ISBN

The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is an alphanumeric code that identifies a book edition. It's assigned by an international agency.

Each ISBN consists of 5 elements with each section being separated by spaces or hyphens:

978 oppure 979: prefix; these two prefixes are used only for books 
Registration group element:  up to 5 digits, this identifies the particular country, geographical region, or language area; 
Registrant element: identifies the publisher; 
Publication element: identifies the specific edition of the book
Check digit

Example

Bastianon, Stefano. L’Europa e lo Sport: profili giuridici, economici e sociali : vent’anni della sentenza Bosman 1995-2015 : atti del V Convegno, Dipartimento di giurisprudenza, Università degli studi di Bergamo, 20 novembre 2015. G. Giappichelli, 2016. ISBN 978-88-921-0463-1

978 : prefix

88: italian registration group element

921: registrant element for Giappichelli publisher

0463: publication element, that identifies this book, print edition

1: check digit

The ISBN is essentially a product identifier used by booksellers for the book trade, therefore print editions, electronic editions, hardback editions and paperback editions have different numbers, because they can have different prices. 

The ISBN code started in 1967, but its diffusion was slow, therefore books pulished before the Seventies don't usually have it. Till 2006, ISBNs had 10 digits, then starting with January 2007 the 978-979 prefix was added and the digits became 13. 

A publisher must pay to buy an ISBN and it's not mandatory to have it, therefore books published by smaller publishers or by publishers in Third World countries sometimes don't have it.

lente d'ingrandimentoIn depht: The International ISBN agency web site

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