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BOOKS WITH ‘ISBN’ NUMBERS

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BOOKS WITH ‘ISBN’ NUMBERS
Mr. M. GOVINDARAJAN By: Mr. M. GOVINDARAJAN
January 4, 2018
All Articles by: Mr. M. GOVINDARAJAN       View Profile
  • Contents

Introduction

‘ISBN’ stands for International Standard Book Number.  It is a 13 digit number that uniquely identifies books and book-like products published internationally.  The purpose of the ISBN is to establish and identify one title or edition of a title from one specific publisher and is unique to that edition, allowing for more efficient marketing of products by booksellers, libraries, universities, wholesalers and distributors.  An ISBN is printed on the lower portion of the back cover of a book above the bar code and on the copyright page.

Components of ISBN

 The thirteen-digit number is divided into four parts of variable length, each part separated by a hyphen, as detailed below-

  • Group or country identifier which identifies a national or geographic grouping of publishers;
  • Publisher identifier which identifies a particular publisher within a group;
  • Title identifier which identifies a particular title or edition of a title;
  • Check digit is the single digit at the end of the ISBN which validates the ISBN.

Check digit

In the case of the check digit, the last digit of the ISBN, the upper case X can appear. The method of determining the check digit for the ISBN is the modulus 11 with the weighting factors 10 to 1. The Roman numeral X is used in lieu of 10 where ten would occur as a check digit.

ISBN Agencies

There are over 160 ISBN Agencies worldwide, and each ISBN Agency is appointed as the exclusive agent responsible for assigning ISBNs to publishers residing in their country or geographic territory. The United States ISBN Agency is the only source authorized to assign ISBNs to publishers supplying an address in the United States, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico and its database establishes the publisher of record associated with each prefix.

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

Assigning of ISBN

Once an ISBN publisher prefix and associated block of numbers has been assigned to a publisher by the ISBN Agency, the publisher can assign ISBNs to publications it holds publishing rights to. However, after the ISBN Agency assigns ISBNs to a publisher, that publisher cannot resell, re-assign, transfer, or split its list of ISBNs among other publishers. These guidelines have long been established to ensure the veracity, accuracy and continued utility of the international ISBN standard.

ISBN Standard

As defined by the ISO Standard, the ISBN publisher prefix (or "root" of the ISBN) identifies a single publisher. If a second publisher subsequently obtains an ISBN from the assigned publisher's block of ISBNs, there will be no change in the publisher of record for any ISBN in the block as originally assigned. Therefore, searches of industry databases for that re-assigned ISBN will identify the original owner of that assigned prefix as the publisher rather than the second publisher. Discovering this consequence too late can lead to extensive costs in applying for a new prefix, re-assigning a new ISBN, and potentially leading to the application of stickers to books already printed and in circulation.

Assignment for new publisher

For a new publisher, the publisher should apply for his own ISBN publisher prefix and plan to identify and circulate his books properly in the industry supply chain. He may encounter offers from other sources to purchase single ISBNs at special offer prices; he should be wary of purchasing from these sources for the reasons noted above. There are unauthorized re-sellers of ISBNs and this activity is a violation of the ISBN standard and of industry practice. A publisher with one of these re-assigned ISBNs will not be correctly identified as the publisher of record in Books in Print or any of the industry databases such as Barnes and Noble or Amazon or those of wholesalers such as Ingram. In case any doubt US ISBN Agency may be contacted for further advice.

Once ISBNs have been assigned to products they should be reported to R.R. Bowker as the database of record for the ISBN Agency. Companies are eligible for a free listing in various directories such as Books in Print, Words on Cassette, The Software Encyclopedia, Bowker's Complete Video Directory, etc.   Book titles should be registered with Books in Print at www.bowkerlink.com

Eligibility for ISBN

The ISBN Agency assigns ISBNs at the direct request of publishers, e-book publishers, audio cassette and video producers, software producers and museums and associations with publishing programs.

Time to spend for assignment

5 business days for non-priority processing is required from the time an ISBN application is received at the agency (not from the date sent by the publisher.) Priority processing is two business days from the time an application is received at the agency. Express processing is 24 business hours.

Fees

There is a service fee to process all ISBN applications. Service fee information is contained on the application. Priority and express processing involve an additional fee.   The processing service charge is non refundable.

ISBN and ISSN

Both numbering systems of ISBN and ISSN are used for books in a series and with annuals or biennials. The ISBN identifies the individual book in a series or a specific year for an annual or biennial. The ISSN identifies the ongoing series, or the ongoing annual or biennial serial. If a publication has both, each should be printed on the copyright page.

ISBN in bar code

The ISBN can be translated into a worldwide compatible bar code format. Publishers who wish to have their ISBNs translated into worldwide compatible bar codes can now make their request directly online at www.isbn.org or www.bowkerbarcode.com.  Bar code scanning is a required step required by for many retailers in the sales transaction process for book publications and book-related items. This service will save time and enable to meet all of your transaction partners' requirements.

Selecting correct amount of ISBN

ISBNs are sold in blocks of 10, 100, and 1000. When purchasing ISBNs, it is to estimate the amount of publications within the next five years, and  to select the block that best suits the needs. It is always best to select the block that will last  for a few years  to maintain one publisher prefix, and minimize the unit cost per ISBN. When purchasing a larger block of ISBNs, the price per ISBN decreases.

New ISBN Number

Every ISBN will consist of thirteen digits in 2007. The thirteen digit number is divided into five parts of variable length, each part separated by a hyphen as detailed below-

  • The current ISBN-13 will be prefixed by "978"
  • Group or country identifier which identifies a national or geographic grouping of publishers;
  • Publisher identifier which identifies a particular publisher within a group;
  • Title identifier which identifies a particular title or edition of a title;
  • Check digit is the single digit at the end of the ISBN which validates the ISBN

An ISBN gets placed on the copyright page and, if there is no bar code, on the back cover.

Source:

www.isbn.org

www.wikipedia.org.

 

By: Mr. M. GOVINDARAJAN - January 4, 2018

 

 

 

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