Penn State University Libraries - 020 - International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a 13-digit number assigned by standard book numbering agencies to control and facilitate activities within the publishing industry. ISBNs used to be 10 digits until the end of 2006. The 13-digit ISBN contains five elements sometimes separated on the item by hyphens and often preceded with the prefix ISBN. 10-digit ISBNs had four elements. Earlier books were assigned a 9-digit SBN (Standard Book Number). Occasionally an 11-digit number is issued.

The first element of the 13-digit ISBN is a prefix element that currently can only be "978" or "979". Second is the registration group element that identifies the geographic or national grouping of publishers. For example, publishers in the U.S., UK, Australia, Canada, etc. are identified by the numbers 0 or 1, while publishers in Spain and other Hispanic countries are identified by the number 84. Third is registrant element, or the publisher identifier. This number is unique to each publisher. Fourth is the publication element, or title identifier, which identifies a particular title or edition of a title published by a particular publisher. The final digit is the check digit consisting of numbers from 0 to 9 or the upper case letter X. The check digit is derived from a calculation on the other nine digits and is used in computer systems to validate numbers checking against errors in transcription. The ISBN is an important access point in online catalogs.

The ISBN may also contain qualifying information relating to price, publisher, country of publication, volume numbering or set information, type of paper and type of binding.

Take the ISBN from anywhere on the item. Do not enclose any information in brackets.

The most common sources of the ISBN are the title page verso, including information within the CIP, cover (front and back), dust jacket and colophon (for foreign publications). Do not record an ISBN associated with or embedded in a series statement.

Indicators:

Indicators for 020 are undefined.

Subfields:

|a     ISBN     (not repeatable)

|z     Invalid ISBN     (repeatable)

|c     Terms of availability (e.g., price) [Do not add this information to a The Cat record]

The prescribed order of elements in 020 |a and |z are:

020 ISBN (Qualifier)

• Do not input the prefix ISBN or SBN.

  source:    ISBN 9780491001304
  
  020     9780491001304
  

   

• Do not input hyphens or spaces between digits.

  source:    ISBN 0-80214-217-6
  
  020     0802142176
  
  
  source:    0 39417 066 0
  
  020     0394170660

   

• Do not transcribe numbers identified on the pieces as ISSN (International Standard Serial Number).

  source:    Published as a supplement to Nucleic Acids Research, Volume 18.
  

  ISSN 0605 1048

When the final check digit is the letter X, input it in uppercase.

Capitalize abbreviations used as qualifying information according to the conventions of the language involved.

Unique ISBN numbers are added to a record in separate 020 fields.

Transcribe each ISBN and its corresponding qualifying information in a separate 020 field. When an item has both an ISBN and an invalid ISBN, transcribe both in a single field with |z following |a. Transcribe ISBNs for both publishers and distributors.

The ISBN is often followed by qualifying information on the source. This is especially common when the item lists more than one ISBN. Qualifying information is often enclosed in parentheses on the source.

ISBN 0-435-91660-2 (cased)

ISBN 0-435-91661-0 (pbk.)

Qualifying information may refer to specific ISBNs for different types of binding (e.g., (cased), (cloth), (pbk.), (softcover), etc.), for the various parts of a set (e.g., (set), (v. 1), (pt. 4), etc.), accompanying material, the type of paper used, etc. When the item is published in several countries with separate ISBNs for each place or publisher, the qualifying information may be a place of publication or name of publisher.

ISBN 3-540-53410-5 (Berlin : alk. paper)

ISBN 0-387-53410-5 (New York : alk. paper)

Record qualifying information following the last digit of the ISBN, preceded by a space.

• Enclose the information in parentheses.

   

• Separate elements of information within qualifying information by ^ : ^
  

  ... (pbk. : alk. paper)

• Capitalize information according to the rules of the language involved.

   

• Abbreviate information according to standard abbreviation conventions.

   

• Separate volume designation and volume number by a space.

  ... (v. 1)
  ... (v. 2, pt. 3)

• When the qualifying information precedes the ISBN on the source, move it to the proper position in 020.

  source:
  
  RKP ISBN 0 7100 0371 4
  
  UTP ISBN 0 8020 6383 7

  020    0710003714 (RKP)

  020    0802063837 (UTP)

• Omit price and availability as qualifying information or |c information when present on the source.

