BITS — JATS for Books
(2-hr introductory seminar)
BITS is a new XML model for books. Who cares? Who needs it? Isn't building Yet Another XML Tag Set irresponsible? We will discuss the whys and wherefores in a short (free) seminar on the BITS Book model.
What: A free seminar on BITS
When: November 29, 2012 OR December 18, 2012. Participants are invited to join us for coffee, cookies, and conversation at 1:30, the seminar will start promptly at 2:00.
Where: Mulberry's Classroom in Rockville, MD (click for directions)
Registration: Admission is free, but pre-registration is required. To pre-register send email to [email protected] or call +1 301/315-9631. Attendance is limited.
The National Library of Medicine has just announced the public availability of a new XML model: BITS (Book Interchange Tag Suite). The BITS, now in draft for public comment, was designed to meet the needs of publishers who are using JATS for journal articles and want to process their books in similar XML.
The JATS (the Journal Archiving Tag Suite) has been widely adopted for the XML encoding and interchange of journal articles, and has recently become an ANSI/NISO Standard (ANSI/NISO Z39.96-2012). The JATS models work well for much of the body of books, but there are significant differences between journal articles and books, which the new BITS model accommodates. Features of books that are modeled in BITS include:
- Table of Contents (with editorial content)
- Indexes
- Nested named structures, e.g., chapters, volumes, and parts
- Collections, such as sets and book series
In this introduction to the BITS Book, we will discuss:
- Expected uses of the BITS
- Book-specific structures in BITS
- Relationship between BITS and JATS (similarities and differences)
- The high-level structure of the BITS
- Book and article features BITS does not (currently) support
Prerequisites: Participants should be involved in some aspect of the publishing process and have an interest in books. No XML syntax knowledge is required. Knowledge of JATS would be useful, but is not essential.