As per Relevance of the word national, we have this rfc below:
Network Working Group J.
Request for Comments: 3187 Helsinki University
Category: Informational H.
The International ISBN
October 2001
Using International Standard Book Numbers
Uniform Resource
Status of this
This memo provides information for the Internet community. It
not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of
memo is unlimited
Copyright
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001). All Rights Reserved
This document discusses how International Standard Book
(ISBN) can be supported within the URN (Uniform Resource Names
framework and the syntax for URNs defined in RFC 2141. Much of
discussion below is based on the ideas expressed in RFC 2288.
1.
As part of the validation process for the development of URNs,
IETF URN working group agreed that it is important to
that the current URN syntax proposal can accommodate
identifiers from well established namespaces. One
infrastructure for assigning and managing names comes from
bibliographic community. Bibliographic identifiers function as
for objects that exist both in print and, increasingly, in
formats. RFC 2288 [Lynch, et al.] investigated the feasibility
using three identifiers (ISBN, ISSN and SICI) as URNs. This
will analyse the usage of ISBNs as URNs in more detail than RFC 2288.
A registration request for acquiring Namespace Identifier (NID
"ISBN" for ISBNs is included in chapter 5.
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RFC 3187 Using ISBNs as URNs October 2001
The document at hand is part of a global joint venture of
national libraries to foster identification of electronic
in general and utilisation of URNs in particular. The document
written as a co-operative project between the Helsinki
Library and The International ISBN Agency
We have used the URN Namespace Identifier "ISBN" for ISBNs
examples below
2. Identification vs.
As a rule the ISBNs identify finite, manageably-sized objects,
these objects may still be large enough that resolution into
hierarchical system is appropriate
The materials identified by an ISBN may exist only in printed
other physical form, not electronically. The best that a
will be able to offer in this case is bibliographic data from
national bibliography database, including information about where
physical resource is stored in the national library's holdings
3. International Standard Book
3.1
RFC 2288 [Lynch] describes the ISBN system in the following way
An International Standard Book Number (ISBN) identifies an
of a monographic work. The ISBN is defined by the
NISO/ANSI/ISO 2108:1992 [ISO1]
Basically, an ISBN is a ten-digit number (actually, the last
can be the letter "X" as well, as described below) which
divided into four variable length parts usually separated
hyphens when printed. The parts are as follows (in this order):
* a group identifier which specifies a group of publishers,
on national, geographic or some other criteria
* the publisher identifier
* the title identifier
* and a modulus 11 check digit, using X instead of 10.
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RFC 3187 Using ISBNs as URNs October 2001
The group and publisher number assignments are managed in such
way that the hyphens are not needed to parse the
unambiguously into its constituent parts. However, the ISBN
normally transmitted and displayed with hyphens to make it
for human beings to recognize these parts without having to
reference to or have knowledge of the number assignments for
and publisher identifiers
Groups usually cover only one country, but occasionally a
group is used in several countries. For instance, group "3"
utilised in Germany, Austria and German-speaking parts
Switzerland. "976" is used in Caribbean community (Antigua, Bahamas
Barbados, Belize, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica
Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and
Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Virgin Islands (Br))and "982"
South Pacific (Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru
Niue, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu; Vanuatu,
Samoa). For each international group, the International ISBN
has assigned ranges of publisher identifiers to individual countries
These ranges are listed on the ISBN web site (http://www.isbn.spk
berlin.de/html/prefix.htm). The group identifiers are listed
http://www.isbn.spk-berlin.de/html/prefix/allpref.htm
There are plans to extend the ISBN into 13 digits in order to
the system more suitable for identification of electronic monographs
So called Bookland ISBN will consist of a traditional ISBN
by the 978 or 979 EAN flag
3.2 Encoding Considerations and Lexical
RFC 2288 [Lynch] says that
Embedding ISBNs within the URN framework presents no
encoding problems, since all of the characters that can appear
an ISBN are valid in the identifier segment of the URN. %-
encoding, as described in [MOATS] is never needed
Example: URN:ISBN:0-395-36341-1
For the ISBN namespace, some additional equivalence rules
appropriate. Prior to comparing two ISBN URNs for equivalence,
is appropriate to remove all hyphens, and to convert
occurrences of the letter X to upper case
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RFC 3187 Using ISBNs as URNs October 2001
3.3 Resolution of ISBN-based
The existing ISBN structure is suitable for URN resolution purposes
The group identifier can assist in the resolver discovery process
For instance, the group identifier "951" means Finland. In
case, the Finnish national bibliographic database will be able
resolve the URN either into bibliographic data or - if the
is available in the Internet - to the document itself
If a group identifier does not identify a single country but
language area, there are two means for locating the correct
bibliography. First, it is possible to define a cascade of
resolution services - for instance, German national bibliography
Austrian national bibliography and Swiss national bibliography,
this order - into the DNS records describing the resolution
for ISBNs starting with "3". Second, the publisher identifier
assigned by the International ISBN Agency could be defined into
DNS records. This method is better than cascading, since the
resolution service can be found immediately
In some exceptional cases - notably in the US and in UK,
international companies do a significant portion of publishing -
information provided by the group identifier may not always be
reliable. For instance, some monographs published in New York
international publishing companies may get an ISBN with the
identifier "3". This is technically appropriate when
headquarters or one of the offices of the publisher is located
Germany
Information about such a book will not be available in the
national bibliography, but via the Library of Congress systems
Unfortunately, the appropriate national bibliography cannot be
to the resolver discovery service
As a fall back mechanism a large union catalogue, such as
maintained by OCLC (http://www.oclc.org ) could be used to
the default services provided by national bibliographies
The problem described above may well be less severe than it looks
Some international publishers (Springer, for example) give the
production to the national library of their home country as
deposit, no matter which country the book was published.
