ABOUT BOWKER

Q:  Who is R.R. Bowker?

A:  Established more than 130 years ago, Bowker is a company committed to producing reference products that form the cornerstone of the library and bookselling communities. As the U.S. ISBN Agency, Bowker receives the most authoritative title and publisher information available. Thorpe-Bowker, which is also the Australian ISBN Agency, provides Australian and New Zealand title data, while equally authoritative and un-biased book and serials title sources, including direct feeds from international publishers, provide Bowker with information worldwide. Bowker represents this book and serial title information to publishers, booksellers, and libraries globally. Bowker owns the most instantly recognizable and prevalent book and serials catalogs in the industry.

Q:  What is Bowker’s Mission?

A:  Bowker's mission is to enable and promote the flow of goods and information through the publishing supply chain with tools and services that benefit every member of the book industry: publishers, distributors, booksellers, libraries, academic institutions, and research facilities.

Q:  What are some of the milestones in Bowker’s rich history?

1872:  Publishers Weekly® founded
1873:  The Publishers Trade List Annual published
1880:  The American Catalog published
1932:  Ulrich’s International Periodicals Directory™ published
1948:  Books In Print® published
1967:  Xerox Corporation acquires Bowker
1968:  Bowker becomes the U.S. ISBN Agency
1985:  Reed International acquires Bowker
1986:  Books In Print Plus CD introduced
1999:  ulrichsweb.com™ launched
2000:  BooksInPrint.com™ launched
2000:  GlobalBooksInPrint.com™ launched
2001:  Cambridge Information Group acquires Bowker
2002:  Barnes & Noble designates Books In Print database of record for stores and web
2002:  Bowker acquires Pubnet®
2003:  Ulrich’s Serials Analysis System™ launched
2003:  Bowker acquires PubEasy®
2003:  Bowker acquires Simba Information
2004:  PatronBooksInPrint.com launched
2004:  Bowker Acquires Monument Information Resource (MIR)
2004:  Bowker Acquires Syndetic Solutions
2005:  Bowker debuts Ulrich's Resource Linker
2005:  Bowker introduces Bowker's Book Analysis System with H.W. Wilson
2006:  Bowker launches the FictionConnection.com readers' advisory system

Q:  What are some of Bowker’s core online resources?

BooksInPrint.com
An indispensable resource for booksellers, publishers and librarians, BooksInPrint.com Professional offers complete, unbiased bibliographic information on over 5 million in-print, out-of-print, and forthcoming book, audio, and video titles. The highly-used online version of Books In Print®, BooksInPrint.com Professional features over 30,000 full-text previews, 140,000 tables of contents, and over 700,000 reviews of titles by over 200,000 publishers. Cover images, author biographies and annotations are just a few of the many other database benefits.

GlobalBooksInPrint.com
Featuring over 12 million international titles, GlobalBooksInPrint.com is the ultimate title resource. With the ability to search by market, review source, vendor, price range and more, GlobalBooksInPrint.com offers price comparisons and availability information from international vendors. The database also contains valuable added content such as professional reviews, tables of contents, and previews of full-text. GlobalBooksInPrint.com's superior search capabilities allow you to combine up to 31 search criteria and find the perfect title, and now features BIP ALERT (learn more about this feature.) This service allows you to save search criteria and receive an e-mail any time a title is released that matches your previously saved search settings.

The Bowker Books Analysis System
The Bowker Books Analysis System (BBAS) electronically compares a school or public library collection to the H.W. Wilson Standard Catalogs and provides information professionals with reports that can used to identify gaps and duplicates within a collection (or part of a collection). Using an ISBN, LCCN & Title & Author, or Title & Author comparison between a collection and the H.W. Wilson Standard Catalogs, Bowker's Book Analysis System allows its users to instantly recognize by subject area where the strengths and weaknesses lie in their collection. Reports are provided in a standard classification used by all school and public libraries.

FictionConnection.com
Bowker's new readers' advisory tool, Fiction Connection, can direct readers to books they will enjoy by having patrons type in a title of a book they already love, or readers can casually browse titles by selecting a topic, genre, setting, character, location, and timeframe. Using the Syndetics Fiction Profiles, books are assigned defining characteristics, which are then used to develop suggested reading ideas based on a reader's interests. Fiction Connection can be accessed from the homepages or Fiction Rooms of BooksInPrint.com, PatronBooksInPrint.com, and GlobalBooksInPrint.com, or remote access at FictionConnection.com can be set-up through a library’s website. Fiction Connection is a complimentary addition to all BooksInPrint.com or GlobalBooksInPrint.com subscriptions.

Q:  How can I find out more about Bowker?

A:  Additional information about Bowker and the products it produces to serve the broad scope of today’s information users can be found on its web site at www.bowker.com.