The International ISBN Agency is Moving!

After more than 30 years the International ISBN Agency is on the move. The international agency, which provides support and information to more than 160 ISBN agencies around the world, is leaving its long-term home at the State Library of Berlin. The move follows a decision by the Prussian Cultural Foundation to discontinue its support for the agency.

The agency's new home will be London. From April this year EDItEUR, the international body that develops and promotes book trade standards, will take over responsibility for the day-to-day running of the agency. Announcing the new arrangements Michael Healy, Editorial Director of Nielsen BookData and Vice-Chairman of the International ISBN Agency, said: "The ISBN has been supported very generously by the Berlin State Library over many years and under their careful stewardship the ISBN has become an indispensable part of the book trade. Nevertheless, I am very confident that under EDItEUR and Brian Green, that tradition of support will continue into the future".

Brian Green, who will be the new Executive Director of the International ISBN Agency from April, commented "With the imminent arrival of the 13-digit ISBN and the increased use of ISBNs for digital publication, this is an exciting and critical time to be taking on the management of the International ISBN Agency. We look forward to providing guidance and support to the 160 national agencies and their users."

The changes do not affect the ISBN agency for the UK and Ireland which continues to be operated by Nielsen BookData from its office in Woking, Surrey (www.isbn.nielsenbookdata.co.uk).

About EDItEUR

EDItEUR is the international group coordinating development of the standards infrastructure for electronic commerce in the book and serials industries. EDItEUR provides its international membership with research, standards and guidance in such diverse areas as:

About BookData

Nielsen BookData (www.nielsenbookdata.co.uk) is the leading provider of comprehensive, enriched and timely bibliographic data worldwide. The company is wholly owned by VNU, one of the world's largest publishing and information companies. BookData provides a unique source of bibliographic data services to publishers, booksellers and libraries in 110 countries around the world. Under the brand Nielsen BookNet, it also provides value-added transaction services to the industry. Sister company Nielsen BookScan operates the world's only continuous retail monitoring service for English-language books. The group employs more than 150 staff in the UK; BookData Asia Pacific based in New Zealand and Australia collects data for the Asia Pacific market and is the leading provider of bibliographic services for the region.

About Nielsen Entertainment

If you believe that entertainment drives culture and culture drives consumption, you understand why Nielsen Entertainment is the leading provider of comprehensive entertainment intelligence, serving as strategic partner to top brands throughout the world. We are comprised of companies focused on all media, including filmed, music, literary, interactive and home entertainment through the following Nielsen businesses: NRG, EDI, Entertainment Marketing Solutions (EMS), SoundScan, Broadcast Data Systems, VideoScan, BookScan, Bookdata, Interactive Entertainment and ReelResearch. Together, we provide industry insight and consulting services based on our own primary and custom research, strategic analysis, testing, tracking, retail sales measurement, and a broad array of specialized tools catering to entertainment creators, developers, marketers, distributors and observers. Nielsen Entertainment is part of VNU, www.vnu.com, a global leader in information services for the media and entertainment industries.