Posted Friday, November 05, 2004
Book Industry Timeline for Transition to ISBN-13 Approved
In a Special Session following its Annual Meeting, the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) approved a set of recommended timeline documents related to the upcoming changes to book identifiers. The BISG recommendations include issues related to EDI Migration to ISBN-13, the usage of the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) and the EAN/UPC transition. The new voluntary standards are designed to facilitate changes that will take place over the next two years for all members of the industry.
“For months a Task Force headed by John Bohman of Random House and Fritz Foy of Holtzbrinck Publishers has been exploring the impact of the move to a single Bookland EAN bar code in mass market channels and creating guidelines aimed at facilitating this change,” reports Jeff Abraham, BISG Executive Director.
The Task Force’s work is reflected in its Conclusions and Recommendations document, one of the three documents approved during the Special Session. The document outlines the suggested implementation dates for both new and existing mass market titles to comply with the Uniform Code Council’s 2005 Sunrise initiative and BISG’s Product Identification Policy.
“The BISG Task Force has attracted participants from the book industry who deal with the mass merchant segment of the supply chain,” says Bohman. The group has had numerous meetings over the past several months and is working closely with retailers, wholesalers, and publishers, as well as other companies in the supply chain. Foy reports that, “We hope to continue the work of the Task Force in the coming months and involve the appropriate industry experts to resolve any open issues.”
In addition to the Task Force’s work on the transition in product identification, members of the Machine Readable Coding Committee (MRC), and entire BISAC community, have compiled an approved document on the critical timing issues related to both the implementation of the 13-digit ISBN and the 2005 Sunrise initiative. The MRC Committee, headed by Tom Clarkson of Barnes & Noble has been working for over a year to address the technical issues related to the transitions to both the ISBN-13 and global bar code practices.
On the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) side of the issue, members of the Internet Commerce Committee (ICC) have put together a third approved BISG Policy Statement, which addresses EDI Migration to the ISBN-13. The policy dictates that preparations to support new product identifier codes in EDI can be started immediately and must be completed before January 1, 2007.
Abraham reports that members of the BISAC committee are putting the finishing touches on a Product Identification reference section that will be posted on the BISG website in order to promote 13-digit identification readiness throughout the book industry. “All members of the supply chain need to prepare for upcoming changes, and BISG is working with groups throughout the world to ensure our members are informed and can comply with the global changes,” says Abraham. Members of the book industry seeking more information and highlights from the special September session related to the status of the ISBN-13, 2005 Sunrise, and the EAN/UPC transition can find it on the web at: http://www.bisg.org/BISG_annual_meeting.html.
About BISG:
The Book Industry Study Group (BISG) is a not-for-profit research, policy and standards organization whose members come from every sector of the publishing community. The Study Group is a forum for managing change and enabling interaction among publishers, booksellers, librarians, wholesalers, manufacturers, authors, and suppliers. For more information, visit www.bisg.org.
“For months a Task Force headed by John Bohman of Random House and Fritz Foy of Holtzbrinck Publishers has been exploring the impact of the move to a single Bookland EAN bar code in mass market channels and creating guidelines aimed at facilitating this change,” reports Jeff Abraham, BISG Executive Director.
The Task Force’s work is reflected in its Conclusions and Recommendations document, one of the three documents approved during the Special Session. The document outlines the suggested implementation dates for both new and existing mass market titles to comply with the Uniform Code Council’s 2005 Sunrise initiative and BISG’s Product Identification Policy.
“The BISG Task Force has attracted participants from the book industry who deal with the mass merchant segment of the supply chain,” says Bohman. The group has had numerous meetings over the past several months and is working closely with retailers, wholesalers, and publishers, as well as other companies in the supply chain. Foy reports that, “We hope to continue the work of the Task Force in the coming months and involve the appropriate industry experts to resolve any open issues.”
In addition to the Task Force’s work on the transition in product identification, members of the Machine Readable Coding Committee (MRC), and entire BISAC community, have compiled an approved document on the critical timing issues related to both the implementation of the 13-digit ISBN and the 2005 Sunrise initiative. The MRC Committee, headed by Tom Clarkson of Barnes & Noble has been working for over a year to address the technical issues related to the transitions to both the ISBN-13 and global bar code practices.
On the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) side of the issue, members of the Internet Commerce Committee (ICC) have put together a third approved BISG Policy Statement, which addresses EDI Migration to the ISBN-13. The policy dictates that preparations to support new product identifier codes in EDI can be started immediately and must be completed before January 1, 2007.
Abraham reports that members of the BISAC committee are putting the finishing touches on a Product Identification reference section that will be posted on the BISG website in order to promote 13-digit identification readiness throughout the book industry. “All members of the supply chain need to prepare for upcoming changes, and BISG is working with groups throughout the world to ensure our members are informed and can comply with the global changes,” says Abraham. Members of the book industry seeking more information and highlights from the special September session related to the status of the ISBN-13, 2005 Sunrise, and the EAN/UPC transition can find it on the web at: http://www.bisg.org/BISG_annual_meeting.html.
About BISG:
The Book Industry Study Group (BISG) is a not-for-profit research, policy and standards organization whose members come from every sector of the publishing community. The Study Group is a forum for managing change and enabling interaction among publishers, booksellers, librarians, wholesalers, manufacturers, authors, and suppliers. For more information, visit www.bisg.org.