Contact BIC
For more information, membership details, to share ideas, thoughts, queries etc.
Book Industry Communication
7 Ridgmount Street
London WC1E 7AE
Tel: 020 7255 0516
Email: info@bic.org.uk
Follow us: 
Welcome to BIC
BIC is an independent organisation set up and sponsored by the Publishers Association, Booksellers Association, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals and the British Library to promote supply chain efficiency in all sectors of the book world through e-commerce and the application of standard processes and procedures.
What's New
BIC Library APIs & Implementation Guide - available now!
We are delighted to announce the launch of a new set of industry standard APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) / web services through our BIC Realtime for Libraries initiative. Using these new XML web communications, library businesses will now be able to communicate with trading partners quicker and more effictively, and get real-time, immediate replies to requests rather than having to depend on the processing of data transactions in batches. The 8 APIs now available are quick to develop, install and test. Additionally, libraries and library-focused businesses can deploy BIC Realtime for Libraries solutions much more cost-effectively than traditional EDI, and trading partners will be able to support and communicate via BIC Realtime for Libraries APIs swiftly and without weeks of testing.
Read the press release, here.
Find out more about BIC Realtime for Libraries APIs and how to obtain a copy of the Implementation Guide using the following link:
Launch of the BIC UK Standard Library Categories (UKSLC) 1.2
This refreshed scheme is now based on Thema's international subject categories. It is designed for the public library sector to provide library-oriented category headings applicable across the full range of adult non-fiction, fiction and children's/young adult stock. Version 1.2 constitutes the first significant update of the UKSLC scheme since it was launched in 2008.
Read the press release, here.
Find out more about UKSLC 1.2, including the key changes made to the refreshed scheme and which organisations are endorsing its use, here:
The refreshed BIC Product Data Excellence Award Accreditation Scheme
In July 2019, we launched the refreshed BIC PDEA Accreditation Scheme. Metadata underpins our digital age.; it drives discoverability and sales, and therefore demands careful attention in terms of its initial creation and ongoing maintenance. The updated and refreshed PDEA scheme is the result of an extensive, in-depth review of BIC’s current scheme and encourages further improvements in metadata supply across the industry.
Read the press release, here.
Find out more about the revised PDEA Scheme, and when it will take effect, on the BIC website, using the following link:
Blog
27/09/2019Improving discoverability of inclusive and diverse books on the menu at BIC Breakfast
The latest BIC Breakfast, sponsored by Penguin Random House (PRH) and held at the Poetry Café in London...