everything published by Springer in New York with group
"3" will be found from the German national bibliography. On
other hand, when these companies give their home base also as a
of publication, the "home" national library requires the
deposit
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RFC 3187 Using ISBNs as URNs October 2001
Due to the intelligent structure of ISBN, group identifier or
the publisher identifier can be used as a "hint". Technically, it
possible to incorporate into the common structure also URN
services maintained by publishers. For instance, "951-0" is
unique ISBN publisher identifier of the largest publisher in Finland
Sanoma-WSOY. If they launch their own URN resolution services
resolution requests for ISBNs starting with "951-0" will be
to the publisher's server, and all other requests to the
bibliography
3.4 Additional
The basic guidelines for assigning ISBNs to electronic resources
the following
* Format/means of delivery is irrelevant to the decision whether
product needs an ISBN or not. If the content meets
requirement, it gets an ISBN, no matter what the format of
delivery system
* Each format of a digital publication should have a separate ISBN
The definition of a new edition is normally based on one of the
criteria
* A change in the kind of packaging involved: the hard
edition, the paperback edition and the library-binding
would each get a separate ISBN. The same applies to
formats of digital files
* A change in the text, excluding packaging or minor changes such
correcting a spelling error. Again, this criterion
regardless of whether the publication is in printed or in
form
Although these rules seem very clear, their interpretation may vary
As [Lynch] points out
The choice of whether to assign a new ISBN or to reuse an
one when publishing a revised printing of an existing edition of
work or even a revised edition of a work is somewhat subjective
Practice varies from publisher to publisher (indeed,
distinction between a revised printing and a new edition is
somewhat subjective). The use of ISBNs within the URN
simply reflects these existing practices. Note that it is
that an ISBN URN will often resolve to many instances of the
(many URLs).
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RFC 3187 Using ISBNs as URNs October 2001
Publishers have also in some occasions re-used the same ISBN
another book. This reasonably rare kind of human error does
threaten or undermine the value of the ISBN system as a whole
Neither do they pose a serious threat to the URN resolution
based on ISBNs. An error will only lead into the retrieval of two
more bibliographic records from a national bibliographic database
Based on the information in the records, a user can choose
correct record from the result set
Most national bibliographies and especially the Books in
correct ISBN mistakes. The systems then provide cross
("incorrect ISBN -> correct ISBN").
Further details on the process of assigning ISBNs can be found
section 5 (Namespace registration) below
4. Security
This document proposes means of encoding ISBNs within the
framework. ISBN-based URN resolution service is depicted here only
a fairly generic level; thus questions of secure or
resolution mechanisms are excluded. It does not deal with means
validating the integrity or authenticating the source or
of URNs that contain ISBNs. Issues regarding intellectual
rights associated with objects identified by the ISBNs are
beyond the scope of this document, as are questions about rights
the databases that might be used to construct resolvers
5. Namespace
URN Namespace ID Registration for the International Standard
Number (ISBN
This registration describes how International Standard Book
(ISBN) can be supported within the URN framework
Namespace ID
This Namespace ID is the same as the internationally known
for the International Standard Book Number. Giving NID "ISBN" to
other identifier system would cause a lot of confusion
Registration Information
Version: 1
Date: 2001-01-25
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RFC 3187 Using ISBNs as URNs October 2001
Declared registrant of the namespace
Name: Hartmut
E-mail: hartmut.walravens@sbb.spk-berlin.
Affiliation: Director, The International ISBN
Address: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz -
D-10772 Berlin,
Declaration of syntactic structure
An ISBN is a ten-digit number (actually, the last digit can be
letter "X" as well, as described below) which is divided into
variable length parts usually separated by hyphens when printed.
parts are as follows (in this order):
* a group identifier which specifies a group of publishers, based
national, geographic or some other criteria
* the publisher identifier
* the title identifier
* and a modulus 11 check digit, using X instead of 10.
