BDS works with publishers of any size or specialism.

The Key to Resource Discovery

There are two ways in which working with BDS may help publishers.

Firstly, by submitting information on your publications to BDS, they will automatically be included in our database, guaranteeing standardised, high quality, catalogue records. The product information will be available to potential buyers, including academic libraries, schools’ libraries, public and specialist libraries worldwide, as well as retailers, e-tailers, and book suppliers.

This process is free of charge to the publisher.

Secondly, if you sign up for a feed of BDS metadata you can use this to populate your own online catalogues and website, use for advertising, stock control and marketing. This is a chargeable service with prices dependant on the size of the feed required.

The Importance of Metadata

BDS metadata connects publishers to retailers, wholesalers and libraries, driving commerce and enhancing the book supply chain and customer experience. We can enhance publishers’ metadata to aid discovery and engagement. This supports retail sales, library sales and the improves appearance and information about your publications within websites, including the publisher’s own website.

Read our leaflet “The Power of Metadata” to discover more about the diverse applications and importance of BDS metadata.

Huge outreach

Inclusion in our services means you will reach our wide customer base including retailers, libraries, including the British Library and public and academic libraries throughout the UK and abroad, multi-media specialists, official bodies, charities, shopping comparators and digital platform providers. They, in turn, will be promoting your products to their customers or consumers.

The rapidly growing number of universities using BDS metadata as part of its Academic Library Licence and the expansion of the use of BDS metadata within schools through our partnership with Softlink means BDS metadata is a vital tool in title selection and collection management.

Library Licences

BDS has licensing schemes in place with local authority libraries (Public Library Licence) and academic libraries (UniCat) that offer exposure of your titles across all platforms and suppliers.

BDS and the Supply Chain

BDS provides services to all parts of the book supply chain and the British Library using its proven methodology for aggregation, curation and delivery of metadata. BDS creates catalogue records for English language content before and after publication. Libraries require standardised, high quality, catalogue records for English language print, e-book and open access titles. BDS’s service enables libraries to purchase content and ensures coverage of titles across all platforms and suppliers.

BDS works with all the major library suppliers and digital platform providers in the UK, including Askews & Holts, BibliU, Blackwell’s, Browns Books, Clarivate, and Kortext.

Safeguard the Environment

Working with BDS reduces the resources required by you to create specialised MARC records. Records are created once and are then available to users worldwide, driving efficiencies for everyone. BDS has reduced the carrying and handling of physical books when creating records to a minimum.

The creation of accurate and reliable catalogue records from publications sourced from the publisher means that BDS metadata facilitates the direct delivery of physical items to branch libraries and campuses, avoiding further unnecessary movement of books. 

There is no need for multiple institutions to create their own records for the core material they acquire. One cataloguer using one workstation at BDS creates an accurate and comprehensive record which can be used by institutions around the world. 

As universities and local authorities lead the response to the climate emergency through publicly stated aims and initiatives, BDS stands with them by providing the means to help deliver carbon neutrality.

Industry-standard

By working with BDS a publisher is assured of an accurate record for all its publications.

BDS creates and distributes industry-standard data that helps publishers gain sales and increase market profile directed at the trade, public and academic sectors.

Direct sales of physical and digital publications to libraries can only be achieved if a MARC record for the library catalogue can be supplied at the point of sale (see MARC & Publishers).

The CIP Programme

By providing BDS with your new title information, you will ensure that all eligible material features in the British National Bibliography (BNB). This weekly pdf publication is the authoritative listing of books published in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. The BNB is widely used, both in the United Kingdom and throughout the world, as a means of selecting and cataloguing books.

Enriched Content

BDS offers a wide range of Enriched Content on publications. This is linked to BDS records created for publications and is available through the BDSLink delivery service. Customers can choose which type of extended content suits their needs.

With BDS metadata, Enriched Content offers access to your publication’s information via numerous points of entry, for example visual, aural, themes, reviews, descriptions and dynamic links. Enriched content helps people, including staff in wholesalers, bookshops and libraries, to select items for purchase and it is often the best way to ensure your publication is identified by a member of the buying public.

Contact [email protected] for more information.