Talk:ISBN

Update Registrant element section

The section "Registrant element" states, in the second paragraph that a listing of publisher codes can be ordered in book form, and that ISBN's website doesn't offer the ability to search for publisher codes. I believe this is outdated an needs updating, as I am unable to find a place to purchase a book of publisher codes but I am able to search for publishers at https://grp.isbn-international.org/ RosierFox (talk) 23:18, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

Done. Jameel the Saluki (talk) 07:02, 15 November 2022 (UTC)

1970?

I have books from the 1950's with ISBNs in them. So 1970 cannot be right. 79.106.209.200 (talk) 09:26, 28 December 2022 (UTC)

Are you sure that they were printed in the 1950's, rather than a reprint of a 1950's edition? Can you give an example with title and ISBN. Jameel the Saluki (talk) 10:27, 28 December 2022 (UTC)

ISBN suffix?

Was there at some time a system of suffixes for (I)SBNs? The 1975 printing of L. Sprague de Camp's Lost Continents says "SBN 345-24379-X-195" (see https://archive.org/details/lostcontinentsat00deca/page/n5). Obviously first nine digits are the SBN, but what about the "-195"? (Maybe it indicates the original publisher of the first edition?) Web searches haven't turned up anything. KarenSutherland (talk) 07:10, 7 April 2023 (UTC)

@KarenSutherland bit of a belated reply, but there's a note on this under 'History' - it was occasionally used to indicate the price, in this case presumably $1.95. Andrew Gray (talk) 10:50, 22 September 2023 (UTC)

If it was a SBN, it wouldn't be dollars - SBNs were British. Pounds is much more likely. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 11:03, 23 September 2023 (UTC)

@Redrose64 I had thought that initially, but Ballantine who were mentioned in the text (& also published the linked edition) were American. Turns out if you look closely at the front cover it has a listed price of $1.95 in the top left.

Why Ballantine decided to keep printing nine-digit SBNs rather than ISBNs is a bit beyond me, but it does seem to have been the case. Andrew Gray (talk) 23:21, 23 September 2023 (UTC)

Discussion notice

Interested editors are invited to look at WT:ISBN#Hyphens in ISBNs. – S. Rich (talk) 02:27, 16 April 2023 (UTC)

A link to an ISBN look-up site in External Link section

Would it be too terrible to add an example link to an ISBN look-up site in the External Link section? I would have added one but there is a big warning message not to. I realise that a number of similar links is not desired, maybe just one as an example would serve to show that such look-up sites exist and also to point the poor user in the direction of one. https://www.isbnsearcher.com/ for example seems reasonably generic — Preceding unsigned comment added by 1dragon (talk • contribs) 11:22, 8 May 2023 (UTC)

@1dragon: The warning was added because people kept on adding their own favourite sites, it was turning into a WP:LINKFARM. We already have Book sources search in the See also section, which should be quite sufficient. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 09:10, 9 May 2023 (UTC)

Thanks RedRose64, I understand and concur :) 1dragon (talk) 12:30, 19 May 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 10 May 2023

Please restore the -10 and -13 suffixes where needed for clarity (mainly in the Check Digits section). Currently, the headings in that section read:

• ISBN check digits
• ISBN check digit calculation
• ISBN check digit calculation
• ISBN to ISBN conversion

They should read:

• ISBN-10 check digits
• ISBN-10 check digit calculation
• ISBN-13 check digit calculation
• ISBN-10 to ISBN-13 conversion

Also, the sentence "An ISBN is converted to ISBN by prepending "978" to the ISBN and recalculating the final checksum digit using the ISBN algorithm." should read "An ISBN-10 is converted to ISBN-13 by prepending "978" to the ISBN and recalculating the final checksum digit using the ISBN algorithm." 68.126.194.102 (talk) 00:30, 10 May 2023 (UTC)

 Done. Previous version was highly confusing. GrindtXX (talk) 11:28, 10 May 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 21 May 2023

Requesting addition of information to this page in section: Overview, under: Issuing process, entering information: Argentina - ISBN AR since 1982 administered by Cámara Argentina del Libro ISBN ArgentinaWYMORE2010 (talk) 13:33, 21 May 2023 (UTC)

 Not done: The article notes that A full directory of ISBN agencies is available on the International ISBN Agency website. A list for a few countries is given below (emphasis added). The article does not include an exhaustive list and there's no compelling reason to add Argentina. voorts (talk/contributions) 20:16, 21 May 2023 (UTC)