12. ISBN and other title identifiers

12.1. ISSN

In addition to the International Standard Book Number system, a numbering system for serial publications has also been established, called the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN), ISO 3297:1998.

A serial is defined as any publication issued in successive parts, usually bearing numerical or chronological designations and intended to be continued indefinitely. Serials include periodicals, year-books, and monographic series.

The ISSN is administered by the International Centre for the Registration of Serials:

ISSN International Centre
20, rue Bachaumont
75002 Paris, France
Tel: (+33 1) 44 88 22 20
Fax: (+33 1) 40 26 32 43
e-mail: issnic@issn.org
URL: http://www.issn.org

Publishers of serials should apply to the International ISSN Centre or to their national ISSN centre, if there is one, for ISSN for their serial publications.

Certain publications, such as yearbooks, annuals, monographic series, etc, should be assigned an ISSN for the serial title (which will remain the same for all the parts or individual volumes of the serial) and an ISBN for each individual volume.

If ISBN and ISSN are assigned to a publication they must be both clearly identified.

12.2. ISMN

The ISMN identifies all printed music publications, whether available for sale, hire, or gratis – whether a part, a score, or an element in a multi-media kit.
It consists of four elements comprising ten digits:
A constant «M», to distinguish it from other standard numbers, a publisher identifier which identifies a certain music publisher, a title number which identifies a certain publication, a check digit which is calculated on a modulus 10 with alternating weight of 3 and 1 assigned from left to right beginning with the letter M prefix. The letter M counts as 3. The ISMN may be integrated into the international 13-digit bar code, by using the prefix 979 followed by the complete ISMN, including the check digit. M is assigned the numeric value of zero (0) for bar code purposes. Sometimes it is difficult to decide whether a publication (such as a song book, a hymnal, an album with extensive textual or illustrative material) is a music edition, a "normal" book, or both. In these cases both an ISMN and an ISBN may be assigned.

The ISMN is administered by:

International ISMN Agency
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
-Preussischer Kulturbesitz-
D-10772 Berlin, Germany
Tel: (+49 30) 266 23 38, 266 24 96, 266 24 98
Fax: (+49 30) 266 23 78
e-mail: ismn@sbb.spk-berlin.de
URL: http://ismn-international.org

12.3. ISRC

The International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) is the standard international identifier for a sound recording (ISO 3901). It numbers each recording of a piece (not the physical item), regardless of the context or carrier on which it is issued.
An ISRC consists of 12 digits and comprises four elements: country code, first owner code, year, recording code.

Example: ISRC DE P55 97 00001

The ISRC system is administered by IFPI, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry:

IFPI Secretariat
54, Regent Street
London, WR 5 PJ
GB-England
Tel: (+44 207) 878 79 00
Fax: (+44 207) 878 79 50
e-mail: info@ifpi.org
URL: http://www.ifpi.org

12.4. ISWC

The International Standard Musical Work Code (ISWC) (ISO 15707) specifies a means of uniquely identifying intellectual property, such as musical and literary works, of the kinds which are within repertoires majoritary controlled by members of CISAC (The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers). It standardises and promotes internationally the use of standard codes so that intellectual properties can be uniquely distinguished from one another within computer databases and related documentation. It is thus indispensable for copyright management. The ISWC identifies a creation, not its physical manifestations.
Example: Mozart's Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) would be eligible for an ISWC to identify the work. The many printed scores would each qualify for ISMNs, the libretti and their translations for ISBNs while a video of a performance would receive an ISAN; a sound recording of the opera would be eligible for an ISRC.
ISWC is fully and internationally adopted by ISO members in July 2001.
The ISWC consists of a letter T followed by nine digits and a numeric check digit.

It is administered by:

mcps
CISAC
20, 26 Boulevard du Parc
92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine-France
Tel: +33(0)1 55 62 08 53
e-mail: rene.lloret@cisac.org
 URL: http://www.iswc.org/iswc/en/html/Home.html

12.5. ISAN

The International Standard Audiovisual Number (ISAN) (ISO 15706) is designed to fill a gap in the network of unique identifiers, and it will link up with the ISRC. ISAN makes it possible for all rights holders (authors, interpreters, producers) to identify the audiovisual work. It does not identify rights holders and their respective shares. ISAN is applied to all audiovisual works. The term audiovisual work means any work, consisting of an animated series of images, whether or not it is accompanied by sound. ISAN is not intended to be applied to fixed images or software packages.
ISAN is now a Final Draft International Standard (FDIS 15706). An ISAN for versions is on preparation. It is promoted by AGICOA and FIAPF.

