Contact Information: Contact: Dave Gladney Marketing Manager 856-241-7772
Educational Publishing Association Teams Up With Bowker to Offer Free ISBNs to Educational Publishers in 2008
Strategic Partnership Designed to Reduce Barriers for AEP Members Who Wish to Transition Businesses to Digital Age and Enhance the Discoverability of Their Products
| Source: Bowker
WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - June 4, 2008) - The Association of Educational Publishers
(AEP), the professional association for publishers of educational
materials, today announced that it has entered into an unprecedented
partnership with Bowker, the global leader in bibliographic information
management and the official U.S. ISBN agency, in which Bowker will provide
all AEP members free ISBNs from July 1 through December 31 of 2008 for any
product in their current catalog or on their backlist.
The extraordinary agreement, which essentially eliminates any cost barriers
for educational publishers seeking to transition their businesses into the
digital age of online product tracking, was announced at AEP's annual
Summit in Washington, D.C., where this year's focus is on helping
educational publishers take advantage of digital technologies. Through the
deal, both parties hope to jumpstart the process of bringing
standardization to the K-12 education sector of the publishing industry by
encouraging companies in the community to assign unique ISBNs, available
exclusively through Bowker, to all of their existing products.
"Consistent and reliable sales data and statistics for educational
publishing have historically been difficult to come by," said Charlene
Gaynor, CEO of AEP. "It's time for our industry to join the digital era."
According to Gaynor, educational publishers often produce more than just
books -- e.g., CDs, DVDs, computer software, Websites, manipulatives, and
games -- so assigning ISBNs to all of their products isn't always part of
the distribution process. By providing these tracking numbers free of
charge through a streamlined registration process, Gaynor hopes that more
members of the industry will take advantage of the technology that other
sectors have employed for several years now.
Depending on the volume purchased, ISBNs typically cost from $30 to $125
per number for publishers to purchase. Bowker will offer deep discounting
to AEP members who intend to assign large quantities of ISBNs to
digital-only formats as well as chapters and fragments which may also be
made available for discovery and trading within the supply chain.
"Through data standardization Bowker has assisted other niche markets, such
as higher education and Christian publishing, with creating industry
metrics," said Annie Callanan, President and CEO of Bowker. "By partnering
with AEP, we hope to bring the same success to the K-12 education sector."
In addition to the data tracking capabilities, publishers who register
their titles with BowkerLink and participate in the U.S. ISBN Agency's new
education-specific sales tool, PubEasy School, will also benefit from
inclusion in a number of searchable databases such as Books In Print, Books
In Print on CD, BooksInPrint.com, GlobalBooksInPrint.com,
FictionConnection.com, Books Out Loud, Characters in Fiction, and
Forthcoming Books. Through these and other services like Amazon.com,
customers can research and compare materials between companies. This is
particularly beneficial in the education sector where teachers, schools and
districts are constantly looking for new and easier ways to find classroom
materials.
In order to participate in this program, AEP members will need to register
on the AEP Web site before December 31, 2008.
AEP and Bowker have released a joint position paper on the subject entitled
"How Standardization in the K-12 Educational Publishing Industry Can Help
Grow Business." To receive a copy of this paper, visit
www.AEPweb.org/pdfs/AEP_Bowker.pdf or contact Dave Gladney
(dgladney@AEPweb.org). More details on the partnership will be available as
the parties explore new possibilities for streamlining data collection and
the ISBN registration process.
About AEP
The Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) is the professional
association for publishers of supplemental educational materials. Its
membership represents the breadth of educational content developers and
service providers delivering progressive products in both print and
electronic formats to today's schools and colleges. Founded in 1895, AEP
now assists its members in navigating the global realities of publishing in
the 21st Century through its professional development programming,
government relations efforts, and opportunities for collaboration and
partnership. For more information, visit www.AEPweb.org.
About Bowker
Bowker is the world's leading source for bibliographic information. The
company provides searching, analytical, promotional, business intelligence
and ordering services to publishers, booksellers, libraries, and patrons
through national and international brands, including: Books In Print®,
Global Books In Print®, Syndetic Solutions™, Pubnet®, PubEasy®,
PubTrack™ and more. In the U.S., Australia and Puerto Rico, Bowker is
also the exclusive ISBN and SAN Agency and a DOI registration agency for
the publishing industry. Bowker is headquartered in New Providence, New
Jersey, with operations in East Grinstead, England, and Port Melbourne,
Australia. For more company details, please visit www.Bowker.com.