DRM (diff. proprietary) (proprietary) Other formats Other formats E-book aggregator / manager E-book aggregator /manager ISBN “D”, “E“ ISBN “B”, “C” Library jobbers Wholesalers Libraries Booksellers Readers www.bisg.org

‣ Some of their arguments:  “We can’t manage the metadata bloat involved”  “Our sales channels (e.g. Amazon) do not require standard identifiers for ebooks as customers will find them through their preferred vendor”  “ISBNs are too expensive for us to assign to each format”  “We only “publish” one generic format (e.g. .epub) and assign an ISBN to that”  “We are not responsible for formats provided by third part intermediaries” www.bisg.org

‣ Since some publishers do not provide separate ISBNs for each version and some customers, especially libraries, need unique identification of products from different platforms with different functionality… ‣ If a publisher does not identify each format with a separate ISBN, re-sellers may do so on their behalf  Not ideal but a necessary compromise until publishers assign their own ISBNs  Requires central bibliographic agency to collect and list ISBNs and related metadata www.bisg.org

What do you believe is the biggest barrier to assigning ISBNs to digital products? 35.00% 30.00% 25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00% There are Price of Perceived Information Current Current Other no barriers ISBNs value (or / metadata workflows digital 5.6% 11.3% 8.5% lack "bloat" make it business (8 votes) Results gathered during a live (16 votes) (12 votes) thereof) for 33.1% difficult to model(s) BISG Webcast my (47 votes) assign them don't participant business 19.0% necessarily poll held in September 2009 6.3% (27 votes) require (9 votes) them 16.2% (23 votes) Series1 11.30% 8.50% 6.30% 33.10% 19.00% 16.20% 5.60% www.bisg.org

‣ Standard identifiers are essential when there is a need to communicate across a supply chain, e.g. for purposes of e-commerce, aggregating information, reporting sales or usage. ‣ This was precisely the reason for introducing the ISBN standard (ISO 2108) in 1970 and the reason that it has been so successful in enabling trade developments ‣ Do we want to risk losing all that with digital products? www.bisg.org

‣ At what level of granularity are standard identifiers required?  Generic file (e.g. epub)?  Format (e.g. pdf)?  Platform (e.g. ebrary)? ‣ By whom? ‣ For what functions? ‣ Who should assign them? ‣ What are the barriers? Please let us know if you have a view, now or to info@international-isbn.org www.bisg.org

We’ll now take questions... www.bisg.org 47

David Martin: david@polecat.dircon.co.uk Brian Green: brian@isbn-international.org Website: www.editeur.org Website: www.isbn.org Michael Smith: msmith@idpf.org Angela Bole: angela@bisg.org Website: www.idpf.org Website: www.bisg.org www.bisg.org 48

BISG WEBCAST -- ONIX For Books v3.0 -- Supporting New Metadata For eBooks

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