Future Changes to the ISBN
979-prefixed ISBNs to appear during 2009
The International ISBN Agency has advised that ISBNs with a prefix of 979 are likely to start being assigned during 2009.
Up till now, 13-digit ISBNs have all carried the 978 prefix, allowing systems to carry both 10 and 13-digit ISBNs. Once the 979 prefix is introduced there can be no 10-digit equivalent as this could lead to duplication of numbers. It is therefore essential that book trade and library systems are prepared to process the full 13-digit number.
Both country prefixes and publisher prefixes will change in the 979-prefixed range of numbers as the system is being fine-tuned to avoid wastage of numbers. There will also be a move to national prefixes rather than the language-based group prefixes on which the system was based when it was thought out in the late 1960s.
The move to 13-digit ISBNs has been relatively painless with most publishers and distributors operating dual systems during the changeover period. The arrival of 979-prefixed ISBNs means that everyone involved in the book supply chain, including publishers, distributors, booksellers and libraries, will have to make certain that their systems can deal with the full 13-digit ISBN.
For further information, contact Brian Green at the International ISBN Agency
or email: brian@isbn-international.org
