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 Document Library:
Standards: ISBN-13
ISBN-13: For Retailers....
Retailer Relevant ISBN-13 FAQ
The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) provides a standard way to
identify books in global trade. On January 1, 2007 the book industry transitioned
to 13-digit ISBNs, phasing out the use of 10-digit numbers.
Index
What changes
have come to
book retailing as a result of ISBN-13?
- The item number for books (ISBN) has changed in length from 10
to 13 digits.
- The ISBN-13 is now being used as the product identifier in
both the traditional bookselling as well as the general retailing
markets for books.
How
has the ISBN changed?
- The ISBN has been expanded to 13 digits.
The ISBN is an international standard administered by the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO). As such, it
undergoes a formal review every five years. As part of the most
recent
review and revision, the ISBN was expanded from a 10-digit to
a 13-digit number effective January 1, 2007.
Why is
this happening?
-
Additional product numbers.
Just as phone companies encountered the need for additional area
codes to accommodate the growing demand for phone numbers, the
book industry projected a
need for additional item numbers. This need is greater in parts of
the world that have seen a recent increase in publishing and in
the small press area in the United States. The additional numbers are
expected to be needed by 2007.
-
Compatibility with worldwide product numbering. The
expansion of ISBN from 10 to 13 digits is part of an overall
consolidation of separate numbering systems into a single
worldwide plan.
How will the publishing industry transition the ISBN from 10 to 13
digits?
-
The ISBN was originally developed as a 10-digit number. By
industry agreement, the 10-digit ISBN is referred to as "ISBN-10"
and the 13-digit ISBN is referred to as "ISBN-13".
-
In order to transition the ISBN from 10 to 13 digits, two
"prefixes" are being used: '978' and '979'. All ISBNs currently
assigned to books will now begin with '978'. When new ISBN-13s are
distributed, they may have prefixes of either '978' or '979'.
-
Note: The final digit of an ISBN-13, just like the
final digit of an ISBN-10 is called the check digit.
Because check digits are calculated based on the numbers contained
within the ISBN (and the numbers contained within an ISBN-10 and
an ISBN-13 are slightly different) the check digit of each will
almost always differ.
What's the difference between '978' and '979' ISBN-13s?
- All ISBN-10s are really ISBN-13s with the prefix '978' and
with a newly calculated check digit (the last digit).
- When all numbers in a given '978' block have been assigned,
national ISBN agencies will begin assigning ISBN-13s with a
'979' prefix to subsequent requests. (Both '978' and '979' are EAN
prefixes assigned to "Bookland" and managed by the ISBN
authority.) There will be no 10-digit counterpart to an ISBN-13
with '979' as the prefix. Thus, '979' ISBNs
must always be treated as 13-digit numbers.
What problems will be caused by the use of both '978' and '979'
prefixes?
- Prior to January 1, 2007, most organizations used to scan the Bookland EAN bar code, strip off
the '978' and check digit, calculate a new check digit and store
the resulting ISBN-10 in a database.
- This practice will not be usable for ISBN-13s beginning with
'979', since it will cause duplicate identifiers to be created in a
company's host systems. The resulting consequences of this would
be grave.
- It is very important to discontinue the practice of deriving
ISBN-10s from Bookland EANs before the ISBN-13 and '979' prefixes
come into use.
Where do I
need to be by January 1, 2007?
- You need to be fully prepared to operate in the ISBN-13 world
by January 1, 2007.
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