1. Background

The question of the need for and feasibility of an international numbering system for books was first discussed at the Third International Conference on Book Market Research and Rationalization in the Book Trade, held in November 1966 in Berlin.

At that time, a number of European publishers and book distributors were considering the use of computers for order processing and inventory control, and it was evident that a prerequisite for an efficient automated system was a unique and simple identification number for a published item.

The system which fulfilled this requirement and which became known as the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) system, was developed out of the book numbering system introduced in the United Kingdom in 1967 by J. Whitaker & Sons, Ltd., and in the United States in 1968 by R. R. Bowker.

At the same time, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee 46 on Information and Documentation, set up a working party to investigate the possibility of adapting the British system for international use.

During 1968 and 1969 several meetings took place between representatives from various European countries and the United States, and a report was circulated to all countries belonging to ISO.
As a result of these meetings the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) was approved as ISO standard 2108 ¹ in 1970. In 1992 the third edition of this standard replaced the second edition of 1978.

The purpose of the international standard is to coordinate and standardize the international use of ISBNs to uniquely identify one title or edition of a title, published by one specific publisher.

The original standard has been revised as book and book-like items begin to appear in new forms of media, although the basic structure of the ISBN, as defined in that standard, has not changed and is in use today in some 150 countries.

This manual explains the functioning of the system and the steps necessary to ensure that ISBNs are correctly assigned.

¹ Obtainable from national standards organizations. For an extract see Appendix.