Initiation of International Standard Book Number (ISBN): By Gaurav Boudh

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

Contents:

• History,
• How ISBN is issued,
• ISBN description with BAR code,
• Uses and limitations of ISBNs:

1. History:
            
    What is ISBN: International Standard Book Number.

    The Standard Book Numbering (SBN) code is a 9-digit commercial book identifier system created by Gordon Foster, Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin, for the booksellers and stationers W. H. Smith and others in 1965. The ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker (regarded as the "Father of the ISBN") and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay (who later became director of the U.S. ISBN agency R.R. Bowker).

    The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO 2108. The United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. ISO has appointed the International ISBN Agency as the registration authority for ISBN worldwide and the ISBN Standard is developed under the control of ISO Technical Committee 46/Subcommittee 9 TC 46/SC 9. 

    An SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit "0". For example, the second edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has "SBN 340 01381 8" – 340 indicating the publisher, 01381 their serial number, and 8 being the check digit. This can be converted to

ISBN 0-340-01381-8; the check digit does not need to be re-calculated.

Since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with "Bookland" European Article Number EAN-13s.

2. How ISBN are issued…

    ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for that country or territory regardless of the publication language. The ranges of ISBNs assigned to any particular country are based on the publishing profile of the country concerned, and so the ranges will vary depending on the number of books and the number, type, and size of publishers that are active. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture and thus may receive direct funding from the government to support their services. In other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organizations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government-funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the stated purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some other countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organizations, the issuing of ISBNs requires payment of a fee.

India: The Raja Ram Mohan Roy National Agency for ISBN (Book Promotion and Copyright Division), under the Department of Higher Education, a constituent of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, is responsible for the registration of Indian publishers, authors, universities, institutions, and government departments that are responsible for publishing books. There is no fee associated with getting ISBN in India.

United States: In the United States, the privately held company R.R. Bowker issues ISBNs. There is a charge that varies depending upon the number of ISBNs purchased, with prices starting at $125 for a single number. Access is immediate when requested via their website.

Publishers and authors in other countries obtain ISBNs from their respective national ISBN registration agencies. A directory of ISBN agencies is available on the International ISBN Agency website.

Pakistan: The National Library of Pakistan is responsible for ISBN registrations for Pakistani publishers, authors, universities, institutions, and government departments that are responsible for publishing books.

3. ISBN description with BAR code:

4. Uses and limitations of ISBNs:

ISBNs only identify a particular edition of a book, and a reader with only an ISBN will not see the full range of versions of the book.

Please do not use ISBNs alone to identify books: add a proper citation as well as the ISBN. Also, note that ISBNs are not required of citations; popular citation styles like Chicago, MLA, and APA do not use ISBNs. See Wikipedia: Manual of Style, Wikipedia: Cite your sources.

To suggest additions to the page, see Wikipedia talk: Book sources.

Note that books before about 1970 usually do not have an ISBN (although if published in the UK during the 1960s, they may have an SBN). One place to get the numbers is the Library of Congress catalog, although this will tend to give an American ISBN over, say, an Indian (see one of the National Depository Centres) or Australian (see National Library Australia) ISBN. For a Canadian number, you can use the Canadian ISBN Service System – CISS. If you are adding an ISBN, remember to add only the ISBN for the edition actually cited in the article; a different edition may have different pagination which does not correspond with the citations in the article, and in some cases may even have significantly different content.

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