BookNet blog

  • BNC 101: ISTCs

    An ISTC is a new way of linking different formats of the same book. Unlike an ISBN, it is tied to the book and only the book, not the publisher. A simple example is using an ISTC to link the hardcover, trade paper, mass market, and epub versions of a title. Even though each format…

  • BNC 101: BISAC Classification

    What are BISAC codes? How should you use them? Where are they used? Here’s a handy guide to everything you need to know about BISAC codes.

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    Increase Sales and Lower Costs with Better Metadata

    More and more digital platforms are sourcing their content from ONIX files, which makes it easy for publishers to take part without increasing their workload. The catch, though, is that the information needs to be in the ONIX files to be shared, and currently most publishers are not including enough information in the files they’re…

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    BNC 101: What Is ONIX?

    ONIX for Books is an international standard for exchanging important information about books and related products.Here we take you through the basics: what you need to know about ONIX and how to use it.

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    Metadata Standards Visualization

    The sheer number of metadata standards in the cultural heritage sector is overwhelming, and their inter-relationships further complicate the situation. A new resource, Seeing Standards: A Visualization of the Metadata Universe,  is intended to assist planners with the selection and implementation of metadata standards.

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    BNC 101: What Is XML?

    What is XML? is the first in a series of BNC 101 blog posts where we’re going to try our best to break down some of the complex tech concepts we talk about all the time into plain language. XML is a term that gets thrown around the publishing industry a lot, but what does…

  • Should Hyperlinks Be in E-Books?

    As a flurry of excitement mounts about the ebook, the iBookstore and various claims about ebook sales (Naturally, as part of BNC’s staff, I second Nic Boshart’s skepticism and also say “Show me the numbers!”), publishers are spending a lot of time and energy wondering what the ultimate ebook should look like.

  • ONIXEdit vs. EXA Editor

    EXA Editor is the venerable XML editor for use with ONIX that BookNet Canada made available as a free download for the past few years. It was an excellent product with a not-so-excellent GUI (nerdese for your ability to find and click on things) and a useful tool for learning about ONIX. A number of…

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    Cracking Codes: New BISAC Subjects on BNC SalesData

    Maybe this isn’t code breaking Robert-Langdon-style, but the new BISAC code list that came out in November 2009 is reflected in BNC SalesData now.  After it was released, it was integrated into R.R. Bowker’s bibliographic database and then from Bowker into BNC SalesData around the middle of April. Here is a refresher on why we…

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    2D Barcodes

    At this year’s BISG Annual Members Meeting Carolyn Pittis gave an excellent presentation on QR Codes [Wikipedia link]  (2D barcodes that can repesent text) and how they are being used by Harper Collins to link books to mobile websites and extended content.