6. ISBN for electronic publications

The ISBN also applies to electronic publications:

• Offline items, like floppy disks and CD-ROMs, are treated like any other publication.
• Online items may be completed and finalised publications, like a textbook on the Internet. In this case an ISBN would suffice.
• An online publication may be a bibliographic or fact database that is subject to change any second. This would be comparable to an encyclopedia or dictionary which is also constantly updated in other media, without each little amendment leading to a new edition or new ISBN. Only significant and/or structural changes (including title changes) would require new ISBNs.
• Linked material (e.g. hypertext) would only be considered covered by the same ISBN if the related material is actually part of the publication.
• If an online publication is available under different operating systems and/or command languages, each «edition» would require a separate ISBN.

ISBN for eligible software products:

1. An ISBN is used to identify a specific software product. If there is more than one version (perhaps versions adapted for different machines, carrier media or language version), each version must have a separate ISBN.
2. When a software product is updated, revised or amended and the changes are sufficiently substantial for the product to be called a new edition, a new ISBN must be assigned.
3. A relaunch of an existing product, even in new packaging, where there is no basic difference in the performance of the new and the old product, does not justify a new ISBN, and the original ISBN must be used.
4. When software is accompanied by a manual which is useful only as an adjunct to the software, the software needs the manual before it can be operated, and they are sold as a package, one ISBN must be assigned to cover both items.
5. When two or more items in a software package can be used separately, or are sold separately as well as together, then
        a) the package as a whole must have an ISBN
        b) each item in the package must have an ISBN.
6. An ISBN should be assigned to a software product independently of its physical form (e.g. if software is only available from a remote database from where it is downloaded to the customer.)
7. As well as identifying the product itself, an ISBN identifies the producer or manufacturer; it should not be used to identify a distributor or wholesaler of the product.