BISAC Committees

• BISAC Subject Codes

• Identification

• Machine Readable Coding (MRC)

• Metadata

• Publisher/Manufacturer EDI Message Sets

• Supply Chain EDI (SCEDI)

BISAC stands for Book Industry Standards and Communications. It constitutes the main standards forum of the Book Industry Study Group and is driven by a variety of sub-committees. These sub-committees provides access for the entire publishing industry to come together to develop and maintain technology and electronic commerce standards, to stay on top of the latest industry trends, and to address business issues facing its members.

BISAC continues to facilitate the administration of publisher/customer and publisher/ manufacturer electronic data interchange formats for books and serials based on the international EDI standards created by the United Nations in conjunction with other national bodies and coordinated by EDItEUR, the international organization coordinating book and serial electronic commerce.

What does BISAC Do?

• Develops publishing industry-supported bar code and EDI formats

• Publicizes and promotes the correct use of standard numbering systems, including the ISBN, and forthcoming standards such as the ISTC

• Incorporates standards for telecommunication protocols

• Keeps up with the E-age by revising EDI coding for ease of implementation for web-based transactions - moving from the X12 basis to xCBL

• Develops new reporting format standards for e-book publishers based on XML making it possible to track e-sales at any point in the channel

• Contributes US perspective in development of digital intellectual property identifiers and metadata elements

• Maintains, revises and updates standards to keep up with changes in the industry and to enhance existing standards

If you have any questions or suggestions for the BISAC Committee, please contact:

Wendell Lotz

Vice President, Product Database Development
Ingram Book Company

bisac_chair@bisg.org