Wednesday, March 19, 2008

ABC Wednesday - I

The letter I was a hard one for me to come up with anything interesting. Hope my post isn't too boring.







The ISBN allows me to be certain I get the book I want, each book published has it's own individual identification number, an ISBN. Last year we moved from 10 digits to 13 digits, this change was 40 years in the making. I wonder how long before the next increase.




In 1965, W. H. Smith (the largest single book retailer in Great Britain) announced its plans to move to a computerized warehouse in 1967 and wanted a standard numbering system for books it carried. They hired consultants to work on behalf of their interest, the British Publishers Association's Distribution and Methods Committee and other experts in the U.K. book trade. They devised the Standard Book Numbering (SBN) system in 1966 and it was implemented in 1967.









At the same time, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee on Documentation (TC 46) set up a working party to investigate the possibility of adapting the British SBN for international use. A meeting was held in London in 1968 with representatives from Denmark, France, Germany, Eire, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and an observer from UNESCO. Other countries contributed written suggestions and expressions of interest. A report of the meeting was circulated to all ISO member countries. Comments on this report and subsequent proposals were considered at meetings of the working party held in Berlin and Stockholm in 1969. As a result of the thinking at all of these meetings, the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) was approved as an ISO standard in 1970, and became ISO 2108.







That original standard has been revised as book and book-like content appeared in new forms of media, but the basic structure of the ISBN as defined in that standard has not changed and is in use today in almost 150 countries.







Check out everyone's I post at: mrsnesbittsplace.blogspot.com/

22 comments:

Neva said...

I work in a library and use the ISBN number every day....I had no idea about the history.....the things I don't know.....good "I".

Lilli & Nevada said...

Very good I post.

Leslie: said...

Very informative post about ISBN - haven't seen this one yet! Good job! :D

Paulie said...

Great one! (Here I am a trained librarian/media specialist and I didn't even think of that one.)

Katney said...

Interesting ISBN history. Thank you for that. Another librarian here.

FO - 2 said...

Clever I post! :)

Gordon said...

Far from boring; you learn something every day. My wife works in a library and has never told me about ISBN - but then I guess I have never asked!

dot said...

Very interesting post!

Unknown said...

Hey, great I post.... I have read some of those books, too!

Unknown said...

ISBN is perfect for I! I love all of your stacks of books too! Looks like heaven!

DeeMom said...

ISBN Extraordinary idea.Great information to boot.

Patty said...

Very interesting. I knew we used an ISBN but never knew the history of it.

Daryl said...

Interesting!

Alan said...

Maybe not the most interesting post for non-bibliophiles, but I found it enlightening... or is it I-nlightening today? Either / Iether way. :)

Silly Goose said...

Not boring at all! But then I like books, ;-))

Unknown said...

Very good "I" post.

Andrea said...

First ISBN post I have seen today. I think something different makes a more interesting post.

ellen b. said...

Well I think this is a perfect I post for someone like you who loves books!! Interesting Information...

Merisi said...

A wonderful post, I wouldn't have thought of the ISBN number in this context even though I am a bookoholic!

Thank you, Jan, for your kind comment on my blog!

Dragonstar said...

Interesting and very Informative post! Quite fascinating, actually.

mrsnesbitt said...

so many of us seem to have worked in libraries! LOL!

Janet said...

I used to sell books online so ISBN is very impoortant to me. This is an original post and great idea for I.

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