ISSN and You:
Using ISSN SuperNumber in the
Digital Environment
ALCTS Webinar Nov. 9, 2011
Regina Romano Reynolds
Director, U.S. ISSN Center
Library of Congress
Hosted by ALCTS, The Association for
Library Collections and Technical Services
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Hidden Power
Here I am again!
Things
to
know
about
It’s about identification
TIME
ISSN 0040-781X
E-commerce
Online
Access
Archives
Identification
in the Digital
Environment
E-Resource
Management
Systems
File
Matching
De-duping
Linked
Data
It’s about linking
12
Open URL
The Linking ISSN
(ISSN-L)
ISSN-L 0251-1479
It’s about interoperability
EAN
Open URL
DOI
13
It’s about collaboration
It’s about the future
especially the
the Linked Data environment
ISSN…
up close
and
personal
ISSN Definition
Eight digit number, including a
check digit and preceded by the
alphabetic prefix ISSN, assigned
to a continuing resource by the
ISSN Network
ISO 3297
Anatomy of an ISSN
ISSN 0040-781X = Time (Print)
ISSN is a “dumb” –no inherent
meaning (unlike ISBN)
 Last digit = “check digit” to guard
against transcription errors
 Check digit can be “X”
 ISSN blocks allocated to centers by
ISSN IC

ISSN identifies:
Current titles
 Ceased titles
 Titles in all media
 Serials
 Ongoing integrating resources
 Titles delivered on mobile devices

ISSN is Not
Copyright
USPS
permit
tm.
CIP
20
BIPAD
(UPC)
LC Control #
ISBN
(Bowker)
DOI
Knowledge bases
Publishers
Digitizers
Postal
services
Bar
coding
Libraries
Archives
Subscription
Agencies
ISSN
Uses/
Users
Union
Catalogs
Magazine
Distributors
ISSN and ISBN
in the U.S.
ISSN

How Does an
ISSN
differ from
an ISBN?



assigned individually
by ISSN Centers
central ISSN Register
metadata follows ISBD
ISBN




allocated to publishers
publishers assign
individual ISBN
no central ISBN
registry
metadata not based on
library rules
ISSN Granularity
Print version
CD Version
ISSN 1234-5678
ISSN 4321-8765
Online version
ISSN 8765-4321
24
25
Medium-Specific ISSN
ISSN
ISSN
Medium-Neutral ISSN
ISSN-L
When Do ISSN Change?
New ISSN
Major change in
title
 Change in format
(print ceases, online
begins)

No New ISSN
Change of
publisher
 Change of country
 Number begins
again with “1”
 Minor change in
title

26
Where do ISSN come from?
Modified Microsoft image collection photo
World Map of ISSN Centers
28
ISSN
IC, Paris
U.S. ISSN Center
began in 1972
ISSN Center Responsibilities*




Assign ISSN to nation’s
continuing resources
Provide timely services
to publishers and other
users
Build and maintain
national register of
ISSN metadata
Contribute metadata to
the ISSN Register (IC)





Cooperate with ISSN
Network to assign ISSN
and linking ISSN
Adhere to ISSN policies,
procedures
Communicate with
publishers about ISSN
Promote use of ISSN
Assist development of
ISSN system & standards
*As listed in ISO 3297 Appendix
www/loc.gov/issn
US ISSN Center Relationships
other publishers
ISSN
ISSN
centers
IC
LC
CONSER USPS
libraries
ProQuest
ISSN in the Digital
Environment
33
Photo: lucyndskywdmnds***
34
The Linking ISSN
(ISSN-L)
ISSN-L 0251-1479
The Linking ISSN (ISSN-L)



Mechanism that provides for
collocation or linking among the
different media versions of the same
continuing resource
The first ISSN assigned to any
version
New subfields in field 022

$l
[linking ISSN]

$m [cancelled linking ISSN]
ISSN-L
Print version
CD Version
ISSN 1234-5678
ISSN-L 1234-5678
ISSN 4321-8765
ISSN-L 1234-5678
Online version
ISSN 8765-4321
ISSN-L 1234-5678
36
ISSN-L
ISSN of
other
Medium
versions
http://content.apa.org/journals/0022-3514/86/6/796
www.issn.org
40
Free ISSN-L Tables*
ISSN
ISSN-L
0021-8464
1563-5184
1026-5414
0021-8464
0021-8464
0021-8464
41
ISSN-L
ISSN
ISSN
ISSN
…
0021-8464
0021-8464
1563-5184
1026-5414
…
* “artist’s conception”
ISSN-L in WorldCat
American journal of agricultural
Economics (Online)
ISSN-L Use by National Library of Medicine
Print ISSN and Linking ISSN
Included in Medline citation
All relevant ISSN including
Linking ISSN
The Keepers Registry
TEST
Linking ISSN
Interoperability
ISSN and other Identifiers
 OpenURL
 http://…&rft.issnl=0028-0826&
 DOI
 doi:10.1038/issnl.0028-0826
 EAN

Part of EAN bar codes
47
ISSN and Bar Codes
UPC code


U.S. use (the “supermarket bar code)
Does not include ISSN
EAN-13
International
Used in some U.S. bookstores, e.g.,
Borders
 Includes ISSN


SISAC bar code


Used in the library community
Includes ISSN
EAN for a French serial
49
ISSN Portal
Products
& Services
ISSN Data Files
OAI-PMH
Web
Service
THE ISSN REGISTER
Almost 1.6 million ISSN
and records as of
May 2011
OAI-PMH




New subscription web service
Allows external applications to regularly
and automatically gather metadata
Daily, weekly, monthly, etc. updates
Could allow for regular knowledgebase
updates with selected information
52
Collaboration
53
Connecting Users to Content:
things publishers should avoid:
Photo: Hennepin
County Library
54
“Hiding” articles published under former journal
names under the current name of the journal
Photo: “Poems of a selfish record player”
55
Inaccurate Citations
Displaying or citing an article
under the current title of the
journal
56
Using
incorrect
ISSN
Ignoring Title Changes
59
http://www.niso.org/workrooms/piej
ISSN
and
Archiving
Photo: OZinOH
Emerging Use: Archiving
Can provide identifiers for digitized
versions of long-dead serials
 Enables identification of print serials
for off-site storage
 Inquiries from a CRL print project
 Discussions about ISSN for
HathiTrust titles

New ISSN Policy for
digital reproductions
All remotely-accessed
digital versions of the same
work
will share the same
“e-ISSN”
All e-versions
ISSN 7878-7879
Print Version
ISSN 1234-567X
Current e-version
HATHI Trust version
iPad Version
*change from current practice
i
Smart Phone version
JSTOR* back file
Keepers Registry
ISSN-L
Library of
Congress
e-Deposit
Project
Photo: Reynolds
“Key match point…enabling future
automated matching of material
sent with material expected”
Ted Westervelt
ABA e-Deposit project manager
ISSN: reaching back into the past…
stretching out into the future…
Photo: Reynolds
Any sufficiently advanced
technology is indistinguishable
from magic.
Arthur C. Clarke
For further information

US ISSN Center

ISSN International Centre
www.loc.gov/issn
www.issn.org

NISO PIE-J Working Group
http://www.niso.org/workrooms/piej

The Keepers Registry
http://www.thekeepers.org
Thank you!
rrey@loc.gov
Hosted by ALCTS, The Association for
Library Collections and Technical Services