According to my experience, they aren't. Elaine is right about how publishers reuse them for different editions of the same title, and how often children's titles are assigned the same number as another book. We've seen it when book cover images, based on ISBN, are mismatched to the bib record in the online catalog. As a single identifier, the ISBN is not 100% reliable.
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Cassondra Vick Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2012 1:18 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] ***SPAM*** Importing from ISBN According to my research, ISBNs are unique. http://www.isbn.org/standards/home/isbn/us/major.asp Cassondra L Vick -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2012 2:09 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Open-ils-general Digest, Vol 76, Issue 17 Send Open-ils-general mailing list submissions to [email protected] To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://libmail.georgialibraries.org/mailman/listinfo/open-ils-general or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to [email protected] You can reach the person managing the list at [email protected] When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Open-ils-general digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: Importing from ISBN (Hardy, Elaine) 2. ***SPAM*** Re: Importing from ISBN (Andrew Morton) 3. Unique bar codes - FYI (Nancy Grant) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2012 13:48:49 -0400 (EDT) From: "Hardy, Elaine" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Importing from ISBN To: "'Evergreen Discussion Group'" <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" And since added content vendors rely solely on ISBNs, we often have to request corrections to which title that added content is applied to Elaine ________________________________ J. Elaine Hardy PINES Bibliographic Projects & Metadata Manager Georgia Public Library Service 1800 Century Place, Ste 150 Atlanta, Ga. 30345-4304 404.235-7128 404.235-7201, fax [email protected] www.georgialibraries.org www.georgialibraries.org/pines -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jason Etheridge Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2012 1:22 PM To: Evergreen Discussion Group Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] ***SPAM*** Re: Importing from ISBN On Thu, Oct 11, 2012 at 1:19 PM, Andrew Morton <[email protected]> wrote: > So are you saying that there is no unique way to identify a publication? > Sort of seems like isbn is useless if that is the case.... It's useful enough for the purpose that "added content" vendors rely on it for providing libraries reviews, jacket images, etc. It's just not perfect by a longshot, and if you're using them as item barcodes, you'll probably hit more complications down the road. -- Jason ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2012 18:49:58 +0100 From: Andrew Morton <[email protected]> Subject: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] ***SPAM*** Re: Importing from ISBN To: Evergreen Discussion Group <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="cp932" Thanks Elaine! This has been an eye opening exercise into the world of book and library information systems! Many thanks Andrew On 11 Oct 2012, at 18:47, "Hardy, Elaine" <[email protected]> wrote: > There are ways to match an item in hand with a MARC bibliographic record. Catalogers use a combination of fields to do so. ISBNs are finding aids and can point you to the correct record but cannot stand by themselves. We use main title (245), edition (250), publisher (260 b), date of publication (260 c) and pagination (300) as well as other fields for type and format. > > > > ISBNs aren?t useless, they just aren?t matching points by themselves. > > > > Elaine > > > J. Elaine Hardy > PINES Bibliographic Projects & Metadata Manager Georgia Public Library > Service > 1800 Century Place, Ste 150 > Atlanta, Ga. 30345-4304 > > 404.235-7128 > 404.235-7201, fax > [email protected] > www.georgialibraries.org > www.georgialibraries.org/pines > > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf > Of Andrew Morton > Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2012 1:19 PM > To: Evergreen Discussion Group > Subject: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] ***SPAM*** Re: Importing from ISBN > > > > So are you saying that there is no unique way to identify a publication? > > Sort of seems like isbn is useless if that is the case.... > > > > Andrew > > > > > > On 11 Oct 2012, at 15:31, "Hardy, Elaine" <[email protected]> wrote: > > ISBNs are not matching points. Publishers re-use the all the time, for > example (this is a particular problem with children's nonfiction > series publishers). You