Bibliographic data: helping customers make informed decisions

Bibliographic data.  It is something so important to our organisation and to our customer base.  We source product information from bibliographic agencies, we process thousands of files from publishers and even our parent company in the US keeps us well informed of what is being published in their part of the world.  And of course, there is book-in-hand. 

Good, solid, and reliable bibliographic data makes our business run smoothly - from order placement to receipt to cataloguing, processing and despatch to our customers.  As Australia's leading library supplier, we expect to receive accurate, timely information on both new releases and backlist titles for our customer base.  It is an important part of our trading relationship and the request should not be a surprise for our many publishing partners.

James Bennett has a database approaching some 10 million titles thanks to the growth in ebooks, formats, and the important role of Print on Demand (POD) in the supply chain (which has resulted in a growth of scanned documents and facsimile editions of varying degrees of quality).  More ISBNs make their way to our database every day and some days there is no stopping it.  We are reliant on this information yet trying to set "protection rules" and "exclusions" can be a headache for all involved.   Our customers for example don't want to know about a "dump bin" or "spinner" that has been given an ISBN to help distribution centres get the right POS materials to the right customer.  We don't want colouring-in books and similar materials.  We work on getting the mix right, but sometimes those ISBNs pass right by us no matter how hard we try to implement solid business rules for data.  

But there is a way our customers can make informed decisions when looking at JBO.  

For some time now we have a simple icon next to the data.   That icon tells our customers the edition listed is the one we are promoting, it's the one we are ordering, that we are selling. The JB icon identifies the product that has been selected for New Titles Services and promoted in the Sales Kits.  Our talented and experienced Profiling & Selection staff work with our publishing partners on the "right" editions to promote. And of course, they also make business decisions based on other factors in the supply chain - availability etc - which would also come with a icon and this brings us back to bibliographic data....

Dirty data is the bane of our lives yet there are still too many people in the book supply chain simply don't "get" how important bibliographic data is. Catalogues are still printed with wrong ISBN, price, binding, and publication date information.  You can almost forgive a printed catalogue or Advanced Information Sheet - they are prepared in advance and changes to the publication process cannot be accommodated in time.  But Electronic files, that's another story.  We have the ability to keep up-to-date with these changes - as long as publishers provide the latest information, even if it's reliant on manual data entry.

We have to interpret book information in a way that produces the best outcome for the customer. That includes websites and ecommerce sites from our many publishers and distributors - where correct title information is essential.  Display the correct information and more than likely you will get the order.  Display the wrong information and you will have additional costs for your business while you work out how to best handle the non-conformances.  Thanks to the internet and ecommerce developments, we believe that what we read on screen is correct and we get disappointed when our expectations are not met.

Whether we are talking bibliographic files or information sourced over the internet, James Bennett staff have to select the most appropriate title so the library gets the correct book (with the correct binding, price and release date) that they ordered for their patrons.  It isn't rocket science, but no matter how the industry tries to improve their service and information sent, there are roadblocks, exclusions, and errors that we have to work with.  But trust those "in the know".  Let our experience guide your selection.

Our library customers should trust the icon.  It provides peace of mind and a degree of certainty with their purchase.  If in doubt, always contact your James Bennett Customer Co-ordinator on their direct email or phone, or send us an email at info@bennett.com.au   We want to help you make the most informed purchasing decision.  

The icon is just one of the ways we do that.

_______________________________________________

And if you are a publisher reading this, wondering if you are giving us good data - just ask us!  For specific data enquiries please email and we will do our best to answer your questions.  We also have Guidelines we can send you that covers our requirements for AI title information, images, and electronic bibliographic files.   Email our Publisher Relations & Marketing Communications Manager for your copy.