ISBNs, Barcodes and Product identification
Bar Coding
All inventory should be bar-coded with the industry standard ISBN barcode on the back cover. The “Bookland” EAN barcode is recommended for any publishers selling to bookstores or other retail operations. For over 30 years general retailers have used machine-readable barcodes as a critically important tool at the point of sale. Publishers not using ISBNs for their products should use consistent coding systems for their products; every product should have a unique number. This information should also appear in barcode format on the back cover of the product. Publishers Storage and Shipping Corp. extensively uses barcodes in its quality control systems and other processes to increase efficiency.
ISBN
The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) www.isbn.org is a unique 10-digit number that identifies one title or edition of a title from one specific publisher and is unique to that edition. As the official ISBN Agency for the United States, Bowker is responsible for the assignment of the ISBN Publisher Prefix to those publishers with a residence or office in the U.S. who are publishing their titles within the U.S.
It must be stressed that ISBNs need to be used for every component in a publishers product line. For example a CD that accompanies a book should have a separate ISBN number as well as supplemental items that might accompany a main volume, an instructors manual for instance. Publishers should resist the urge to “conserve” their ISBNs by not assigning an ISBN to a unique product or even worse using the same ISBN on different products that may be related but warehoused as separate items. These processes can lead to much confusion in a warehouse and to possible mis-shipments.
ISBN-13: The 2005 Sunrise and Beyond
On January 1, 2005 the book industry began adopting the use of a 13-digit ISBN. This change aligns the ISBN identifier with other worldwide product numbering systems, helping promote an efficient global supply chain structure. http://www.bisg.org/isbn-13/ISBN13_For_Dummies.pdf
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