Category: metadata Page 2 of 3

How publishers classify their own books

On March 1, 2016

A common complaint by end users is how difficult it is to find books, whether online, or in a print bookshop. A recent presentation by Kat Meyer of the Book Industry Study Group (BISG), a trade association of publishers, revealed how BISG members are …

Why don’t we trust Spotify?

By Michael Upshall

On February 21, 2016

In metadata, searching

Ben Ratliff, a music critic on the New York Times, wrote in The Guardian about Spotify’s Discover Weekly recommendation engine (“Slave to the algorithm: how music fans can reclaim their playlists from Spotify” 21 Feb 2016). This service provides an automatically generated weekly playlist for …

How many search results would you prefer?

By Michael Upshall

On February 4, 2016

In digital publishing, metadata, searching

“We find users prefer one answer.” This was the comment of Google’s Behshad Behzadi when presenting Google’s new Ultimate Assistant. In case you don’t already know, Google’s Ultimate Assistant will answer your questions, whether you key them in or (in Google’s opinion the most …

Some hypotheses about hypothes.is

By Michael Upshall

On January 30, 2016

In digital publishing, metadata, web development

My first response when looking at hypothes.is was uncertainty. I’ve seen quite a bit of publicity, lots of mentions in discussion forums about hypothes.is, but it wasn’t very clear to me on looking at the website just what was proposed. “Annotate with anyone, anywhere” doesn’t …

Books versus journals

By Michael Upshall

On January 18, 2016

In content management, digital publishing, metadata, searching

“Users’ expectations are different for these two. When you search books you expect an answer; when you search journal articles, a scholar expects a list of things to read. A book represents late-stage work, not the early-stage work of journal articles.”

Thus Anurag …

Why people prefer print to online TV listings

By Michael Upshall

On October 25, 2015

In content management, metadata, web development

It is commonplace nowadays to predict the inexorable decline of print as it is steadly replaced by online information. Without wishing to be a luddite, I an intrigued when there are examples of print surviving and even prospering in the face of digital competition, especially …

Anurag Acharya on the future of academic search

By Michael Upshall

On October 18, 2015

In digital publishing, metadata, searching

Anurag Acharya, one of the founders of Google Scholar, gave the keynote address at the recent ALPSP Annual Conference. His wide-ranging overview of the effect of full-text searching on academic content raised many good points, but one that struck me as perhaps the …

Amazon and the failure of metadata

By Michael Upshall

On September 21, 2015

In digital publishing, metadata, searching

Despite(or perhaps because of) being the world’s biggest online bookstore, Amazon is a nightmare to use when searching for well-known books. The problem of finding a book on Amazon that exists in several versions has been very succinctly stated by Jim O’Donnell on a recent …

Faceted v hierarchical taxonomies – why all the fuss?

By Michael Upshall

On June 24, 2015

In metadata, searching, web development

You might think that there need be no war over creating a taxonomy. When should you use a hierarchical classification, and when a set of facets? You might think it hardly worth bothering over. Yet some thesaurus experts fight to defend hierarchical taxonomies; you feel …

How difficult is text analytics?

By Michael Upshall

On April 5, 2014

In metadata

A recent ISKO meeting (“Taming the News Beast”, 1 April, London) presented the current state of the art for text analytics relating to news publishing. Although the presentations were excellent, and the organisations represented were leading edge, I found the day valuable not for what …