Example
URN:ISBN:0-395-36341-1
Relevant ancillary documentation
The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is a unique machine
readable identification number, which marks any edition of a
unambiguously. This number is defined in ISO Standard 2108.
number has been in use now for 30 years and has revolutionised
international book-trade. 154 countries are officially ISBN members
and more countries are joining the system
The administration of the ISBN system is carried out on three levels
International
Group
Publisher
The International ISBN agency is located within the State
Berlin. The main functions of the International ISBN Agency are
* To promote, co-ordinate and supervise the world-wide use of
ISBN system
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RFC 3187 Using ISBNs as URNs October 2001
* To approve the definition and structure of group agencies
* To allocate group identifiers to group agencies
* To advise on the establishment and functioning of group agencies
* To advise group agencies on the allocation of
publisher identifiers
* To publish the assigned group numbers and publishers prefixes
up-to-date form
More information about ISBN usage can be found from the ISBN Users
Manual. 4th edition of this document is available
http://www.isbn.spk-berlin.de/html/userman.htm
Identifier uniqueness considerations
ISBN that has been assigned once should never be re-used
Nevertheless, publishers do occasionally re-use the same number
From the point of the URN resolution system proposed here, this
typically cause retrieval of two bibliographic records. A user
choose the correct publication using the data in the record, such
the author or title
Incorrect ISBNs are routinely corrected in national
and Books in Print catalogue
Identifier persistence considerations
The ISBN accompanies a publication from its production onwards.
is persistent; ISBN once given - if correct - will never leave
publication
Identifier assignment process
Assignment of ISBNs is always controlled by ISBN group agencies
which are often national and quite frequently located in the
libraries. Publishers are usually given blocks of ISBNs, from
they pick identifiers for their newly published items
As pointed out earlier, in spite of the common rules of how to
ISBNs, there is some variation between different publishers in
assignment. In practice these differences are so small that they
not pose a threat to the usability of the ISBN system
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RFC 3187 Using ISBNs as URNs October 2001
Identifier resolution process
URNs based on ISBNs will be primarily resolved via the
bibliography databases. Since ISBN group agencies are as a
located in national libraries, the national bibliography
cover almost every publication which does have an ISBN
If group identifier does not define a country but a language
there may be many countries using the same group identifier. In
cases, the International ISBN Agency has divided
identifiers into ranges assigned to each country within the group
The appropriate resolution service can be found by using the
identifier and publisher identifier information. Alternatively
cascade of national bibliographies can be defined
Resolution carried out in national bibliography databases may
complemented by so called union catalogues, which contain huge
of bibliographic data (up to 42 million records). This
service is only needed if the ISBN group identifier information
misleading. This is not common
The International ISBN Agency maintains a list of publishers who
been assigned a publisher identifier within the ISBN system.
publisher identifier may be used to allow participation of
services maintained by publishers into the URN resolution system
ISBN
Rules for Lexical Equivalence
For the ISBN namespace, some additional equivalence rules
appropriate. Prior to comparing two ISBN URNs for equivalence, it
appropriate to remove all hyphens, and to convert any occurrences
the letter X to upper case
Conformance with URN Syntax
Embedding ISBNs within the URN framework presents no
encoding problems, since all of the characters that can appear in
ISBN are valid in the identifier segment of the URN %-encoding,
described in [MOATS] is never needed
Example: URN:ISBN:0-395-36341-1
Validation mechanism
Validity of an ISBN string can be checked by modulus 11 check digit
included in the ISBN. X is used instead of 10.
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Validity of ISBN assignments can be checked from the group
or directly from the publisher
Scope
Global
6.
[Daigle] Daigle, L., van Gulik, D., Iannella, R. and P. Faltstrom
"URN Namespace Definition Mechanisms", RFC 2611, June 1999.
[Lynch] Lynch, C., Preston, C. and R. Daniel, "Using
Bibliographic Identifiers as Uniform Resource Names",
2288, February 1998.
[Moats] Moats, R., "URN Syntax", RFC 2141, May 1997.
7. Authors'
Juha
Helsinki University Library - The National Library of
P.O. Box 26
FIN-00014 Helsinki
EMail: juha.hakala@helsinki.
Hartmut
The International ISBN
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz -
D-10772
EMail: hartmut.walravens@sbb.spk-berlin.
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8. Full Copyright
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001). All Rights Reserved
This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished
others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain
or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied,
and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of
kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph
included on all such copies and derivative works. However,
document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by
the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or
Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose
developing Internet standards in which case the procedures
copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must
followed, or as required to translate it into languages other
English
The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not
revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns
This document and the information contained herein is provided on
"AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE
HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by
Internet Society
Hakala & Walravens Informational [Page 11]
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