From: Cynthia Hodgson <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 7 Apr 2014 11:37:24 -0400

NISO announces the publication of a revision to the Knowledge Bases
and Related Tools (KBART) Recommended Practice (NISO RP-9-2014). The
original recommended practice, issued in 2010, provided all parties in
the information supply chain with straightforward guidance about
metadata formatting--focused mainly on journal resources--to ensure the
exchange of accurate metadata between content providers and knowledge
base developers. Building on the initial recommendations, the revision
includes the more granular, complex issues that cause problems in
metadata supply, including consortia-specific metadata and metadata
transfer for open access publications, e-books, and conference
proceedings.

"The value of the KBART format is that it can be used for both
human-readable and machine-readable purposes and can be a low cost
approach to effective knowledge base metadata transfer for
publishers," states Magaly Bascones, Data Manager at Jisc Collections
and Co-chair of the KBART Working Group. "Since the first Recommended
Practice was issued, over 75 publishers and content providers have
endorsed KBART and demonstrated their commitment to good quality
metadata provision. With implementation of the KBART recommendations,
users can be assured that the providers' metadata is trusted and has
the required level of granularity without the burdensome task of
title-by-title checking. All of the existing endorsements will go
through an updating procedure to ensure conformance with the revised
Recommended Practice."

"The experience of endorsing publishers and feedback from a survey of
libraries and consortia identified the areas of focus for this
expanded KBART revision," explains Chad Hutchens, University of
Wyoming Libraries Head of Digital Collections and Digital Resources
Librarian, and Co-chair of the KBART Working Group. "Historically, it
has been difficult for libraries and linking vendors to obtain
accurate title list data for customized consortia packages and the new
KBART recommendations encourage content providers to establish
metadata feeds specific to these packages. The recommendations also
address some of the unique needs for open access publications,
e-books, and conference proceedings by updating some of the required
and optional metadata fields included in a KBART transmission."

"The KBART project will now be transferred to Standing Committee
status within NISO," states Todd Carpenter, NISO Executive Director.
"This Committee will be responsible for managing the endorsement
process, providing ongoing education and promotion of KBART, and
maintaining the Information Hub on the NISO website that provides
supporting materials about KBART--including the KBART Glossary,
endorsement information, a registry of knowledge base supply chain
contacts, and background information on OpenURL and knowledge bases."

The KBART Recommended Practice and the KBART Information Hub with its
supporting materials are available on the NISO website at:
www.niso.org/workrooms/kbart

Cynthia Hodgson
Technical Editor / Consultant
National Information Standards Organization
[log in to unmask]
301-654-2512