ISBN - Wikipedia Jump to content Main menu Main menu move to sidebar hide Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Special pages Search Search Appearance Donate Create account Log in Personal tools Donate Create account Log in Contents move to sidebar hide (Top) 1 History 2 Overview Toggle Overview subsection 2.1 Issuing process 2.2 Registration group element 2.3 Registrant element 2.3.1 English-language pattern 3 Check digits Toggle Check digits subsection 3.1 ISBN-10 check digits 3.2 ISBN-10 check digit calculation 3.3 ISBN-13 check digit calculation 3.4 ISBN-10 to ISBN-13 conversion 3.5 Errors in usage 4 EAN format used in barcodes, and upgrading 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 External links Toggle the table of contents ISBN 161 languages Afrikaans Alemannisch አማርኛ अंगिका العربية الدارجة مصرى অসমীয়া Asturianu अवधी Azərbaycanca تۆرکجه Башҡортса Basa Bali Boarisch Беларуская (тарашкевіца) Беларуская Български भोजपुरी Banjar ပအိုဝ်ႏဘာႏသာႏ বাংলা Brezhoneg Bosanski Català 閩東語 / Mìng-dĕ̤ng-ngṳ̄ Cebuano کوردی Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch ދިވެހިބަސް Ελληνικά Esperanto Español Eesti Euskara فارسی Fulfulde Suomi Føroyskt Français Frysk Gaeilge Galego Avañe'ẽ Bahasa Hulontalo Ghanaian Pidgin ગુજરાતી Hausa עברית हिन्दी Fiji Hindi Hrvatski Hornjoserbsce Kreyòl ayisyen Magyar Հայերեն Արեւմտահայերէն Interlingua Bahasa Indonesia Igbo Ilokano Ido Íslenska Italiano 日本語 Jawa ქართული Taqbaylit Қазақша ភាសាខ្មែរ ಕನ್ನಡ 한국어 کٲشُر Kurdî Кыргызча Latina Lëtzebuergesch Ligure Lombard ລາວ Lietuvių Latviešu Madhurâ मैथिली Мокшень Minangkabau Македонски മലയാളം Монгол ဘာသာမန် मराठी Bahasa Melayu Malti မြန်မာဘာသာ مازِرونی नेपाली Nederlands Norsk nynorsk Norsk bokmål IsiNdebele seSewula Chi-Chewa Occitan ଓଡ଼ିଆ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Papiamentu Naijá Polski پنجابی پښتو Português Română Русский Русиньскый संस्कृतम् Sardu Sicilianu Scots سنڌي Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски တႆး සිංහල Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina Gagana Samoa Soomaaliga Shqip Српски / srpski Sunda Svenska Kiswahili ꠍꠤꠟꠐꠤ Ślůnski தமிழ் తెలుగు Tetun Тоҷикӣ ไทย Türkmençe Tagalog Türkçe Xitsonga ChiTumbuka Українська اردو Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча Vèneto Tiếng Việt Winaray Wolof 吴语 IsiXhosa ייִדיש Yorùbá ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ ⵜⴰⵏⴰⵡⴰⵢⵜ 閩南語 / Bân-lâm-gí 粵語 中文 Edit links Article Talk English Read View source View history Tools Tools move to sidebar hide Actions Read View source View history General What links here Related changes Upload file Permanent link Page information Cite this page Get shortened URL Switch to legacy parser Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Wikispecies Wikidata item Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Unique numeric book identifier since 1970 Not to be confused with ISSN or ISDN. For the use of ISBNs on Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:ISBN. "},"organisation":{"wt":"International ISBN Agency<!-- Yes, they are really called the International International Standard Book Number Agency -->"},"digits":{"wt":"13 (formerly 10)"},"check_digit":{"wt":"Weighted sum"},"example":{"wt":"978-3-16-148410-0"},"website":{"wt":"{{URL|https://isbn-international.org/}}"}},"i":0}}]}'>International Standard Book NumberA 13-digit ISBN, 978-3-16-148410-0, as represented by an EAN-13 bar code Acronym ISBN Organisation International ISBN Agency Introduced 1970; 56 years ago (1970)[1] Number</span>"}]]}'>No. of digits 13 (formerly 10) Check digit Weighted sum Example 978-3-16-148410-0 Website isbn-international.org The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique.[a][b] Publishers purchase or receive ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.[2] An ISBN cannot be used as a generic identifier for a work or title. A different ISBN is assigned to each separate edition and variation of a publication, but not to a simple reprinting of an existing item. For example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book must each have a different ISBN, but an unchanged reprint of the hardcover edition keeps the same ISBN. The ISBN is ten digits long if assigned before 2007, and thirteen digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007."}},"i":0}}]}'>[c] The method of assigning an ISBN is nation-specific and varies between countries, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The first version of the ISBN identification format was devised in 1967, based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering (SBN) created in 1966. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO 2108 (any 9-digit SBN can be converted to a 10-digit ISBN by prefixing it with a zero). Privately published books sometimes appear without an ISBN. The International ISBN Agency sometimes assigns ISBNs to such books on its own initiative.[4] A separate identifier code of a similar kind, the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN), identifies periodical publications such as magazines and newspapers. The International Standard Music Number (ISMN) covers musical scores. History The Standard Book Number (SBN) is a commercial system using nine-digit code numbers to identify books. In 1965, British bookseller and stationers WHSmith announced plans to implement a standard numbering system for its books.[1] They hired consultants to work on their behalf, and the system was devised by Gordon Foster, emeritus professor of statistics at Trinity College Dublin.