| Founded | 1868 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Frederick Leypoldt |
| Headquarters location | New York City |
| Publication types | Books |
R.R. Bowker, LLC provides information support for the publishing industry in the United States. Bowker is the official U.S. ISBN Agency, the publisher of Books In Print and other compilations of information about book and periodical titles, and a provider of book industry supply chain services and analytical tools.[1]
Contents |
The company was founded by Frederick Leypoldt, a German immigrant who worked as a bookseller and recognized the need for good bibliographic information to make the book business more efficient. The monthly “Literary Bulletin,” his first periodical, was established by him in 1868. In 1870 Leypoldt issued the first edition of his Annual American Catalogue, a precursor to Books In Print. In 1872 he published the first issue of Publishers Weekly, and in 1876 the first issue of Library Journal. In 1878 Leypoldt's company was acquired by Richard Rogers Bowker. Leypoldt and Bowker also founded such standard book-industry reference sources as Literary Marketplace and Ulrich's Periodicals Directory. [2] In 1967, the Xerox Corporation acquired the R. R. Bowker company, and then sold it to Reed International (now Reed Elsevier) in 1985. In 1985 Publishers Weeekly, after 113 years as a part of R.R. Bowker, was transferred to the Cahners Publishing Company. Bowker was acquired by its present parent company, Cambridge Information Group, in 2001.[3]
Books In Print lists nearly all books that are currently available in English and in the United States from major publishers. A resource for bookstores, libraries, and publishers, it is available in a print version, but is most often accessed electronically. Books in Print listings are several million, a number that is only exceeded by Amazon.
The Library and Book Trade Almanac (formerly The Bowker Annual) is a resource for librarians, publishers, and booksellers which provides reviews of "key trends, events, and developments" in the industry; statistics on book prices, numbers of books published, library expenditures, and average salaries; explanations of new legislation and changes in funding programs; and other information.[4]
Bowker is the originator of ISBNs. An ISBN is placed on a book to uniquely identify it. ISBNs are available one at a time and in blocks up to 1000 for a set fee.[5]