Do I need a new ISBN when I am reprinting a book with a new title? 

Yes, a new title requires a new ISBN.

I am taking over another firm, which already has an ISBN registrant element. All future books

will be published under my name. Can I renumber all the other firm s titles?

When the publications are reprinted under your own imprint thus carrying your own name

,

you may assign new ISBNs from your own registrant element. 

What information should be included in the metadata element ?

It is the responsibility of publishers to inform their group agency, or the organisation

responsible for the maintenance of publication registration, of the ISBNs that will be

assigned to forthcoming publications. The data element  refers to the name of

the entity associated with the publishing of a publication 

 for example, Reed International

Books. It is a mandatory element in each occurrence of the  composite and is

non repeating. The length of the field is variable, but there is a suggested maximum length

of 100 characters. Although the element stipulates only that the name of the publisher is

included within the metadata, it is the responsibility of all agencies to maintain up to date

publisher addresses and other contact details for their own records. 

What information should be included in the metadata element ?

This element holds the date of first publication of the publication in the country of

publication (that is, under the current ISBN, as distinct from the date of first publication of

the work). Although the date should be given as accurately as possible, for advance

notifications the month and year are sufficient, and for backlist publications the year of

publication is sufficient. This is a mandatory element and the following formats are

allowable: 

4 digits (YYYY)

6 digits (YYYYMM)

8 digits (YYYYMMDD)

If the date is being supplied by the publisher in advance of publication, then this will be an

expected date, which should be replaced by the actual date of publication once known. It

is not anticipated that all local agencies will want to receive advance information, but

where they do choose to do so then this element should be updated with the correct data

at the time of publication. 

I am not a publisher 

 can I still obtain an ISBN?

Yes. For our purposes, a publisher is the group, organisation, company, or individual who

is responsible for originating the production of a publication. It is also the person or body

who bears the cost/financial risk in making a product available 

 it is not normally the

printer.

Please remember that in a number of countries there is detailed legislation regarding

publishing.

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