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REVISION HISTORY:
December 7, 2011, initial publication
February 25, 2013

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This BISG Policy Statement on recommendations for identifying digital products is applicable to content intended for distribution to the general public in North America but could be applied elsewhere as well. The objective of this Policy Statement is to clarify best practices and outline responsibilities in the assignment of ISBNs to digital products in order to reduce both confusion in the market place, and the possibility of errors.

This Policy Statement was initally published in December 2011. BISG always intended to revise the Statement from time to time in order to keep up with the ever evolving digital market place. To this end, a revised version was published in February 2013.

What's new in the revised February 25, 2013 Policy Statement?...

• Shifted focus from ISBN assignment to product identification, embracing the concept of Proprietary Identifiers
• Expanded coverage on third party assignment of identifiers
• Changed structure to organize the use case recommendations around: (1) Content, (2) Format, and (3) Usage Constraints
• Revised recommendation for enhanced content to say enhanced e-books should always get a different identifier (ISBN or Proprietary ID)
• Added recommendation for identifying e-books components (chapters, etc.)
• Added descriptive sections on different Identifiers, including GTIN-13s and DOIs
• Clarified language around DRM and different file formats
• Clarified sections on usage constraints, purchase vs. rent, purchase vs. lend

Some of the organizations to indicate support of POL-1101 include:

• Book Industry Communication (BIC)
  
• BookNet Canada
  
• IBPA, the Independent Book Publishers Association
  
• National Information Standards Organization (NISO)
  
• U.S. ISBN Agency

CLICK HERE to download (PDF)
Published December 7, 2011 | Updated February 25, 2013