Standards Compliance
ISBN-13
It has been generally accepted in the publishing industry that there is a need to extend the number of available ISBNs. This change will affect many of the systems and processes used by publishing companies, as well as the interfaces between these systems and the book trade supply chain.
By January 1, 2005—the “2005 Sunrise” date—general US retailers should have been able to read, process, and store both 12-digit and 13-digit EAN/UPC product identifiers. On January 1, 2007 the International ISBN Agencies will begin to issue only ISBN-13s.
The 13-digit solution was adopted because books already carry both the 10-digit ISBN and its 13-digit equivalent known as the Bookland EAN in the barcode. The 13-digit solution also enables the ISBN system to make use of a new 979 EAN prefix, which was reserved for the future use of the book trade within the EAN system.
Another factor is that the Uniform Code Council is migrating the U.S. system of 12-digit UPC barcodes to the EAN.UCC standard 13-digit format. This will align the ISBN system for books with all other product numbering, making trade with non-book retailers much easier.
VISTA’s approach to product identifiers allows for multiple keys to be established on products, coupled with an ability to choose which key should be the primary identifier. One of the primary benefits to this approach is that customers will not need to convert existing and historical data in order to take advantage of new identifiers. New customers will be able to take advantage of multiple keys such as EAN, UPC and ISBN-13 upon implementation.
For more information about how VISTA is managing the transition to ISBN-13, click here. Current VISTA customers can find detailed information on the VISTA customer website at www.vistacomp.com/user_group.
Comprehensive information and FAQs can be found at the International ISBN Agency website at http://www.isbn-international.org, which includes links to ISO Committee ISO/TC 46/SC 9/Working Group 4, responsible for developing the 13-digit standard.
More information about the EAN.UCC system is available on the EAN International Web site: http://www.ean-int.org.
For information about the ISBN-13 transition in North America, visit the BISG website at www.bisg.org.
For information about the ISBN-13 transition in the UK and Europe, visit the BIC website at www.bic.org.uk.
For more information on VISTA's ISBN-13 Compliance Solutions, email solutions@vistacomp.com.
