Metadata is the key to collaboration and a national bibliographic knowledgebase

The British Library has partnered with Jisc, Research Libraries UK (RLUK) and the Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL) to create a national bibliographic knowledgebase (NBK). Neil Wilson outlines why such an initiative is necessary, explaining the implications of a hybrid print/digital marketplace, and how the rapidly evolving digital landscape has not been matched by a parallel development in the quality of metadata available to describe it. The NBK will ensure libraries can provide researchers and students with quicker, more efficient access to digital books and resources by aggregating and interoperating with a collection of data sources to discover where books are kept, in what format and the terms of their availability.