Better Data Is Better Publishing

Publishing has a data problem – a deficit of accurate, relevant data necessary to manage in a world of change.

Publishing is a profession notorious for relying on “gut” – business and editorial decisions made on instinct and intuition. But it’s 2019, and it’s time for your gut to retire.

Data-driven solutions for publishing can lead to improvement in many areas, from manuscript workflow to peer review, audience development to market reach.

In academia and in organizations, data-driven decision-making (DDDM), is taken as a serious discipline. DDDM may not guarantee for business success, though as Chuck Hemenway of Copyright Clearance Center explains, better data and better use of data has been show to lead to better publishing.

“It’s well documented that products that reach market with a substandard descriptive metadata do poorly. They’re not borrowed as much in interlibrary loan, if it’s books. They’re not discovered well if they’re journal products,” he explains.

“Regardless of your stripes as a publisher, discoverability and dissemination, all of those things are front of mind,” he tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “Even if your intentions are purely good and non-commercial, those all require the same care and rigor and effort as the commercial publishers apply. So whether you’re commercial, whether you’re non-commercial, content products with better metadata go further.”

At Frankfurt Book Fair, Hemenway presents, “Better Data is Better Publishing,” Thursday, 17 October 2019, from 9:30 to 10 a.m., in Hall 4.2. For all the details on CCC’s Frankfurt Book Fair programming, check out www.copyright.com/frankfurt2019