The document discusses optimizing publisher workflow by clearly defining roles, responsibilities, and skills for managing metadata. It recommends identifying who is responsible for each type of data, who has authority to finalize it, and what skills are needed. As an example, it suggests filling out a grid that lists the data/processes that need to be managed, who owns each one, who has authority over it, and the necessary skills. This exercise can inform job specifications, training, and key performance indicators. The document emphasizes that technical skills should not be limited by seniority and that workflow and data should be carefully measured and managed.

1. Optimising publisher workflow

6. What are we trying to
do?

7. 1) Stay in business
2) Have decent lives

8. Where's the controversy?

9. THE PROBLEM:
People are just
awful

10. “It's as if they don't want us to
succeed!”
● They don't do their job properly
● They stop you doing yours
● They don't care about your problems
● When they go on holiday they're even more annoying
● You can definitely do your job quicker without them being involved
● They need to be convinced of everything
● They cost more money than they make
● You can do their job quicker than they can
● You wish you could just do it all yourself

11. What's the real problem?
● They don't do their job properly
● They stop you doing yours
● They don't care about your problems
● When they go on holiday they're even more
annoying
● You can definitely do your job quicker without
them being involved
● They need to be convinced of everything
● They cost more money than they make
● You can do their job quicker than they can
● You wish you could just do it all yourself
Responsibility
Authority
Skills

13. Managing metadata
as a metaphor for life
RESPONSIBILITY
AUTHORITY
SKILLS

14. METADATA
important, obviously
- One version of the truth -
- Accurate data is a basic necessity if you hope
to appear at all professional or competent -
- Efficiency -
- Productivity -
- Sales tool -
- Images sell books -
- All retailers use electronic metadata to maintain their catalogues -
- Blah -
- Etc. -

15. What happens when metadata
management goes wrong

20. Getting it right

21. Responsibility, Authority, Skills
● Who is responsible for what data
● Who has the authority to finalise it
● Who knows the ramifications and the detail
Responsibility Authority Skills
Pub date
Price
Jacket spec
Title
Blurb
MS due date
Cover

22. Part of a wider picture
● The difference here is that we're setting
responsibilities, authority and skills as part of
publishing workflow planning – not at a
department level. We're coming up with
unifying objectives for the organisation
● We're also hoping to speed things up
● This is a starting point for rehearsing different
skills within the organisation – better placed to
be rigorous, technically capable, and nimble.

23. Task
● Fill in the grid. Use more paper if necessary
● Write down either data or processes that need to be
managed in your organisation, across departments
(created, looked at, updated and deleted)
● Who owns it (responsibility)?
● Who has the authority to decide on it?
● What skills do those people need to be responsible and
able to wield authority for this data / process?
● NB: Skills likely won't be the same as currently in the
organisation.

24. How did that go?
● Finding new skills: let it inform your job specs,
recruiting, training plans, KPIs
● Elevating people to positions of responsibility:
you have to support them and honour the
agreement
● Giving people authority means they are
obligated to consider all stakeholders' views

25. Final thoughts
● No publishing skill is beyond the wit of man
● Seniority != an abdication of technical skill
● Gut feel is so 1997
● Measure everything
● When you buy in technical expertise, make it a
training exercise too.
● Use Bibliocloud to manage your workflow and
data. It's really good.