BIC Breakfast January 2013 The Metadata Session Blog!

“Coffee, Croissants and Metadata”
Sponsored by Bowker, Guest Speaker Emma Barnes

After the initial panic that arose following the explosion of a teabag at the refreshments station (thanks Claire), the first BIC Breakfast of 2013 – and of the 21st Century – got off to a good start. If we averaged out arrival times collectively, we might even call this group punctual.

BIC’s own Executive Director Karina took the floor first for a BIC Update, whilst the rest of the group delved into the feast that lay before us; salmon bagels, freshly baked pastries, Danish croissants, fresh fruit, and enough caffeine to wake the late Charles Dickens from his grave. I managed to exercise no self-control whatsoever and consume three bagels, which were subsequently washed down by the same amount of croissants. The BIC Breakfasts only happen once a month so I thought I’d get my 30 days’ worth – it should keep me going till the next one. (At the time of writing the author was still hungry.)

Running to a tight schedule it was a wonder that Karina managed to inform the group about all of BIC’s planned activities for the year ahead: BIC Breakfasts, the next DRM Battle (4th March at the RSA London), the Supply Chain seminar at LBF13, over ten new training courses, the biannual open days for members… so that takes us up to May… check out www.bic.org.uk to learn more or follow us @BIC1UK.
As the plates became emptier, and stomachs fuller, we moved on. The lovely Jack Tipping talked to the group a little about Bowker’s bibliographic management solutions; unnamed individuals in the room moved this along swiftly by unceremoniously pointing to their watches or making oh-so-unsubtle comments about the time. Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day but it certainly isn’t the longest; not when you’re talking about metadata anyway.

As I moved onto that last croissant (no regrets to this day) Snowbooks’ MD Emma Barnes took the helm and presented ‘Bibliocloud’. After frankly telling the group that she had made every mistake that a publisher could potentially make – no need to brag – Emma generously let us take a look inside this hotly talked about ‘cloud’ on the net.

Looking at the platform from the inside it seems pretty intuitive; and though I dread the term, ‘one-stop-shop’ seems highly appropriate as it allows publishers to manage everything from bibliographic data to contracts, rights and royalties all in one place online (got to love that free WIFI even if you don’t pay tax – thanks Starbucks). If it works it could be a saving grace for small publishers, and potentially larger ones. Thanks to a grant from the Arts Council England smaller publishers are able to use the service for free.

The next BIC breakfast in February is an invite-only session. March’s Breakfast will focus on the topic of ONIX 3.0 and ONIX 2.1 – book your place via http://bicbreakfastsdata3.eventbrite.co.uk/.

Charlotte
Business Manager, Book Industry Communication

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