BookNet Canada

Last updated

BookNet Canada (BNC) is an industry-led, non-profit organization that develops technology, standards, and education to serve the Canadian book industry. It is partially funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage and is accountable to the Government of Canada for servicing and reporting on the Canadian book industry. [1]

Contents

History

BookNet Canada was founded in 2002 in response to government and industry initiatives to support book publishing in Canada, with an initial mandate of "implementing technologically focused, universally adopted supply chain standards and solutions (including a centralized sales reporting database)." [2]

The first impetus to create the organization goes back to the late 1990s with the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. The committee met several times in 1999 and 2000 to assess the government's support of the book industry and the issues facing Canadian book publishing as a whole. [3] Their research culminated in the report, The Challenge of Change: A Consideration of the Canadian Book Industry, which presented several recommendations mainly focused on the need for technological standards and reliable market data. [4]

BookNet Canada was formed out of the vestiges of the Canadian Telebook Agency (CTA), an existing organization that was already managing the closest thing to a national book database at the time, with a Board of Directors formed from representatives from the Canadian Booksellers Association, Association of Canadian Publishers, Canadian Publishers Council, and the Association of Canadian Book Wholesalers. [5] In 2003 Michael Tamblyn was appointed as BookNet Canada's first CEO. [6]

With ongoing support from the Department of Canadian Heritage through the Canada Book Fund and direction from industry representatives, BookNet Canada began working on improvements to the book supply chain, starting with the creation of an electronic communications platform for the exchange of documents between supply chain partners and a national book sales tracking and aggregation service, which was launched in 2005 under the name SalesData. [7]

Current services

All print book sales in the Canadian trade market are tracked and aggregated in BNC SalesData, which is accessible to publishers and booksellers. The system collects POS transaction data as well as on-hand and on-order levels from retailers, both physical and online, with approximately 85% coverage of the print trade market in Canada. [8]

The data collected in SalesData is used to report on the size and scope of the trade book market in Canada, most notably in the annual The Canadian Book Market report. In 2015, the size of the Canadian print book market was reported at 52.6 million units sold for a total value of $983.4 million CAD (US$742 million), according to BNC sales numbers. [9]

The aggregated data is also used to create national bestseller lists, including those published by The Globe and Mail [10] and the Toronto Star . [11]

Bibliographic standards and certification

The Canadian book industry trades bibliographic data for books according to a set of national and international standards, which are established, contributed to, and upheld by BNC. To accomplish this, the organization sits on several national and international committees on standards for book metadata, identifiers, classification schemes, and electronic data interchange. It works to educate the supply chain on these standards, and oversees Canadian Bibliographic Certification to support adherence in the industry. BNC also monitors and participates in the development of other industry standards, including those for accessibility, EPUB, GDSN, SAN, and GLN. [12]

Supply chain services

BNC operates several tools used by the Canadian book supply chain: CataList, a digital catalogue service used by publishers, booksellers, media, and librarians to host and browse forthcoming books; Pubnet EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), an e-commerce service used by the book industry to send and receive orders, shipment notices, and returns; and BiblioShare, a national database for collecting and disseminating bibliographic data on Canadian books. [13]

Research

In addition to sales numbers, BookNet conducts industry and consumer research for the book industry, including reports on the prevalence of ebooks vs. print among book buyers. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ISBN</span> Unique numeric book identifier since 1970

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase or receive ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigo Books and Music</span> Canadian book and gift retailer

Indigo Books & Music Inc., known as "Indigo" and stylized "!ndigo", is Canada's only major English-language bookstore chain. It is Canada's largest book, gift, and specialty toy retailer, operating stores in all ten provinces and one territory, and through a website offering a selection of books, toys, home décor, stationery, and gifts. Most Chapters and Indigo stores include a Starbucks café inside. As of 2022, Indigo has started selling music, and select audio equipment.

The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. The New York Times Book Review has published the list weekly since October 12, 1931. In the 21st century, it has evolved into multiple lists, grouped by genre and format, including fiction and nonfiction, hardcover, paperback and electronic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Textbook</span> Type of academic study book

A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textbooks and other books used in schools. Today, many textbooks are published in both print and digital formats.

The Net Book Agreement (NBA) was a fixed book price agreement in the United Kingdom and Ireland between The Publishers Association and booksellers which set the prices at which books were to be sold to the public. The agreement was concerned solely with price maintenance. It operated in the UK from 1900 until the 1990s when it was abandoned by some large bookshop chains and was then ruled illegal. It also operated in Ireland until shortly before its final demise.

A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties. An author may also be referred to as a bestseller if their work often appears in a list. Well-known bestseller lists in the U.S. are published by Publishers Weekly, USA Today, The New York Times, and IndieBound. The New York Times tracks book sales from national and independent bookstores, as well as sales from major internet retailers such as Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

AbeBooks is an e-commerce global online marketplace with seven websites that offer books, fine art, and collectables from sellers in over 50 countries. Launched in 1996, it specialises in used, rare and out-of-print books. AbeBooks has been a subsidiary of Amazon since 2008.

Circana, Inc., formerly known as IRI Worldwide and The NPD Group, is an American market research and technology company. Its global headquarters is in Chicago, Illinois, USA. In 2017, NPD ranked as the 8th largest market research company in the world, according to the independent AMA Gold Report Top 50 report. The NPD Group operates in 20 countries, across more than 20 industries. The current name, Circana, was adopted in 2023 after the company's merger with IRI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bookselling</span> Business of selling and dealing with books

Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process.

