ISBNStandards

ISBNStandards refers to the set of international norms and practices that govern the creation, assignment, and use of International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs). An ISBN uniquely identifies a specific edition of a book or book‑like product, enabling reliable cataloging, ordering, inventory control, and data exchange across libraries, retailers, and distributors.

The core standard is ISO 2108, which covers the structure, registration, and validation of ISBNs. Since 2007, ISBNs are issued as 13‑digit numbers that align with the EAN‑13 barcode system. The 13-digit form begins with a prefix (978 or 979), followed by registrant and publication identifiers, and ends with a single check digit calculated using modulo 10.

Historical context notes that ISBN‑10 was used prior to the transition; both forms may appear in older catalogs. The shift to ISBN‑13 allowed direct integration with global barcode infrastructure and broader retail distribution, while ensuring compatibility with existing numbering systems.

Governance is carried out by the International ISBN Agency and national ISBN agencies, which assign ranges to publishers and maintain authoritative registries of metadata and publication records. Publishers submit bibliographic data to obtain an ISBN and to have titles linked to the appropriate identifiers in catalogs and catalogs’ systems.

Relation to other standards includes linkage to EAN/GTIN barcodes and to library metadata schemes such as MARC and ONIX, which use ISBN data as a key identifier. ISBNStandards thus support interoperability across publishing, distribution, and information services, helping to ensure accurate identification and data sharing for books and book-like products.