The International Standard Book Number, or ISBN , is a unique[1], numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering (SBN) code created by Gordon Foster, now Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin,[2]for the booksellers and stationers W.H. Smith and others in 1966.[3]
The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO 2108. (However, the 9-digit SBN code was used in the United Kingdom until 1974.) Currently, the ISO’sTC 46/SC 9 is responsible for the ISBN.
Since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland EAN-13s.[4]
A similar numeric identifier, the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN), identifies periodical publications such as magazines
An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation (except reprintings) of a book. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned after January 1, 2007, and 10 digits long if assigned before 2007. An International Standard Book Number consists of 4 or 5 parts:
- for a 13 digit ISBN, a GS1 prefix: 978 or 979
- the group identifier, (language-sharing country group)[5]
- the publisher code,
- the item number, and
- a checksum character or check digit.
The ISBN parts may be of different lengths, and usually are separated with hyphens or spaces.[6]
Group identifier
The group identifier is a 1 to 5 digit number. The single digit group identifiers are: 0 or 1 for English-speaking countries; 2 for French-speaking countries; 3 for German-speaking countries; 4 for Japanese; 5 for Russian, and 7 for Chinese. An example 5 digit group identifier is 99936, for Bhutan. In general, the groups are 0–7, 80–94, 950–993, 9940–9989, and 99900–99999.[7]
The original standard book number (SBN) had no group identifier, but affixing a zero (0) as prefix to a 9-digit SBN creates a valid 10-digit ISBN. Group identifiers form a prefix code; compare with country calling codes.
No comments:
Post a Comment