R. R. Bowker LLC is an American limited liability company domiciled under Delaware Limited Liability Company Law and based in Chatham, New Jersey. Among other things, Bowker provides bibliographic information on published works to the book trade, including publishers, booksellers, libraries, and individuals; its roots in the industry trace back to 1868. Bowker is the exclusive U.S. agent for issuing International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs). Bowker is the publisher of Books in Print and other compilations of information about books and periodical titles. It provides supply chain services and analytical tools to the book publishing industry. Bowker is headquartered in Chatham, New Jersey, with additional operational offices in England and Australia. It is now owned by Cambridge Information Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Book Industry Study Group</span>

The Book Industry Study Group, Inc. (BISG) is a U.S. trade association for policy, technical standards and research related to books and similar products. The mission of BISG is to simplify logistics for publishers, manufacturers, suppliers, wholesalers, retailers, librarians and others engaged in the business of print and electronic media.

The International Publishers Association is an international publishing industry federation of national publisher associations representing book and journal publishing, founded in 1896 in Paris. It is a non-profit and non-governmental organization, to promote and protect publishing and to raise awareness for publishing in the context of economic, cultural and political development. The IPA represents the interests of the publishing industry on an international level.

The Publishers Association (PA) is the trade organisation serving book, journal and electronic publishers in the United Kingdom, established in 1896. Its mission is "to strengthen the trading environment for UK publishers, by providing a strong voice for the industry in government, within society and with other stakeholders in the UK, in Europe and internationally." It seeks to provide a forum for the exchange of non‑competitive information between publishers and to offer support and guidance to the industry through technological and other changes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Elgar Publishing</span> Academic publishing company

Edward Elgar Publishing is a global publisher of academic books, journals and online resources in the social sciences and law. The company also publishes a social science and law blog with regular contributions from leading scholars.

BookScan is a data provider for the book publishing industry that compiles point of sale data for book sales, owned by Circana in the United States and NIQ in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, and Poland.

The Bookseller is a British magazine reporting news on the publishing industry. Philip Jones is editor-in-chief of the weekly print edition of the magazine and the website. The magazine is home to the Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year, a humorous award given annually to the book with the oddest title. The award is organised by The Bookseller's diarist, Horace Bent, and had been administered in recent years by the former deputy editor, Joel Rickett, and former charts editor, Philip Stone. We Love This Book is its quarterly sister consumer website and email newsletter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Book trade in the United Kingdom</span> People and business in the trade of books in Britain

The book trade in the United Kingdom has its roots as far back as the 14th century, however the emergence of internet booksellers such as Amazon partnered with the introduction of the e-Book has drastically altered the scope of the industry. Book retailers such as the Borders Group have failed to adjust to these changes, thus there has been a steep decline in the number of operating traditional and independent bookshops. However, still heavily influential on the trade globally, British publishers such as Penguin Books and Pearson remain dominant players within the industry and continue to publish titles globally.

Instant book is a term used in publishing to describe a book that has been produced and published very quickly to meet market demand.

Book publishing in India refers to the process of book creation within India, a growing field in recent years, which makes the country the sixth-largest book publishing nation in the world. While there is optimism about the growth of Indian publishing, the sector is also afflicted by a lack of accurate figures about books published, knowledge shared and revenues earned. It is further divided between the local and multinational players, the English language and the local languages publishers. Self-publishing and immense free content, which is an offshoot of the digital revolution in print, further challenge the traditional ways of printing. The major players in Academic Publishing are PHI Learning, Wiley India, Taylor and Francis India, New Age, Viva Books, TMH, Jaico and Manakin Press.

David Haddon Whitaker was a British book publisher. A direct descendant of Joseph Whitaker, he joined the family firm, J. Whitaker & Sons, in 1956. Whitaker became involved with the development of Standard Book Numbers, the precursor to the ISBN, in the 1960s. Whitaker's firm was well placed to drive the standard as it published records of all books published in the United Kingdom. The SBN was expanded internationally from 1968 and Whitaker, who is sometimes known as "the father of the ISBN", played a key role in this. He chaired the first International Organization for Standardization (ISO) working group on the ISBN and helped draft ISO standard 2108.

References

  1. ↑ Maclean, Heather (21 August 2013). "The Canadian Book Industry Supply Chain Initiative: The Inception and Implementation of a New Funding Initiative for the Department of Canadian Heritage". Publishing @ SFU.
  2. ↑ Theriault, Chelsea (21 August 2013). ""First, Do No Harm": Five Years of Book-Industry Data Sharing With BookNet Canada SalesData". Publishing @ SFU. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  3. ↑ "Canadian Book Publishing Industry, Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  4. ↑ "The Challenge of Change: A Consideration of the Canadian Book Industry". Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  5. ↑ Theriault, Chelsea (21 August 2013). ""First, Do No Harm": Five Years of Book-Industry Data Sharing With BookNet Canada SalesData". Publishing @ SFU. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  6. ↑ "BookNet Canada Announces New CEO". 14 June 2009.
  7. ↑ Theriault, Chelsea (21 August 2013). ""First, Do No Harm": Five Years of Book-Industry Data Sharing With BookNet Canada SalesData". Publishing @ SFU. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  8. ↑ Renouf, Susan; McCraney, Tricia. "Reading the Tea Leaves: A Book Sector Profile for British Columbia" (PDF). Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  9. ↑ Godfrey, Laura. "Canadian Print Book Sales Up Slightly in 2015". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  10. ↑ "Bestseller Lists". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  11. ↑ "Bestseller Lists". Toronto Star. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  12. ↑ Register, Renée (February 2016). The Metadata Handbook: Second Edition. Datacurate. ISBN   9780985828899.
  13. ↑ "Products". BookNet Canada. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  14. ↑ "E-book sales plateau while print books hold place in readers' hearts". CBC News. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.