David C. Cook

Much of the change we are living through in publishing is plain as day to see. The shift from print to digital, like the shift from stores to online purchasing, is evident to all of us, inside the industry and out.

But there’s another aspect of the change that is not nearly as visible and that’s around systems and workflows. Publishing, even in the pre-digital age, was a systems-driven business.

Harlequin Enterprises Ltd. has received certification through the Book Industry Study Group's (BISG) Product Data Certification Program (PDCP), a voluntary certification program that objectively evaluates publishers’ product information, either as ONIX or Excel files, against the criteria defined in BISG’s Product Metadata Best Practices (http://www.BISG.org/documents/metadata.html). The goal of the PDCP is to lead publishers toward adherence to agreed-upon standards of electronic communication, resulting in more efficient and cost-effective business transactions for all.