BIC’s purpose is to make the supply chain more efficient by developing, maintaining and enhancing industry standards and best practice.
The Digital Audiobook Supply Chain Project has now published a set of authoritative best practice documents, reflecting the original project aims. The project group was made up of BIC member volunteers from across the industry, led by Stephen Long, an independent consultant with over 30 years’ experience in the book industry. The project reflected the diverse nature of the BIC membership and their roles in the production, management and distribution of digital audiobooks and related processes.
Below are the current project outputs:
1). The workflow diagram captures what the current digital audiobook supply chain looks like. It’s intentionally high level, given that stakeholders and interactions vary.
2). The Glossary has been expanded. It includes definitions of key words, abbreviations and acronyms; lists organisations in the audio sector; and summarises details of the main audio related roles and responsibilities.
3). The Metadata Requirements document describes how to create a viable audio product record in ONIX3.1. For those businesses that do not use ONIX to communicate product metadata, we have recommended the use of the ONIX controlled vocabulary in non-ONIX formats.
4). Good File Management looks at how publishers can ensure compliance with the submission requirements of their audiobook partners. BIC doesn’t capture these submission requirements in detail but has highlighted the common issues that can be easily avoided.
5). The Frequently Asked Questions focus on three areas: Content Creation and Management; Pre and Post Publication Metadata; and Content Delivery and Consumer Experience.
6). For those stakeholders needing to automate the laborious task of checking the status of digital audio assets and metadata at resellers, the EDItX standard offers the solution. Read more about the role of the EDItX Inventory Report in the EDItX Business Case document.
7). We provide some points to reflect on when considering how to improve digital supply chain sustainability.
8). Accessible audiobooks are a growth area. This paper describes the role of accessibility in digital audio.
Plus, there is a consolidated version, including all of the above.
Look out for further digital audiobook related news via the BIC website and social media.
Twitter: @bic1uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/book-industry-communication/
For further information, please email: info@bic.org.uk