Book industry
For further information on any of the Book industry initiatives contact Bonnie Ryan – Industry Manager on 1300 366 033 or via email.
Background
The Australian Book industry is like many industries currently faced with huge challenges. The effect of discounting on growth, the impact of GST on imports as well as the impact of digital media all have a profound effect on what is a very large, and predominantly Australian based content, industry.
There are no eCommerce Supply Chain initiatives involving GS1 currently underway.
Key Associations
The Australian Book Industry has four key associations. All four associations are very important to the day to day functioning of the industry.
- The Australian ISBN Agency. This is the body, which is a part of Thorpe-Bowker, that is responsible for the issuing of ISBN numbers to publishers. The ISBN Agency and GS1 have a global agreement for the issuing of ISBN numbers.
- The Australian ISSN Agency. This government body is responsible for the issuing of serial publication numbering.
- The Australian Booksellers Association. This group represents the hundreds of booksellers in Australia through the provision of many services, including negotiated discounts for other financial services, like Merchant Fees.
- The Australian Publishers Association. The peak association body representing over 150 publishers in Australia.
- Copywright Agency Limited (CAL) is an Australian copyright management company whose role is to provide a bridge between creators and users of copyright material. CAL represents authors, journalists, visual artists, surveyors, photographers and newspaper, magazine and book publishers as their non-exclusive agent to license the copying of their works to the general community.
More information
Click on the links below for more information:
- Going Beyond the Barcode
- Industry Initiatives
- Information Library
- Events
- FAQ's
- Case Studies
- Useful links
Going Beyond the Barcode
Do you think you need to go beyond just a barcode on your book? If so, read on.
If your company is looking to do any of the following, you will need to become a full member of GS1 Australia:
- Create a 14 digit number for Logistics Units (cartons), which is required by nearly all key retailers such as Kmart, Target, Myer and David Jones, to name a few
- Create and use SSCC’s for cartons and pallets, which is usually then used in Electronic Messages such as ASNs (Advanced Shipping notices)
- You need to create GTIN-13 digit barcodes for associated merchandise such as toys, CDs etc
Industry Initiatives
Please contact Bonnie Ryan on 1300 366 033.
Information gallery
To date, the following documents have been developed for the Book Industry:
Technical Fact Sheets
For technical information on how to use the check digit calculator, allocating numbers, barcode symbol dimensions and numbering and barcoding of logistics units view GS1 Australia Technical Fact Sheets.
Allocating a GTIN for books
download
[format: pdf - date: July 2007 - size: 41kb]
Numbering and barcoding logistic units
download
[format: pdf - date: September 2007 - size: 110kb]
Allocating a non retail GTIN
download
[format: pdf - date: October 2006 - size: 37kb]
Events
Past events
- The 2008 ABA Annual forum was held at the Sebel Albert Park hotel in Melbourne from 15th - 17th June 2008.
- The 2007 ABA Annual forum was held at the Hilton hotel in Melbourne.
FAQ's
For general questions regarding the GS1 standards or membership please contact GS1 Australia via email.
1. What are the recent changes to the Book Membership?
GS1 now has the GS1 Book Subscriber Support Service, which allows for the following:
- Unlimited use of the GS1 Member Support Help Desk (P: 1300 366 033)
- One complimentary GS1 Barcode Verification Report per annum
- One complimentary Education and Training session for new members
- Access to GS1 member pricing for all Education and Training sessions, Barcode Verification, imaging and Professional Services
- GS1 Quarterly magazine – LiNK - The Supply Chain
2. What bought about these changes?
Recent changes to the Global GS1 and ISBN Agreement highlighted the need for GS1 to revise the membership offering and rules of membership.
3. What is the difference between an ISBN / ISSN number and a GS1 Barcode number / prefix?
The ISBN / ISSN prefixes start with 977, 978 and 979 respectively. A GS1 Company prefix can be identified easily as they all start with 93. All are encapsulated in the well known GTIN-13 encoded into an EAN-13 barcode that appears on books and magazines alike.
The advantage of using an ISBN number is that if it is solely for use at Retail Point of Sale, then this is all that you will require.
4. Who do I contact for further information?
GS1 Australia Customer Service Team on 1300 366 033 or using the contact us link from this website.
Case Studies
GS1 Australia is constantly looking at opportunities for presenting new case studies. If you would like to contribute to a case study, please contact us on 1300 366 033 or via email.
Useful links
See Key Associations listed above.
