Towards a Lithuanian “Books in Print” Vilnius, 30th August 2011 ARROW Plus is a Best Practice Network selected under the ICT Policy Support Programme (ICT PSP)

Book databases have many different purposes  National Bibliographies  Repository of cultural heritage  Cataloguing in Publication (CIP)  Basic bibliographic information, sometimes printed in book  Wholesaler/distributor databases  Books carried by wholesaler/distributor  Books in Print databases (BiP)  Providing information to the book supply chain

National bibliography  Comprehensive historical record of publications  Books in and out of print (no discrimination)  No updated price and availability data  Limited book distribution information  Information taken from actual book or ISBN registration data  Normally based on legal deposit  Limited use for trade purposes

Cataloguing in publication (CiP)  Collaboration between publishers and National Libraries/ISBN agencies to collect early data  Allows catalogue record to be compiled before publication  Record may be printed in book  Only basic data included  Never updated Brady, Irene. Illustrating nature : right-brain art in a left- brain world / written and illustrated by Irene Brady. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN Natural history illustration. 2. Scientific illustration. 3. Drawing -- Technique. 4. Nature (Aesthetics). I. Title. QH46.5.B dc

Wholesalers’ databases  Usually limited to books available from a single wholesaler or distributor  Designed to provide limited retail information needs of wholesaler’s clients  Often not publicly available – limited to clients  Some information (e.g. availability) refers to wholesaler rather than the publisher

Books in Print  To provide aggregated information to the entire book supply chain  Listing of all books available in print  … or soon to be published  Contact details for publishers / distributors  Comprehensive in coverage  Includes descriptive/marketing information  Provides updated current price, availability and source (i.e. distributor) information

National Bibliography entry

Books in Print entry part 1

Books in Print entry (continued)

Why is BiP so important?  Information about every book available for sale  Provides all the information that bookshops and libraries need to make purchase decisions and obtain the book  Accurate and up-to-date data  Encourages backlist sales  Promotes export sales  Facilitates electronic ordering and sales data  Essential for Internet bookselling  Helps sell more books

Which European countries have BiP services?  Belgium  Czech Republic  Denmark  Finland  France  Germany and Austria  Greece  Italy  Netherlands  Norway  Spain  Sweden  Switzerland (via France, Germany and Italy)  UK and Ireland

Who publishes BiP databases  Bibliographic service companies (e.g. Nielsen, UK)  Wholesalers (e.g. Centraal Boekhuis, Netherlands)  Trade Associations (e.g. MVB, Germany)  N.B. All of the above examples are ISBN Agencies…  Sometimes a collaboration between ISBN Agencies and a private bibliographic company (e.g. Italian Publishers Association / Informazioni Editoriali, Italy)

The best solution is collaboration  ISBN agencies that are based in National Libraries linked to legal deposit bodies, are well-equipped to collect and aggregate good quality comprehensive data but not to maintain dynamic data such as price and availability  Collaboration between libraries and the trade is the best solution  Italy, Spain and the Nordic countries are good examples of collaboration between organisations (publisher associations, bibliographic service providers, wholesalers, ISBN agencies/national libraries)  All parties benefit if the data quality is improved

Some key components of Books in Print  Database/search software  Hosting  Web user interface  Standard data elements  Standard subject classification scheme  Mechanism for collecting new title and publisher information  System for collecting and managing updates  Publisher awareness of the benefits of contributing good quality data

ARROW proposal for a shared BiP platform  To create a software and hosting platform capable of meeting all the requirements of different organisations in agreed countries with minimal need for local adaptation  All participating countries will have the opportunity of expressing requirements  Development cost will be shared (and funded by ARROW Plus)  On-going maintenance, enhancement and hosting costs will also be shared amongst all countries using the system and therefore should be less per user.

Agreeing requirements for BiP  Data elements and code lists (e.g. ONIX for Books 3.0)  Subject descriptors (N.B. library classification schemes are not optimal for trade use)  …or “borrow” an existing scheme (e.g. BIC)  Any special requirements for user interface  Source of initial data and system for collecting and updating data  Requirements for data output (via web or export files)  Develop business and marketing plans

Getting data from publishers  Data elements and timings should be agreed with publishers  Mechanisms should be simple  forms (preferably web-based)  batch exchange from publishers databases  Cost to publishers should be minimal  Publishers must understand the importance of keeping price and availability details current  i.e. it will help sell books and enable ARROW searches

Getting data from publishers  Publishers should include the agreed data elements on their own database  Standard codes / identifier systems should be used where possible (e.g. ONIX)  Publishers should regularly check their own BiP records for accuracy  Access to BiP must be provided for publishers  Data from publishers is likely to require editorial supervision

Business models - revenues  Payment for access  Licensing of entire database  Payment for “rich” extended entries (e.g. yellow pages)  Contributions from advertising/sponsorship  Public funding contributions  Value-added services (e.g. electronic ordering and other transactions, sales data)

Business models - costs  License fees for database software  Hardware / hosting costs  Design of user interface  Staff (management, editorial, chasing publishers)  Marketing

A difficult challenge: creating Books in Print databases  Books in Print databases require:  Significant investments: difficult to break even in countries with small publishing industries  High level IT competences and specific know how, which takes time to be created  Consensus between stakeholders, both commercial and public sector  Proactive collaboration and commitment by those stakeholders

The Arrow Plus approach and benefits  Issue 1: reduce need for big investment  create one single system that serves more markets, in order to reduce country investment and future maintenance costs (while ensuring localisation at interface level)  Issue 2: know how  Leading BIP and standard organisations are involved (MVB, AIE, EDItEUR), which will offer a unique opportunity to help build local know-how  Issue 3: consensus  All national players are invited to join and express their needs  Issue 4: local commitment  Publishers must understand the benefits of providing and maintaining data

Towards a Lithuanian Books in Print  The ARROW Plus project provides a unique opportunity in Lithuania for:  bringing together publisher, bookseller library, wholesaler, rights organisations to collaborate, share and improve data on books in and out of commerce  taking advantage of the expertise and funding within the ARROW Plus project to build a world class Books in Print database  providing a professional, shared cost solution for ongoing hosting and maintenance of the Books in Print database

ARROW Plus is a Best Practice Network selected under the ICT Policy Support Programme (ICT PSP) FURTHER INFORMATION Brian Green Principal Consultant EDItEUR (previously Executive Director of the International ISBN Agency)