"The Future of Our Business ... Is About Data": A Q&A With New Industry Study Group Executive Director Scott Lubeck

It's the first data, research-driven study of this kind. … I think this is probably the first baseline-level setting of this information with regard to book buyers. … We've made it available both as a summary analysis ... [and through] the raw data itself so that our members and others ... can ... slice and dice it.

But, moreover, we're already kicking off the second wave, so that we can trend this data and interview this panel again. ... My guess is that this will be an ongoing research study for us, as we want to build a fund of data—concrete, actionable data around behaviors and this controversial and often-misunderstood market. …

Extra: How will your technology background assist you in your new role?
Lubeck: ... I started my career in book publishing ... in editorial. And my own educational background is not in technology; I was an English major and also majored in romance languages. So I came to publishing with a deep love of content, ideas. My view of publishing is: It hasn't changed, no matter how volatile our marketplace is, no matter how invasive new technologies may be. It's still … acquiring a great idea, adding value to that idea and then making sure it has the biggest impact on the audiences that need to get it. …

It really isn't about technology. [It's about] how our customers', readers' … behaviors were driving change into our business. … If you don't think very deeply about … how users use content … and how we even organize content, categorically, to support that, then your business as a publisher will be deeply impaired. …

Extra: How is BISG's Product Data Certification (PDC) Program initiative progressing?
Lubeck: [Certification programs—such as the launching of a revised program around product data—are] at the core of BISG's mission, really. It's about improving the quality of data. And I would say, just in general, one of the things that attracted me here is [that] the future of our business, our book industry, is about data … because data has become more and more important, and not just to the supply chain. The importance of product information, product data [and] the models that support it support discovery online, [and] support many and ever-broadening areas of work and efficiency and power within our industry that we can't ignore.