Metadata Is A “Necessity” For Publishers

Jenn Webb has an interview with Laura Dawson, Chief of Content at Firebrand Technologies on the O’Reilly Radar site.  Laura explains how she sees metadata as an essential tool for publishers in order to gain competitive advantage:

“Rather than groaning about how maintaining good metadata is a chore, publishers should instead look at metadata as a series of tools. You sharpen your knives so you can cut a tomato without squashing it; you put gas, oil and wiper fluid in your car so you can get where you need to go; you protect your computer with anti-virus software so you can work without interruption. Taking care of your metadata means you can publish and sell your books with greater ease than you could with poorly-maintained metadata.” [Read More]

Many other media businesses (notably stock media libraries) have understood the significance of metadata for some time but it seems that traditional text/narrative publishers are only just fully coming to terms with the challenges and opportunities it offers them.

At present, most DAM systems are inadequately equipped to provide capabilities for publishers (especially those in the book sector).  As more titles move over to being delivered electronically and publishers seek to leverage the capabilities of devices like iPads (especially with multimedia enhancements) this situation may need to change.  There would appear to be a definite opportunity for DAM vendors who can offer tools to help publishers gain greater control over unstructured assets like narrative text.

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