After conducting a survey on the issue, the Book Industry Study Group has determined that there are "no overall technical issues preventing the move to Bookland EAN," as executive director Jeff Abraham put it at a recent meeting of Book Industry Standards and Communications (BISAC). As a result, the organization's focus should shift "from an investigative role to education and implementation."
A policy statement adopted by BISG last September called for the Bookland EAN bar code to be the sole bar code appearing on books and to appear on the back of every book. Currently this bar code, which includes the ISBN and has a price "add-on," appears on the back of most hardcovers and trade paperbacks but only on the inside front cover of mass-market paperbacks. A price-point UPC bar code, which indicates the book's price but not its title or other information, appears on the back cover of most paperbacks. This latter bar code is used by some general retailers.
Participants in the survey, which included wholesalers, distributors and retailers, found that among respondents there was a "high degree" of awareness that general retailers in the U.S. must be able to scan and process 13-digit bar codes by January 1, 2005; 70% of respondents said they would be ready by then.
The survey also found that bar code stickering is "widespread," particularly by wholesalers serving general merchandise clients. About half of the respondents sticker over the UPC price point bar code on mass market titles with some kind of bar code that identifies the title of the book, not just its price. (Often these are proprietary system bar codes.) And 70% of respondents said that they would do "little or no" overstickering of Bookland EAN bar codes.
Tom Clarkson of Barnes & Noble, a supporter of printing Bookland EAN on the back of all books (as well as of the move to a 13-digit ISBN), said that he will now "go back to management and recommend that we formulate a policy that is supportive of this."
In a related matter, a BISAC committee is working on a proposal to expand the price point add-on to the Bookland EAN so that it will be able to indicate prices higher than its current limit, $99.99. Under the proposal, which still wouldn't help such books as Taschen's $4,000 GOAT: A Tribute to Muhammad Ali, the limit would be raised to $499.99. B&N's Clarkson mentioned a need for the change: some 8% of B&N's titles are priced above $100 and the company had "some problems" during the Christmas season with products over $100.
