New York, NY (April 7, 2009) -- Book Industry Study Group, Inc. (BISG), the U.S. book industry's leading trade association for research and supply chain standards, today announces another publisher to certify under their Product Data Certification Program (PDCP). The latest program participant, Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd., the world's leading publisher of series romance and women's fiction, joins David C. Cook, Hachette Book Group USA, John Wiley & Sons, Simon & Schuster and Waterford Press as the latest publisher to improve their product information and evaluate data quality against industry-wide benchmarks through participation in PDCP.

Helene Green, VP of Business Information and Data Operations for Simon and Schuster, said, "We are pleased that our client and partner Harlequin has been certified by BISG in their Product Data Certification Program. This certification means customers can rely on the accuracy of Harlequin's data throughout the supply chain; it will also speed the processing of that data with our trading partners. They are in good company and we look forward to working with them to continue meeting the BISG best practice requirements going forward."

PDCP is a voluntary certification program that objectively evaluates publishers' product information, either as ONIX or Excel files, against the clearly defined criteria set forth in BISG's Product Metadata Best Practices. It is widely understood that good product information sells books and the availability of comprehensive, accurate and timely product information is critical to the successful operation of the modern book supply chain. The goal of the PDCP is to lead publishers toward adherence to agreed upon standards of electronic communication, resulting in more efficient and cost-effective business transactions for all.

"I'm delighted that Harlequin participated in the Product Data Certification Program and achieved certification at its first attempt," said Michael Healy, Executive Director of BISG. "It shows yet again that leading publishers are committed to raising the quality of their product data and to using tools such as PDCP to help them in this process. We hope Harlequin's success, following on the success of many other data suppliers, will encourage more publishers to be part of this program."

For more information about the PDCP, visit the BISG website.

Media Contact:
Karen Forster
Associate Director
Book Industry Study Group, Inc.
646-336-7141
karen@bisg.org
# # #
About Book Industry Study Group, Inc.
The Book Industry Study Group, Inc. (BISG) is the U.S. book industry's leading trade association for policy, standards and research. The mission of BISG is to create a more informed, empowered, and efficient book industry supply chain. Membership consists of publishers, manufacturers, suppliers, wholesalers, retailers, librarians, and others engaged in the business of print and electronic media. For 30 years, BISG has provided a forum for all industry professionals to come together and efficiently address issues and concerns to advance the book community.

Learn more about BISG at www.bisg.org.

# # # #