[5] The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee on Documentation sought to adapt the British SBN for international use. The ISBN identification format was conceived in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker[6][7] (regarded as the "Father of the ISBN")[8] and in 1968 in the United States by Emery Koltay[6] (who later became director of the U.S. ISBN agency R. R. Bowker).[8][9][10] The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the ISO and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO 2108.[1][6] The United Kingdom continued to use the nine-digit SBN code until 1974. ISO has appointed the International ISBN Agency as the registration authority for ISBN worldwide and the ISBN Standard is developed under the control of ISO Technical Committee 46/Subcommittee 9 TC 46/SC 9. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978.[11] Total number of ISBN registrations. 2020. An SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit "0". For example, the second edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has "SBN 340 01381 8", where "340" indicates the publisher, "01381" is the serial number assigned by the publisher, and "8" is the check digit. By prefixing a zero, this can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8; the check digit does not need to be re-calculated. Some publishers, such as Ballantine Books, would sometimes use 12-digit SBNs where the last three digits indicated the price of the book;[12] for example, Woodstock Handmade Houses had a 12-digit Standard Book Number of 345-24223-8-595 (valid SBN: 345-24223-8, ISBN: 0-345-24223-8),[13] and it cost US$5.95.[14] Since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained thirteen digits, a format that is compatible with "Bookland" European Article Numbers, which have 13 digits.[3] Since 2016, ISBNs have also been used to identify mobile games by China's Administration of Press and Publication.[15] The United States, with 3.9 million registered ISBNs in 2020, was by far the biggest user of the ISBN identifier in 2020, followed by South Korea (329,582), Germany (284,000), China (263,066), the UK (188,553) and Indonesia (144,793). Lifetime ISBNs registered in the United States are over 39 million as of 2020.[16] Overview A separate ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation (except reprintings) of a publication. For example, an ebook, audiobook, paperback, and hardcover edition of the same book must each have a different ISBN assigned to it.[17]: 12  The ISBN of an electronic publication is often colloquially called "eISBN";[18][19] however, no such notation is present in the documentation. Whether a publication is electronic or print cannot be inferred from the ISBN only. The ISBN is thirteen digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, and ten digits long if assigned before 2007.[c][3] An International Standard Book Number consists of four parts (if it is a 10-digit ISBN) or five parts (for a 13-digit ISBN). Section 5 of the International ISBN Agency's official user manual[17]: 11  describes the structure of the 13-digit ISBN, as follows: The parts of a 10-digit ISBN and the corresponding EAN‑13 and barcode. Note the different check digits in each. The part of the EAN‑13 labeled "EAN" is the Bookland country code. for a 13-digit ISBN, a prefix element – a GS1 prefix: so far 978 or 979 have been made available by GS1, the registration group element (language-sharing country group, individual country or territory), the registrant element, the publication element, and a checksum character or check digit. A 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts (prefix element, registration group, registrant, publication and check digit), and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts (registration group, registrant, publication and check digit) of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces. Figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits.{{cite web|url=https://www.isbn-international.org/range_file_generation|title=ISBN Ranges|year=2014|publisher=International ISBN Agency|access-date=29 April 2014|archive-date=29 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429101326/https://www.isbn-international.org/range_file_generation|url-status=live}}</ref> The actual definition for hyphenation contains more than 220 different registration group elements with each one broken down into a few to several ranges for the length of the registrant element (more than 1,000 total). The document defining the ranges, listed by agency, is 29 pages."}},"i":0}}]}'>[d] Online tools such the ISBN Converter provided by the Library of Congress and ISBNBarcode.org can assist with hyphenation and generate standard barcodes.[21][22] Issuing process ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for that country or territory regardless of the publication language. The ranges of ISBNs assigned to any particular country are based on the publishing profile of the country concerned, and so the ranges will vary depending on the number of books and the number, type, and size of publishers that are active. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture and thus may receive direct funding from the government to support their services. In other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organizations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded.[23] A full directory of ISBN agenc…