This coming weekend, a milestone will be reached. The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) system turns 60 years old. That seemingly simple group of digits has had a lasting impact on our industry.
Book nerds of the world unite. Let’s celebrate sixty years of the ISBN! (Party balloons are floating and party horns are sounding.)
Below is an edited version of something the International ISBN Agency wrote a few years ago:
In the book world, we’ve come to take International Standard Book Number (ISBN) – that 13-digit number found on the copyright page or back of a book – for granted. We may not need to understand how the number is made up, but we know it’s a number that identifies a book and that somehow makes ordering and sales more accurate and efficient.
In the 1960s, publishers sought to enhance their efficiency and profitability, but they faced a challenge: how to introduce automated order processing and inventory control systems when products could not be consistently and reliably identified? Giving numbers to books wasn’t new – many publishers did that – but the idea of a standard book number that could be used on all computers and which could uniquely identify a publication was startling.
The idea for the system originated in the United Kingdom, following the WH Smith bookstore chain announcement in 1965 that they aimed to transition to a computerised warehouse within two years. There were a number of reports and working parties, and eventually a 9-digit number, including a final “check digit” to validate the whole number, was proposed. The UK was the first to adopt this “Standard” Book Number, and its success was immediate. Soon, RR Bowker in the US, and national libraries and bibliographic services in Canada, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands also wanted to join the system. So, to accommodate this expansion to other countries, the number was increased to 10 digits in 1970. Following later developments, the ISBN has been a 13-digit number since January 2007.
Books are a unique industry – there are many new product lines every day, but also older ones remain very much in demand. Books also come in many types and formats – hardbacks, paperbacks, audiobooks, and ebooks. An ISBN is used to identify a particular book from a specific publisher that appears in any form and is available to the public.
Today, there are more than 150 national and regional ISBN agencies providing ISBNs to publishers in more than 200 countries. We live in a world where information about books is available online as well as in physical stores. Websites can display all the information about a book from basics such as the author’s name, the title, and price, through to an image of the cover, the number of pages, and even links to reviews. In most cases, the ISBN is the glue that binds all this information into a single, searchable record. Without an ISBN, it is unlikely that there would be bar codes on books. Sales data would be less granular; product databases would be less efficiently compiled and contain a lot less information. Quite simply, there would probably be chaos.
I wondered what became of books
with just nine or ten digits?
Did they get condescending looks,
and in embarrassment, the fidget?
Nay! Books with short ISBN
need not feel obsolete,
for what had been issued then
can be upgraded now to meet
the standards of the modern world,
not stand in younger siblings’ shade;
their new-made flags can be unfurled,
and when that change is made,
they may then stand, sure of themselves,
firm upon digital shelves.
Line four, obviously should be ‘fidgets’.
Fast fingers, slow brain.
It turns our there is a glitch in the ISBN system. Up until recently all ISBN numbers started with the same 3 digits: 978. Then a couple of years ago, it was decided to add a new starting sequence: 979. Only a few recently published books have this at the start of their ISBN. One of those is my latest book. It turns out that Bookscan, the outfit that collects retail sales data on all print books, cannot handle these new ISBNs, so if your book number starts with 979, you cannot get any Bookscan data on your Amazon Author Central page. At least that is as much as I know at this point. Steve, if you have any further information about this, I would love to hear about it. (Like when or if this might get fixed). It’s not a huge problem, unless one is a data nerd (like me).
Sy,
I cannot find any information on the issue. That’s something to ask your publisher.
Or go to your Author Central Account and drill down to the section where you can ask for help. They usually respond in 48 hours.
Author Central > How can we help? > Reports and marketing > BookScan data
Steve,
You referenced the first 5 numbers in an ISBN, but what do all of the numbers mean? And why do all ISBNs start with 978 or 979?
Linda
I wrote a complete blog on the anatomy of the ISBN a couple years ago:
https://stevelaube.com/i-is-for-isbn/
In that blog I wrote:
Look at this ISBN: 978-1-61626-639-4
There are five parts to the number (note the dashes in the above number?).
The first three numbers mean “This is a book.” In the international rules, the prefix is supposed to identify the country of origin. But since all books are supposed to start with 978, and now 979, the committee named this country “Bookland.” Believe it or not. (I want to live in Bookland. Care to join me?)
The next digit refers to the country, geographical area, or language area of the book. Usually, it’s either a 0 or a 1.
The next five numbers refer to the publisher or imprint. When I was the national buyer for a bookstore chain, I got so used to dealing with ISBN numbers that I could identify a publisher by its ISBN without seeing the book. 031032 was Zondervan. 080285 was Eerdmans. 155661 was Bethany House. (But those never appeared on a Trivial Pursuit card, so the information was useless outside of work. Unfortunately, I still remember them.) By the way, the publisher’s number can change when a new set of ISBNs are assigned. At some point, the publisher will run out of their allotment, so they get issued a new identifier. You may notice that if one publisher buys another publisher, eventually the new owner’s identifier takes over with new books.
The next three numbers identify which title it is.
Building a Wall of Prayer
ISBN 1-897647-08-5
A powerful book! What a blessing to know it can be found by all!!
And I Found the Key to the Heart of God
9783872-095961, My All for Him ISBN
0-7642-2477-8 another treasure!!!
Thankfully we are all connected!!
Another thing I predate. Thanks, Steve!