As the inventory in the ASME Digital Store increases, so does awareness

Emily M. Smith
ASME NEWS

Since the door to ASME's Digital Store opened in March, 5,600 visits have been made to look at the merchandise — PDF files of more than 400 ASME Codes and Standards that can be purchased by visiting ASME.ORG.

Knowing that purchases will follow visits, Michael Merker, the managing director of publishing for Codes and Standards, is confident about the Digital Store's future.

"We've got a lot of people coming and looking," Merker said. "They want to see what we have to offer, even though they're not in need of a standard right now."

And when they are in need of a standard? "That's when we'll see a real influx of buying customers," Merker predicted.

Thirty more codes and standards are being offered through the Digital Store this month, bringing the total number of available products to 450. The B16 code series gives Digital Store shoppers the option of purchasing the most recent codes and standards for fittings, flanges, gaskets and valves electronically.

Like all the other codes and standards currently available in the Digital Store, the B16 series is already available in print form.

Stocking the Digital Store shelves with the existing print versions of a code or standard rather than adding PDFs only as standards are revised allows ASME to establish critical mass with first-time shoppers who are more likely to visit the Digital Store again if they know that their shopping needs will be met, Merker said.

"If we waited until we had the newest version of a code, right now, visitors would only see that we have a few codes to offer," Merker said. "Why would they come back?"

Establishing critical mass electronically is vital to ASME's very presence on the Internet. When it comes to standards developing organizations, Merker said, "It's like an 800 number. If you don't have your standards online, you don't exist to some of your potential customers."

In addition to establishing volume, by making the print versions of a code or standard available electronically, ASME is able to give customers a choice between the print and electronic format, Merker said.

The only difference, he added, is that the electronic format will cost a few dollars more "because it costs ASME more to produce and provide customer service. But there is enough added value to support the price differential."

The next product to be offered in the Digital Store is the biggest portion of ASME's Codes and Standards that Merker said customers use and buy — the Addenda service, which gives annual updates and replacement pages to a code or standard.

Given the size of the Addenda service, introducing the electronic version will be done gradually, starting with a test document in July, Merker said. The current plan calls for electronic Addenda service to be fully available in the Digital Store by July 2002.

To limit potential problems with intellectual property rights, all electronic formats of the PDF files will be set up to lock to one computer of the customer's choice. Buyers will not be able to put a file on the Internet or a network drive, or forward it to another computer. That is being done "to give customers a choice without jeopardizing ASME's revenue stream," Merker said.

Currently, only one other standards developing organization — Standards Australia — is using Digital Rights Management the way ASME is, he said, because "the technology to protect standards is relatively new."

In the coming months, ASME print and online catalogs will indicate the format of each product.

To visit the ASME Digital Store, go to www.asmestore.org.

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