ISBN-13 An Overview

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, About BISG Industry-wide trade association for policy, standards, and research, composed of: Publishers Libraries Booksellers, Retailers Wholesalers, Distributors Printers and Paper Manufacturers Consulting, Service & Tech Companies

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, Agenda  ISBN-10 Transitions To ISBN-13  What is the transition?  Why is the transition happening?  ISBN-13 and the Bar Code  Global Trade Item Number - GTIN  An Invitation

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, ISBN-10 Transitions to ISBN-13 ISBN-13 – An Overview

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, ISBN-10 Transitions To ISBN-13  As of January 1, 2007, the ISBN will be redefined in length and construction  It will become a 13-digit identifier (ISBN-13) rather than a 10-digit identifier (ISBN-10)  Initially, ISBN-13 will be identical to today ’ s Bookland EAN  As the current supply of numbers is exhausted, some new ISBN-13s will be prefixed with ‘ 979 ’ instead of ‘ 978 ’

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, ISBN-10 Components  Part I – Language Group0  Part II – (Assigning) Publisher  Part III – Title73  Part IV – Check Digit7

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, ISBN-10 Transitions to ISBN  EAN Country Prefix978 (979)  Part I – Language Group0  Part II – (Assigning) Publisher  Part III – Title73  Part IV – Check Digit6

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, Bookland EAN is the ISBN-13  For over 20 years, the Bookland EAN has been used as a mechanism to convey the ISBN-10  Now it will become the ISBN-13 ISBN-10 Bookland EAN ISBN-13

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, ISBN-13 – Why Is It Happening?  To increase available numbers for books  There are many new publishers, especially small presses, who need ISBNs  Publishing has increased significantly in areas where there was once little activity  To become part of the EAN.UCC global product numbering system for product identification  ISBN-13 represents a step in standardization just as ISBN-10 did 30 years ago

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, Banking Your ISBN-10s  What about a publisher’s bank of existing ISBN-10s?  Assigned to books  Unassigned, but allocated to that publisher  Convert them!  Existing ISBNs are not replaced with a new, different number  They convert to ISBN-13s

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, Transitioning to the ISBN-13  A phased transition, as compared to an abrupt cutover, is always encouraged  Dual numbering (both numbers) is strongly advocated during the transition wherever ISBNs are displayed for human reading ISBN ISBN

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, The Bar Code ISBN-13 – An Overview ISBN-13

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, No Change In The Bar Code  The ISBN-10 transitions to the ISBN-13 in January 2007, but there is no change in the Bookland EAN bar code itself

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, Global Trade Item Number ISBN-13 – An Overview GTIN

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, What is the GTIN?  The Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) is actually a family of identifiers that includes:  UPC – Used by general retailing in the US  EAN – Used by retailing globally  ISBN-13 – Becoming the standard for books  “GTIN Format” means expressing any of these identifiers in fourteen digits by prefixing them with zeros  This number is correctly called “EAN/UCC-14”  It is widely referred to simply as “The GTIN”

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, How Is The GTIN Used?  It is the item identifier for transactions in the global supply chain, such as: Product Data (Metadata)Receiving OrderingInvoicing  GTIN is not a product identifier for marking individual items  GTINs appear today on cartons (cases) in general retailing; they are especially noticeable in grocery stores

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, How Is The GTIN Built?  At the item level, by placing the ISBN-13 (or any other EAN) in a 14-digit field and prefixing with ‘0’  Prefixes ‘1’ – ‘8’ have significance as packaging level indicators ISBN GTIN

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, Why The GTIN?  Adopting the 14-digit GTIN standard aligns the book industry with national and global supply chain practices  Enables participation in global product data synchronization (data distribution)  Permits the book supply chain to use package level choice (cartons, stacked on pallets)  The decision to offer package level choice lies with the supplier (publisher)

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, GTIN – BISG Policies  BISG endorses only a 14-digit field length for electronic communications  Communications practices are outward facing – they affect trading partners  A single standard for electronic communication is essential to minimize confusion and duplicate provisions for electronic communications  BISG recommends a product identifier field of at least 14-digits in all databases  If a system is SKU-based, then cross reference tables and displays (screen and hard copy) should comply

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, Recommendations ISBN-13 – An Overview

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, Recommendation – Phase It In  Use dual numbering during the transition, displaying both ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 in wherever the data is human readable  Take things one step at a time  Recognize that there is less urgency in the education sector as compared to trade bookselling  Begin the planning and transition process at an appropriate speed nevertheless

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, Recommendation – Educate  Continue to educate yourself and your staff  BISG website – –References to BISG pages and other sites –ISBN-13 For Dummies ® –Reports and papers on ISBN-13 –Reports and papers on bar coding books  Recommend our “webinars” to your staffs and colleagues  Join BISG and participate with the ISBN-13 Task Force

ACTS – Biloxi - July 25, Book Industry Study Group, Inc. For more information: Or contact the BISG office at: (646)