eBooks, News February 28, 2010

ISBN’s For Every eBook! What Does That Mean?

Teleread reported over the weekend that the International ISBN Agency has confirmed each version of an ebook should be assigned what’s called an ISBN, or specific set of numbers to identify it in inventory systems. There has been some confusion about this, as publishers didn’t want to have to apply for ISBNs for each type of ebook; the agency has confirmed that each file type needs a different number, so ePUB, mobi, PDB, etc will continue to receive their own special ISBNs. But what’s an ISBN, and why is this news?

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It basically creates a universal inventory number that libraries, bookstores, and consumers can use to find books or track the versions they own. When I was at Borders, for example, someone from the Barnes and Noble next door could call us with an ISBN and ask on behalf of a customer if we had a book in stock where they did not, all using the ISBN. It takes the guesswork out of getting the title and author correct, and in the case of very specific translations or versions of books, insures customers receive the correct edition. Every book you buy through a retailer has an ISBN, usually located below the bar code on the back of the book.

eBooks are a little different. There’s no bar code to scan, and most people are searching for ebooks by store and title. But it still alleviates confusion and makes tracking easier to assign a unique ISBN to each file type. Interestingly, according to Teleread’s commenters, bookstores that bundle multiformat versions together (Fictionwise and Baen, for example) can use the same ISBN for all versions. So publishers who are mad about being required to pay for ISBNs for each version should look at DRM-free multiformat bundling, or push for a universal format!

Have ISBN rules confused you? Is this just making the ebook world more confused and shattered? Will iBooks use an i-ISBN? Share your thoughts below!

Tags: Books and eBooks

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About Carly Z

View all posts by Carly Z

Carly has been a gadget fiend for a long time, going back to her first PDA (a Palm M100). She quickly went from researching what PDA to buy to following tech news closely and keeping up with the latest and greatest stuff. She loves writing about ebooks because they combine her two favorite activities; reading anything and everything, and talking about fun new tech toys. What could be better?

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dbmurray

You’ve clearly outlined the advantages to having ISBNs on physical books. It’s certainly not going to bother the consumer if book sellers continue to use the de facto standard of codes THEY adopted in the first place. Bring on the ISBNs. Most consumers don’t pay much attention to ISBNs, but those that do can appreciate having a unique code they can quickly refer to and make sure they have the same edition.

And yes, if booksellers years ago could agree on one format of code to place on their physical books, they ought to be able to agree on a standard eBook format. Were it not for DRM, they’d probably have settled this by now…either by making the decision for us or by allowing the market to determine the winner.

The Kindle leads the way…but it is proprietary to Amazon, so the Kindle format can’t work for B&N. Instead of posing an open solution, B&N comes up with their own format. It’s too bad, because the market as a whole would grow a lot faster for publishers if they could only agree. As a consumer, I should be able to buy an eBook from any publisher and play it on any eBook reading device just as I do now with my music. If book publishers can’t agree to use ISBNs, I don’t hold much hope for them ever agreeing on using a standard and/or non-DRM format.
http://www.geardiary.com Carly Z

To be fair, I don’t hold out much hope either for any universal DRM system. But I try to be optimistic.
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