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The new ISBN-13
Information for Publishers
The
International Standard Book Number standard changed from 10
digits to 13 digits on 1 January 2007.
A summary of the details
of this change follows.
Why was the ISBN
standard revised?
- To
increase the numbering capacity of the ISBN system (owing to
the increase of electronic publications and the resulting
proliferation of editions and formats).
- To
make the ISBN totally compatible with the EAN-13 used for
other products and supply chains.
- To
decide whether and how the ISBN is assigned to certain types
of monographic publications (e.g. digital files;
print-on-demand materials; discrete parts of monographic
publications).
- To
specify the authority to assign ISBN and the administration of
the ISBN system.
What has
changed?
- The
ISBN change from 10 to 13 digits on 1 January 2007.
- Current
ISBNs are changed to 13 digits by being prefixed by 978
and the check digit recalculated accordingly.
- The
resulting 13-digit number is be identical with the Bookland/ISBN
that is used with the EAN-13 barcode.
- The
ISBNs you currently have should be converted in this way,
including any not currently allocated.
- As
the current ranges of ISBN numbers are exhausted, ISBN
blocks prefixed by 979 will be issued. ISBN prefixes issued
after January 2007 will not necessarily be prefixed by 979.
- Publishers’
identifiers are not likely to remain the same for ISBNs under
the 979 prefix. (For example, the Thorpe-Bowker prefix
of 1-86452 has now become 978-1-86452. It is unlikely that
Thorpe-Bowker will also receive the 979-1-86452 prefix.)
- Barcodes
should carry the 13-digit ISBN with hyphenation above the
barcode and the same number in EAN-13 format (as a numerical
string, without hyphens or spaces) below. An example follows.
- Please
note: BISAC files will no longer be a valid data format as
they contain no provision for ISBN-13 codes.
What
to do?
- Publishers
are advised to convert the ISBNs in active use (that includes backlist, for reasons of convenience).
- New
publications should be assigned only the
new 13-digit ISBN.
- Conversion
is be possible through software either made available
through ISBN agencies, the internet, or suppliers. If
necessary, printed lists can be generated. A conversion
program is available at:
http://www.isbn.org/converterpub.asp
Publishing
organisations
should review all existing systems – manual and
electronic – as soon as possible, develop an action plan and
allocate resources as necessary. All organisations are encouraged
to share their implementation plans and timetables with all their
trading partners and ensure that those partners are also taking
similar implementation measures.
A
possible – but not exhaustive – list of systems is as follows:
- ISBN
allocation;
- product
information;
- editorial
management;
- production
systems;
- e-book
supply systems;
- order
fulfilment/warehouse management;
- accounting;
- rights
and contracts;
- rights
management and royalty systems.
Other
considerations
With
the possibility available to the book trade to adopt further
prefixes for 13-digit ISBNs in the future, the system is likely to
remain in its newly-defined structure for many years to come.
However, developers may be wise to bear in mind some additional
possible scenarios relating to field lengths:
-
Organisations
may be required to, or may choose to, use a 14-digit GTIN
for non-retail units (such as cartons or packs), Serial
Shipping Container Codes (for logistics units), or GTIN-13s
for non-book products such as novelties, related
merchandise, CDs etc. Where organisations are using the GS1
system to number anything other than their publications,
even if simply preceding their 13 digit ISBNs with a
packaging level indicator to form a 14 digit number, then
these organisations will need to become GS1 Australia
members. Major retailers in
Australia
such as Myer, Target, Kmart, Big W and David Jones all
utilise GTIN-14s and SSCCs. It is anticipated that some of
the major Book specialty retailers will also begin adopting
these in the near future."
- The
use of the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or of Uniform
Resource Names (URN) may become more widely adopted in parts
of the industry supply chain; these are variable length
identifiers that can accommodate ISBNs.
More
details of the change to the ISBN Standard can be found in the
following document:
Guidelines
for the
Implementation of 13-Digit ISBNs
Check the ISBN Australia website for further updates at:
http://www.thorpe.com.au/isbn
Questions
about the 13-digit ISBN can also be directed to ISBN Australia at:
Click here to email
CLICK HERE
to order Barcodes
and ISBN's
Other
useful URLs concerning the ISBN standard revision:
International
ISBN Agency:
http://www.isbn-international.org/en/revision.html
ISO/ISBN:
http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/iso/tc46sc9/wg4.htm
GS1
GTIN:
www.gs1au.org
Australian
Publishers Association:
http://www.publishers.asn.au
EDItEUR:
http://www.editeur.org
BIC
(Book Industry Communication):
http://www.bic.org.uk BISG
(Book Industry Study Group):
http://www.bisg.org
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