tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32743250.post161243683362808581..comments2023-08-06T04:21:52.491-06:00Comments on Kash's Book Corner: Welcome to the Digital WorldArsen Kashkashianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10185747887959535224noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32743250.post-8631527140915689272008-07-01T08:51:00.000-06:002008-07-01T08:51:00.000-06:00Excellent thoughts! Heck, I'd be overjoyed to rece...Excellent thoughts! Heck, I'd be overjoyed to receive CDROMs (Save those trees & all that expensive shipping!)that are compatible with BookLog so I don't have to RETYPE every bloomin' entry into our system!Suehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09964543523574981304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32743250.post-22173708454321791042008-06-25T15:44:00.000-06:002008-06-25T15:44:00.000-06:00Joe wrote:A pdf wouldn't be annotatable, and would...Joe wrote:<BR/><I>A pdf wouldn't be annotatable, and would have to be printed out by the bookstore, anyway.</I><BR/><BR/>This is simply not true. You could view them on-screen, as many do now, and you can also add or edit comments (and then circulate the electronic file to your colleagues if need be).<BR/><BR/>PDFs would be a step in the right direction, but dynamic web-based content that Arsen alludes to would be better.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32743250.post-64901828218387515872008-06-18T00:52:00.000-06:002008-06-18T00:52:00.000-06:00I've always found it somewhat mind-boggling that p...I've always found it somewhat mind-boggling that publishers in the land that invented the internet still use such ancient technology to sell books.<BR/><BR/>We do things a bit differently here ... I work for an independent Australia publisher. In May 2003 our sales team had to give up their bulky, labour intensive and expensive 'paper kits' in favour of a laptop system. This pretty elementary bit of software presents the book's cover, blurb, sales points, table of contents etc as well as multimedia files when they’re available. If the bookseller so chooses they can place their order directly with the rep, into the laptop, and the order is processed when the laptop is connected to the internet that evening.<BR/><BR/>The system allows us in the marketing department to update covers, blurbs, prices whenever we need to ... and if a book wins a prize, or an author does something remarkable, or a title rushes into the program after the kit has been completed, we can add a new entry simply and easily overnight. And we have a replica of this ‘kit’ in the Bookseller’s section of our website, designed for our telesales people to use with their small and remote customers (although these orders still need to be processed using an old-fashioned order form – the reality of that paperless office idea is still a way off).<BR/> <BR/>It wasn’t always easy. At the beginning many or our customers baulked at the prospect of buying books in this way. But they’ve got used to it. And we don’t kill nearly as many trees in the process.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32743250.post-15010129488446133342008-06-13T11:06:00.000-06:002008-06-13T11:06:00.000-06:00I had to recheck the date of your entry. I thought...I had to recheck the date of your entry. I thought it might have been dated, say, 2001 or something like that. <BR/>Frankly I am amazed that the larger part of the book business still works like that. Plain ridiculous...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32743250.post-20264065214998221642008-06-13T00:55:00.000-06:002008-06-13T00:55:00.000-06:00Very interesting post and suggestions. But the sit...Very interesting post and suggestions. But the situation is both more complex and simpler (in some respects) than you allow. Some comments on why here:<BR/>http://exacteditions.blogspot.com/2008/06/publishers-catalogues-book-buyers.htmlAdam Hodgkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13855740291868776584noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32743250.post-80886304691380831282008-06-12T07:11:00.000-06:002008-06-12T07:11:00.000-06:00I'm a collection development librarian and using t...I'm a collection development librarian and using title source 3 from Baker and Taylor makes my job a little easier. When you look up books in ts3 you get a lot of info on the item, a picture of the cover, and reviews from LJ, Kirkus, and PW. Also, it is linked to our library catalog so I can click on a little ISBN button so see if it's in our catalog. Once I choose an item and put it in a cart to order, I can click on a little duplicate check link to see if it's in or has been in another cart. I've also used Ingram's and Brodart's services in the past and they work pretty much the same. Maybe you already knew all of this or maybe this won't work for you, but I wanted to share just in case.Michelle Giannarishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04153786379041450710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32743250.post-37115578327852595812008-06-12T06:14:00.000-06:002008-06-12T06:14:00.000-06:00I've recently done a one day seminar in Italy focu...I've recently done a one day seminar in Italy focused on Booksellers and Web 2.0.<BR/><BR/>At the end of the day a quite big publisher presented his new extranet for the booksellers... it is a absolutely web 1.0 broadcast project with no idea of how to create a bi directional flow of information among all the people interested in selling more books...Cristina Mussinellihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09263867676567535309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32743250.post-48951872495566882292008-06-12T05:26:00.000-06:002008-06-12T05:26:00.000-06:00Arsen, This is very interesting and I linked to it...Arsen, This is very interesting and I linked to it on my blog. Of note in my post I mention my experience in reviewing the buying processes at libraries which deal with much the same problem. I would be interested to hear your opinion of Ipage, Titlesoure, pubeasy or BIP as potential solutions.<BR/>http://personanondata.blogspot.com/2008/06/electronic-publisher-catalogs.htmlMChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08121709548793388116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32743250.post-24878140571121254472008-06-11T18:50:00.000-06:002008-06-11T18:50:00.000-06:00A pdf wouldn't be annotatable, and would have to b...A pdf wouldn't be annotatable, and would have to be printed out by the bookstore, anyway. You'd be switching the burden of paper waste from you to us... which is great for you, but doesn't solve the issue. <BR/><BR/>I say either go all the way or not at all.<BR/><BR/>Joe <BR/>Maria'sAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32743250.post-67117711476887735962008-06-11T16:33:00.000-06:002008-06-11T16:33:00.000-06:00I work for a Boulder-based publisher, and I was ju...I work for a Boulder-based publisher, and I was just interviewed for an article about digitizing catalogs. Is there any benefit to a downloadable pdf catalog or does a publisher have to go all the way, as Arsen describes?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12963464484958116601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32743250.post-51370657304554666082008-06-11T06:54:00.000-06:002008-06-11T06:54:00.000-06:00Agreed, 100%. Well thought out and spot-on, Arsen...Agreed, 100%. Well thought out and spot-on, Arsen.<BR/><BR/>Joe<BR/>Maria'sAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com