ABA Information Department Survey: A Note of Thanks

Our thanks to the hundreds of booksellers who took part in last month's ABA Information Department Survey. The results and thoughtful comments provided by the many respondents will help guide the future of Bookselling This Week, the Book Buyer's Handbook, Bookweb.org, and ABA's other information vehicles over the coming months.

There's much for us to digest from your input, but a few things are quite clear already. By far, the most important thing we can do to help you is provide more articles on bookstore best practices and educational features. Many of you would like to see a special emphasis on creative marketing ideas, technology issues, and changes in legislation that affect your business, such as health care reform and consumer protection laws. You also want us to continue to provide ABA and industry news, as well as insights into what other indie booksellers are doing to stay relevant.

Among the things you'd like to us do regarding the Book Buyer's Handbook are: redouble our efforts to keep publisher information current; include terms for more small publishers; add terms and conditions for POD titles; and include links to publishers' e-catalogs.

We've also heard your comments on BookWeb.org, and key among them is the need to improve the site's search function.

These are just some of the things we've learned from a first analysis of your responses to the Information Department Survey. In the weeks to come, we'll be working to address these and the many other ideas that you've taken the time to share with us. And, please, feel free to contact me at anytime with leads, story ideas, and ways to improve any of our information department resources. Your input will help make ABA's resources better for all members. --Rosemary Hawkins