What is an ISBN?  

TheInternational Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a 13-digit number that uniquelyidentifies books and book-like products publishedinternationally.

ISBNs are applicable to:

•printed books and pamphlets•atlasesand maps   

•Braille publications

•mixed media publications

•electronic publications

•microforms

•educational videos or movies   

•microcomputer software (please referto the guidelines extracted from ISBN Review)

ISBNs are notapplicable to:

•newspapers and magazines

•serial publications

•diaries and calendars   

•advertising matters   

•art folders without title page andtext   

•sound recordings   

Structure of anISBN

Every ISBN comprises 13 digits, whichcan be grouped into five sections:

1.Prefix Element – Adopting thePrefix Element assigned to books by the GS1, all ISBNs are currently prefixedby “978”.   When ISBNs with “978” prefix are exhausted, the new “979”prefix will be used.

2.Group Identifier – This identifiesthe particular country, geographical region, or language area of the publisher.

3.Publisher Prefix – This identifiesthe publisher of a given book.

4.Title Number – This is assigned bythe publisher to a given title or an edition of a given title.

5.Check Digit – This validates theISBN.These five sections are of varying lengths and separated by hyphens orspaces.

Calculation ofthe Check Digit

1.Multiply each of the first 12digits of the ISBN by alternate weights of 1 and 3;

2.Add all the weighted productstogether;

3.Divide the sum by 10 to determinethe remainder; and

4.Finally subtract the remainder from10 to derive the Check Digit.   If there is no remainder (i.e. thesum is divisible by 10), then the Check Digit is 0.

Why do I need an ISBN?

ISBN's establish and identify one title oredition of a title from one specific publisher and is unique to that edition,and isviewed as your bookfulfilling international book published criteria. AnISBN can only be used once and is specific for aparticular book or book likeproduct. It allows for better marketing of products by bookstores, libraries,distributors,universities, and self-publishers.

ISBN Barcode

The barcode will be placed on the bottom ofthe back cover.

Does it matter where a book is printed?

No, books can be printed anywhere. ISBNs areassigned based on the geographical location of the publisher, not the printingcompany.

什么是ISBN？

国际标准书号（ISBN）是一个13 位数字，可独一无二地识别在国际上出版的书籍和类似书籍的产品。

书号适用于：

•书籍和小册子

•地图册和地图

•点字刊物

•混合媒介刊物

•电子刊物

•缩微资料

•教育录影带或电影

•微型电脑软件（请参阅 摘录自《国际标准书号评论杂志》(ISBN Review) 的指引）

书号不适用于:

•报纸、杂志

•期刊

•日志、年历

•广告

•没有书名页和内文的美术折卡

•音乐录音

书号结构

每组书号由13个数字组成，分为下列五个部分：

1.前缀号：书号沿用了国际货品编码协会(GS1)编配予书籍的前缀号「978」，目前所有书号首三个数字均为「978」。当以「978」为首的书号用完后，新书号的前缀号将为「979」。

2.国别语种识别代号：用以识别出版者的国家、地域或语言区等。

3.出版社识别代号：用以识别书籍的出版者。

4.书名识别代号：由出版者自行编配，以识别书目或版本。

5.稽核号：用以核对书号是否正确。这五部分长短不一，用横线或空位分隔。

稽核号计算步骤

1.把书号首12个数字交替地乘以权数1和3；

2.把所有积相加；

3.把总和除以10，得出余数；

4.最后把余数以10相减，所得数字即为稽核号。若无余数（即总和可被10整除），稽核号便是0。

为什么我需要一个ISBN？

ISBN从一个特定的出版商建立和识别一个标题或版本，并且是该版本所独有的，并被视为您的图书符合国际图书出版标准。

ISBN只能使用一次，并且特定于特定书籍或类似书籍的产品。它允许书店、图书馆、分销商、大学和自营出版商更好地推销产品。

ISBN条形码

条形码置于封底底部。

书号条码样本