 

• When more than one ISBN is present on the item and neither are qualified, record them as they appear without qualifying information. If one or more of these appears to belong to a publisher not represented in 260 by layout on the piece, do not record (see C. Multiple ISBNs on item).

Transcribe the single ISBN as instructed in the previous sections. Include qualifying information if it is present on the source.

source:    ISBN 978-0-930888-02-2

020    9780930888022

source:    ISBN 978-1-55542-253-0 (alk. paper)

020    9781555422530 (alk. paper)

Multiple ISBNs usually occur when the type of binding differs, when multiple publishers are involved, when a single publisher has offices in several countries, when a distributor has an ISBN in addition to the publisher, or in simultaneous publications. You may also still see both 13 digit ISBNs and their 10 digit counterparts on the same item.

Record all ISBN's or sets of ISBNs given on the source which apply to the edition in hand in all cases except that of simultaneous publications and some set situations (see D. Sets and accompanying material). Include qualifying information if it is present on the source.

source:

ISBN 978-0-684-14258-6 (bound)
ISBN 978-0-684-14257-9 (pbk.)

020    9780684142586 (bound)

020    9780684142579 (pbk.)

In the case of multiple publishers or multiple places of publication, the ISBNs recorded should correspond to information found in 260 |a and/or |b. Qualifying information printed on the source or location of ISBN should help to identify the ISBN.

title page:

Ellis Horwood Limited
   Publishers - Chichester
Halsted Press: a division of
   John Wiley & Sons
New York - Chichester - Brisbane

verso of t.p.:

ISBN 0-7458-0546-9 (Ellis Horwood Limited)
ISBN 0-470-21516-X (Halsted Press)

020    0745805469 (Ellis Horwood Limited)

020    047021516X (Halsted Press)

260    Chichester :|bEllis Horwood Ltd. ;|aNew York :|bHalsted Press

Because a simultaneous publisher is not recorded in 260, do not record ISBN's which correspond to the simultaneous publisher in the 020 field.

title page:

Ontario Review Press
Princeton, New Jersey

verso of t.p.:

ISBN 0-86538-070-8

Published simultaneously in Canada
by Firefly Books Ltd.
Willowdale, Ontario
ISBN 0-92066-880-1

020    0865380708

260    Princeton, N.J. :|bOntario Review Press

A set may have an ISBN that applies to the entire set and each volume may have a separate ISBN. There may be sets of ISBNs for each volume (i.e., cloth and pbk., multiple publishers, etc.).

Record the ISBN identified as the "set ISBN" when available. Also record all available ISBNs for specific volumes of the set or accompanying material. When the ISBN is not qualified on the source with a volume number supply the volume number as qualifying information.

3 volume set in hand

v. 1 source:

ISBN 0 89874 069 x (set)
ISBN 0 89874 206 4 (v. 1)

v. 2 source:

ISBN 0 89874 205 3

v. 3 source:

ISBN 0 89874 069 X (set)
ISBN 0 89874 207 2 (v. 3)

020    089874069X (set)

020    0898742064 (v. 1)

020    0898742053 (v. 2)

020    0898742072 (v. 3)

Catalog as separate (Cat. as sep.) items

Do not record set ISBN in cat. as sep. situations. Add only the ISBN(s) appropriate for the item in hand.

Input ISBNs for accompanying material from information given on the source. Supply qualifying information, if absent, in order to identify the ISBN.

                                             main vol.:    ISBN 0-80532-006-7 (pbk.)
acc. material entitled assessment pad:    ISBN 0-80532-011-3

020    0805320067 (pbk.)
020    0805320113 (assessment pad)

When you suspect that an ISBN is invalid (i.e., 020 brings up two different records, or two forms of the ISBN are found on the item -- looking like a typo), enter it in a |z.

When unsure whether an ISBN is valid or not, enter it in subfield |a.

source:    351502409X

020    |a351502409X

When both an invalid number and a second, valid number, is available, enter the valid number first followed by the invalid number in the |z subfield.

verso of t.p.: 0394512884

back cover: 0394502884

020    0394502884|z0394512884

Record ISBNs with less than 10 digits as they appear on the source. They are most common on older U.S. or U.K. items, or foreign publications.

source:    958-06-067-2

020    958060672

13-digit ISBNs have been used since the end of 2006, but it is still not uncommon to see both a 13- and 10-digit ISBN on an item. For more information on the implementation of 13-digit ISBNs, see the International ISBN Agency's Web site.