18(a) Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD

Prototypical answer:

RR Bowker LLC (Bowker) is a global provider of industry-leading tools and services that make books easier for people to discover, evaluate, order, and experience, as well as a provider of services to publishers that deliver key insights of readership worldwide.

Bowker’s vision and mission statements support global readership and discovery of books (physical & digital):
Vision: To be the leading source of data and tools powering book & ebook discovery, sales and business intelligence solutions around the world.
Mission: Bowker is a leading provider of global bibliographic information management and decision-support solutions designed to help publishers, booksellers, and libraries better serve their customers.

Bowker believes a global .book registry will broaden and facilitate the connection between readers and content, authors, publishers, booksellers, and book communities worldwide, significantly enhancing the discovery of books & e-books. Therefore, our mission & goal of the .book registry is to connect readers with content, authors, publishers, and booksellers worldwide to significantly enhance the discovery of books & ebooks, or related content and services.

To provide context of our interest in a .book registry, R.R. Bowker has been serving the book publishing industry since its founding in 1872. Bowker is a leading provider of book data for the publishing, bookselling, and library communities. In creating such cornerstone references as Books In Print®, Publishers Authority Database, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal, Bowker has earned an esteemed position in the book publishing, librarianship, and the book trade in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and worldwide. Other companies provide information as a secondary effort, designed to encourage customers to buy other goods or services which represent their core business. By contrast, for 140 years, Bowker’s primary business has been providing information, tools, and services to facilitate discovery of books and e-books. Bowker products and services are independent, trusted, and authoritative.

Bowker is the official ISBN (International Standard Book Number) Agency for the United States and its territories and the official ISBN Agency for Australia. Bowker is a member of the Board of the International ISBN Agency. Bowker is uniquely qualified to collect and supply information on book publishers and their titles in the early stages of the book publishing process⁄workflow. Through operation of the ISBN Agencies, Bowker has established solid relationships with hundreds of thousands publishers of all sizes, from top trade and scientific, medical, and technical publishing houses, to small and self-publishers & authors.

In addition to its 140 year history of successful business practice, Bowker has over 40 years experience running agencies to support ISO and other standards. In addition to the U.S. and Australian ISBN Agencies, Bowker is an ISTC (International Standard Text Code) Registration Agency, a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) Registration Agency, a SAN (Standard Address Number) agency, and was recently awarded the first Registration Agency for ISNI (International Standard Name Identifier), a new ISO standard in 2012.

R.R. Bowker LLC is a Delaware limited liability company (see Attachment in Question 45 of our Certificate of Good Standing). Bowker has over 130 employees world-wide, with offices in New Providence, NJ U.S.A, London, U.K., and Melbourne, Australia.

Bowker is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cambridge Information Group II LLC with offices in Bethesda, MD. Bowker has been a subsidiary of Cambridge Information Group II since 2007, and a subsidiary of Cambridge Information Group from 2001 to 2007. In 2010 Bowker became aligned with ProQuest, a subsidiary of Cambridge Information Group with headquarters in Ann Arbor, MI with over 1400 employees in over 10 countries. Prior to Cambridge Information Group ownership in 2001, Bowker was a division of Reed Elsevier, Inc. from 1985 to 2011, and was a part of Xerox Corporation from 1967 to 1985.

Bowker’s existing corporate structure and leadership team, supported by Cambridge Information Group II and ProQuest, will provide strong and significant executive management oversight for the registry. This management consists of, but is not limited to: Bowker’s Board of Managers including: Andrew M. Synder, Robert N. Synder, Michael Chung, Erik Brooks, Brent Stone. Bowker’s Officers including: Andrew M. Synder (Chairman), Kurt Sanford (CEO), Philip T. Evans (CFO), Patrick Randall (Treasurer), Larisa Avner Trainor (Snr Vice President & Secretary), Barbara G. Inkellis (Snr Vice President & Asst. Secretary), Kevin Norris (Snr Vice President & General Counsel). Bowker’s Executive Management including: Michael Gersch (Snr Vice President ProQuest Workflow Solutions), Sharon L. Lubrano (Vice President & General Manager), Angela D’Agostino (Vice President, Business Development), Olga Lewnes (Snr Corporate Counsel), Kelly Gallagher (Vice President, Publishing Services), Beat Barblan (Director, Identifier Services). See attached document to Question 45 listing Bowker’s Board of Managers, Officers, and Executive Management team, as well as exec. bios of members of Bowker’s management team.

Bowker will support the .book registry operations within Bowker’s existing operational enterprise systems, human resources, and facilities, providing the registry significant corporate oversight and support upon launch. Bowker plans to invest in marketing & product management functions. Bowker has partnered with Afilias, the back-end provider of registry services for this TLD to support the launch and ongoing management of the registry, and Iron Mountain, supporting data escrow for the registry.

Over it’s140 year history, Bowker has developed and enhanced a communication framework and pipeline for its relationships with hundreds of thousands of publishers, authors, booksellers, libraries, and the book community. Bowker will leverage that framework to develop a methodology for communication to these entities on the value and benefits of the registry. Since this framework already exists, it allows Bowker to execute broad marketing and communication plans with significantly less marketing costs than a start-up business or business not in the book industry would require.

With 140 years of consistent business performance, 130 employees worldwide, 1400 ProQuest employees worldwide, executive leadership support including Cambridge Information Group II and ProQuest, and the breadth of offerings to support book discovery, Bowker is a trusted partner to the global book publishing industry making it uniquely qualified to be the registry operator for the .book registry, which will broaden and facilitate the connection between readers and content, authors, publishers, and booksellers worldwide, significantly enhancing the discovery of books & e-books.

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