Thoth: Open Metadata Done Right!

Thoth Open Metadata is a non-profit, community interest company (CIC) dedicated to advancing open access publishing and supporting the academic community by providing innovative metadata management and distribution solutions tailored to tackle the problems of getting Open Access works into the book supply chain, ensuring their long-term  sustainability and accessibility.

At the core of our services is Thoth’s platform – a free one-stop solution to efficiently manage and expose open metadata via open APIs under a CC0 dedication, in various industry standards incl. ONIX 2.1, 3.0 and 3.1, MARC, KBART, JSON, and Crossref XML DOI deposits.

We offer publishers a two-tiered service:

• Thoth Free: Publishers have free and unlimited self-service access to the Thoth platform, through which they can create, manage and export metadata following diverse industry standards as well as platform-specific configurations.
• Thoth Plus: Publishers are provided with a set of managed services covering aspects of automated DOI registration, sending metadata and book files to key stakeholders in the larger book supply chain, as well as the archiving of long-form scholarship on behalf of a publisher.

Thoth also offers additional services such as bespoke metadata creation, data ingest of back catalogues into the Thoth database, and hosting of book files via Thoth File Hosting. As an extension, Thoth Website Hosting offers a customisable website template tailored to the needs of OA publishers and consortia / organisations managing OA book catalogues. Thoth’s re-usable white-label approach to hosting is already being used in Thoth’s own website and central metadata catalogue, while also powering an increasing number of publisher and consortia websites such as those of Open Book Publishers, and the consortium of Netherlands University Presses (currently under development).

All in all, we are focused on:

• creation, curation, and dissemination of high-quality metadata  records which are essential for the advancement of public knowledge;
• promoting openness in scholarly communications such as open access,  open licensing, FLOSS, open data, open metadata, and open standards and  protocols;
• embracing infrastructural and platform diversity as an inherent component of a flourishing scholarly communications landscape;
• providing high-quality solutions and services for metadata creation, management, dissemination, archiving and preservation.

At Thoth, we firmly believe in providing publishers with the freedom  to choose their own path. Our commitment to openness ensures that  publishers are not locked into any specific platform or service. Thoth's  open architecture and APIs empower publishers to integrate seamlessly  with other platforms and workflows, allowing for greater flexibility and  adaptability. Thoth enables publishers to retain full control over  their data and operations. With Thoth, you're not just accessing a  platform – you're joining a community-driven ecosystem built on the  principles of openness, collaboration, and innovation.

You can find us on:

• Web: https://thoth.pub
• Blueky: https://bsky.app/profile/thoth-metadata.bsky.social
• Mastodon: https://hcommons.social/@Thoth_metadata

Open Book Collective

The Open Book Collective is a registered charity that brings together open access book publishers, open publishing service providers, and knowledge institutions, including libraries, working in collaboration to secure a more sustainable and equitable future for open access books.