Metadata for manga: Metadata vocabulary, schema and tools

Aug 21, 2026

Upload by Sarah

Manga Metadata: Vocabulary, schema and tools explores how bibliographic-style metadata can describe manga as a multi-modal, transmedia-rich pop-culture resource. It reviews why traditional library practices often lacked authority files for manga, and outlines motivations for developing structured metadata in digital and networked production environments. The talk introduces a manga metadata framework, methods for identifying works using bibliographic records, supporting software tools, and forward-looking issues for the future.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages36

Reading Time1 h 31 min

AccessFree to download

Outline

Introducing manga

Why metadata for manga?

Pop-culture resource description

Digital and network-oriented production

Manga metadata projects at Tsukuba

Manga Metadata Framework

Identification of works using bibliographic records

Software tools

Issues for the future

Metadata for manga: Metadata vocabulary, schema and tools

Shigeo Sugimoto

Faculty of Library, Information and Media Science

University of Tsukuba Japan

sugimoto @ slis.tsukuba.ac.jp

2015/8/12 1

Outline

• Background of this talk

• Introducing manga

• Why metadata for manga ?

• Pop-‐culture resource description

• Digital and network-‐oriented production and publishing environment

• Manga metadata projects at Tsukuba

• Manga Metadata Framework

• Identification of Works using bibliographic records

• Software tools to help create and access

• Issues for the future

2015/8/12 2

Some Background Issues

• Manga – Comics, Graphic Novels– is a major genre of Japanese popculture resources

• Many spin-‐off products of manga, e.g., anime and games

• Important genre since early stage of digital publishing on mobile phones

• Manga was not collected by libraries because they were regarded as a subculture resource

• Lack of well-‐developed resources for manga, e.g. authority files

• Efforts to describe manga

• Recent manga collection development at libraries and museums, e.g. Kyoto International Manga Museum, Manga collection at JSC of Monash, etc .

• Media Arts Database by Agency for Cultural Affairs of the Japanese Government

• This talk covers mainly from technological aspects of metadata

• Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues are crucial but not mentioned

2015/8/12 3

Introducing Manga

• Manga -‐ a Japanese term meaning comics, graphic novels

• what is manga?, how it looks like?, and who creates?

• Manga and their related resources

• Primary manga entities

• Primary entities created from manga entities– spin-‐off products

• Secondary entities about manga

• Production process and components of manga

2015/8/12 4

Manga

Various publishing styles – magazines (serials), monographs, Web pages .

2015/8/12

Multi-‐modal content – images, texts, symbols, layouts

and grammar 5

Different Styles of Digital Manga

2015/8/12

| | | | |

| --- | --- | --- | --- |

| | | | |

Book style

Scroll style

Manga Fans Community

• Comic Market – Big Market and Forum for Amateur Creators and Fans

• 3 days event, twice a year

• 35,000 individuals and groups, mostly non-‐professionals

• 500K+ people at a single event

2015/8/12

Web Resources created by Manga Fans

Customer Review(Point)

Customer Review(Comment)

Wikipedia Article “Naruto” A review about manga in

[Amazon.co.jp](Amazon.co.jp)

2015/8/12 8

Various Resources related to a “Work” of manga-‐ NARUTO, a popular manga, as an example -‐

User-‐generated Article

• Story

• Character

| | |

| --- | --- |

| B
•
• | ibliographic Records
Libraries
Commercial providers |

| (publishers, bookstores)
2015/8/12 | |

Transmedia products

• Animation

• Music

• Game

• etc.

Chatting on SNS

Components of manga – another view

2015/8/12

• Manga has many components which are connected

each other

􀀡 Manga creation is to manage them

Creator, Publisher

Manga

Wikipedia

FAQs

Why is metadata needed for comics?

The presentation highlights that comics were not effectively collected by libraries during the early days of digital publishing and lacked mature resources such as authority files; additionally, metadata is needed to better describe comic-related content and associated resources.

Which characteristics of comics affect metadata design?

Comics feature multimodal content (images, text, symbols, layout, and syntax) and are linked to transmedia products such as animation, music, and games. Metadata must be able to cover these interconnected components.

What key issues does the comic metadata framework proposed in the presentation address?

The framework centers on using bibliographic records to identify works, utilizes tools to assist in creating and accessing comic-related metadata, and discusses future topics that require attention.

Aug 21, 2026

Upload by Sarah