I just stumbled upon news that a year from now, in January 2007, the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) will transition from a 10-digit number to a 13-digit number. This change will ensure that the world does not run out of those quirky numbers that uniquely identify published books.
ISBN-13 for Dummies (pdf) explains this transition quite nicely.
What does this mean for libraries? ISBNs touch many aspects of libraries, including searching, cataloguing, interlibrary loans, and acquisitions.
The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) article here has a Librarian’s ISBN FAQ. The International Standards Organization (ISO) article here talks about the revision of the ISO 2108 standard, and systems that librarians, publishers, and booksellers need to review.
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My barcode bowl would have been slightly kewler if I had used a proper ISBN…
HELLO my barcode is
my Cereals Solutions bowl painted at the Hot Pot Studio.