ISBN. What do you need to know?

What is an ISBN?
ISBN is an international standard book number used to uniquely identify books and other publications. It consists of 13 digits (previously 10 digits) and helps to identify a certain edition of a certain publisher. ISBN is an important tool in the book industry because it ensures the uniqueness of each publication and simplifies the process of finding and buying books.

Why ISBN is necessary?
1. Book identification: ISBN allows to accurately identify a specific edition of a book, including language, format, and other features. This is important for readers, libraries, bookstores and distributors.
2. Simplifying accounting and trading: With the help of ISBN, bookstores, libraries and other institutions can easily keep track of their stock, orders and sales. It also simplifies the process of ordering and replenishing the assortment.
3. Search and Cataloging: ISBN makes it easier to find books in library catalogs, online stores and databases. This helps readers to quickly find the book they need among the large number of publications available.
4. Copyright protection: ISBN helps protect the rights of authors and publishers by providing official recognition of their works. This is important to avoid plagiarism and unauthorized copying.
5. Increased credibility: The presence of an ISBN on a book increases the credibility of the publication both on the part of readers and on the part of retailers. This indicates that the book has passed official registration and meets the established standards.

How to decipher ISBN?
ISBN consists of several parts, each of which has its own meaning:
1. Prefix: The first three digits (978 or 979) indicate that this is the ISBN itself.
2. Group ID: The following numbers identify the language or regional group.
3. Publisher ID: This segment identifies the specific publisher.
4. Edition ID: It identifies the specific edition of the book.
5. Check digit: The last digit is used to verify the correctness of the ISBN.

Calculation of the check digit
The check digit in ISBN-13 is calculated as follows:
1. Starting from the first digit, all digits in odd positions are added.
2. All numbers in even positions are multiplied by 3 and also added.
3. The received sums are added together.
4. The result of division by 10 gives the remainder. The check digit is the number that must be added to the remainder to get a multiple of 10.

Who gets an ISBN and who doesn't?
ISBN is assigned to the following types of publications:
- Books and brochures (printed and electronic).
- Training manuals and textbooks.
- Audio books.
- Specific types of software and multimedia products, if they have the characteristics of a book.

ISBN is not assigned to the following types of products:
- Periodicals (journals, newspapers).
- Websites and blogs.
- Advertising materials.
- Instructions, recipe books and other similar materials that are not considered books.

In this way, ISBN helps ensure the uniqueness, searchability, accounting and protection of books, which contributes to the development of the book industry and makes life easier for readers and publishing professionals.

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