The ISAN consists of an ISAN prefix, followed by 16 digits, the last one of which is a check digit.

12.6. DOI

The DOI (Digital Object Identifier) has been created by the publishing industry in order to identify electronic publications, especially in online form. Test partners were the Association of American Publishers and R. R. Bowker Company, while the systems support came from the Corporation for National Research Initiatives which developed the Handle technology.

The organisation in charge of DOI is:

The International DOI Foundation
1718 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20009
USA
Tel.: (+1 202) 232 33 35
Fax: (+1 202) 745 06 94
URL: http://www.doi.org

IPA
International Publishers' Association
Avenue de Miremont 3
1206 Genève
Switzerland
Tel: (+41 22) 346 30 18
Fax: (+41 22) 347 57 17
e-mail: secretariat@ipa-uie.org
URL: http://www.ipa-uie.org

DOI is compatible with ISBN: It can integrate ISBN and other standard identifiers used by the publishing industry.

Structure of a DOI:

Use of DOI:

When would a DOI be applicable and when an ISBN? Both systems apply to electronic publications.

• ISBN may be used to identify any monographic publication, in whatever kind of media.
• DOI may be used to identify any online publication, disregarding its granularity: it may be a book-length item, it may be the equivalent of a page.
• A special DOI feature is its function as a permanent URL (Uniform Resource Locator); it does not only identify the item but also points to the address of the item. If the address changes, a directory provides the new address.

Therefore a publisher may want to identify a monographic electronic publication by ISBN which fits into his own and the libraries' bibliographic systems. He may also use a DOI (with the given ISBN as an article identifier) for the convenience of permanently identifying its location on the Internet.

Both this address function as well as its role in pinpointing online publications for the purposes of copyright management make the DOI useful.

12.7. URN

URNs (Uniform Resource Names) are persistent identifiers for information resources. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) launched the initiative in 1996 by nominating a URN working group:
http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/urn-charter.html
As of October 1999 the group has almost completed its task; 8 URN-related Internet standards have been issued, and the missing three are mature drafts. It is expected that the URN standardisation will be completed soon.

URN is an umbrella system that can accommodate any existing identifier system, including DOIs. Every URN consists of three parts: character sequence "urn:", Namespace Identifier (NID) and Namespace specific string (NSS), as defined in Internet standard RFC 2141. NSS contains an identifier, such as ISBN. Namespace Identifier is a unique, registered name for the identifier system used as URN. The global NID register will be maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, IANA (http://www.iana.org/) as specified in Internet standard RFC 2611.

Internet standard RFC 2288 proves that ISBNs fit well into the URN system. Technically URNs can be easily built from ISBNs. If the NID for ISBN is to be "ISBN", an ISBN-based URN will have the form urn:isbn:<isbn string>. So, existing ISBNs can programmatically be augmented to URNs by adding urn:isbn: in front of the existing ISBN. There is no additional work involved in using ISBNs as URNs, with the exception that national ISBN agencies should inform their customers about the existence of URN-based services.

URNs will enable reliable Internet-based resolution services. It will be possible to retrieve either the resource itself, its description or a list of URLs from which the document will be found. From the user's point of view URN utilisation will be easy: instead of typing URLs into their browsers' Location: window, future users can give URNs. This service will be based on standard Internet services HTTP and Domain Name Service, DNS.

ISBN is a good starting point for creating URN-based resolution services. While ISSN requires a global database for efficient resolution, ISBN resolution can be decentralised into national bibliographies. Usually it will be easy to point out the correct service - for instance, all ISBNs starting with 951 or 952 will be resolved in Finland. If there are more potential resolution services, these can be specified into the Domain Name System. For instance, ISBNs starting by number 3 will be resolved either in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.

URNs can be applied for free; there is no need pay to IETF or IANA for using URNs. Creating URN resolution services will not be cost free, and there is no political consensus on who will provide these services and on which terms. However, national libraries have agreed to foster implementation of the URN system, and it is possible that national bibliographic databases will be important building blocks for future URN resolution services.