ISBNs

The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is a unique 13-digit number that identifies one title or edition of a title from one specific publisher and is unique to that edition. As the official ISBN Agency for the United States, Bowker is responsible for the assignment of the ISBN Publisher Prefix to those publishers with a residence or office in the U.S. who are publishing their titles within the U.S.

It must be stressed that ISBNs need to be used for every component in a publishers product line. For example, a CD that accompanies a book should have a separate ISBN number as well as supplemental items that might accompany a main volume, an instructors manual for instance. Publishers should resist the urge to “conserve” their ISBNs by not assigning an ISBN to a unique product or even worse using the same ISBN on different products that may be related but warehoused as separate items. These processes can lead to much confusion in a warehouse and to possible mis-shipments.