may reach a point where they will no longer > tally with the item in hand. Also, older books will not have ISBNs, so > depending on the overall collection in your library, you may find that > ISBNs are not dependable. > > Elaine > > ________________________________ > > > J. Elaine Hardy > PINES Bibliographic Projects & Metadata Manager Georgia Public Library > Service > 1800 Century Place, Ste 150 > Atlanta, Ga. 30345-4304 > > 404.235-7128 > 404.235-7201, fax > [email protected] > www.georgialibraries.org > www.georgialibraries.org/pines > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf > Of Andrew Morton > Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2012 4:36 PM > To: Evergreen Discussion Group > Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Importing from ISBN > > Yea. > They all seem to tally to the ISBN.... > > btw, im on a mac, so marcedit may not be available... > > Andrew. > > On 9 Oct 2012, at 20:59, Jason Etheridge wrote: > > > > I was thinking that using the fast item add feature in Evergreen's > > z39.50 workflow might be what makes it faster than batch loading the > > bibs and adding holdings separately. > > > > Ah, I can see that. Andrew, are you getting unique barcodes for all > > your books? > > > > > -- Jason > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://libmail.georgialibraries.org/pipermail/open-ils-general/attachments/ 20121011/7d39dff1/attachment-0001.htm> ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2012 14:08:05 -0400 From: Nancy Grant <[email protected]> Subject: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Unique bar codes - FYI To: [email protected] Message-ID: <CACv0PqEqhuN=xERbzH6=d26cnogek0appzutc8vol6inbhd...@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Maine State Library has a page devoted to the unique bar codes used by each library in the state. Many of the bar codes start with the zip code of the library - small towns often only have one library. http://maine.gov/infonet/barcodes.htm Thus, if we all eventually get on one Evergreen database in Maine, we do not have to re-bar code to have unique numbers. On Thu, Oct 11, 2012 at 1:47 PM, < [email protected]> wrote: > Send Open-ils-general mailing list submissions to > [email protected] > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > > http://libmail.georgialibraries.org/mailman/listinfo/open-ils-general > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > [email protected] > > You can reach the person managing the list at > [email protected] > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Open-ils-general digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Collection HQ and Evergreen (Sue Graziano) > 2. ***SPAM*** Re: Importing from ISBN (Andrew Morton) > 3. Re: ***SPAM*** Re: Importing from ISBN (Jason Etheridge) > 4. Re: ***SPAM*** Re: Importing from ISBN (Andrew Morton) > 5. Re: Importing from ISBN (Hardy, Elaine) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2012 10:00:20 -0700 > From: Sue Graziano <[email protected]> > Subject: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Collection HQ and Evergreen > To: [email protected] > Message-ID: > < > caddnuuasm9pzbejuwkuskvq0jpgsgjav_crdmnu3ycgxhoc...@mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Hello all, > > Santa Cruz Public Libraries is using Collection HQ. However, I don't > have any experience extracting MARC or CSV data, and at this point, we > haven't had the need. I'd suggest you talk to support at Collection HQ. > > We began using Collection HQ in January. We've been very pleased with > the weeding reports it generates, although getting our collection up > to CHQ is going to take us quite a while. I've used it for several > statistical reports since I couldn't (yet) get the data from > Evergreen. What I haven't yet been able to extract for CHQ or > Evergreen (yet) are circulation reports for a specific periods. > > -- > Sue Graziano > Collection Development Librarian > Santa Cruz Public Libraries > 117 Union St. > Santa Cruz, CA 95060 > [email protected] > (831) 427-7700 x7725 > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was > scrubbed... > URL: < > http://libmail.georgialibraries.org/pipermail/open-ils-general/attachm > ents/20121011/93b888f4/attachment-0001.htm > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2012 18:19:10 +0100 > From: Andrew Morton <[email protected]> > Subject: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] ***SPAM*** Re: Importing from ISBN > To: Evergreen Discussion Group > <[email protected]> > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > So are you saying that there is no unique way to identify a publication? > Sort of seems like isbn is useless if that is the case.... > > Andrew > > > > On 11 Oct 2012, at 15:31, "Hardy, Elaine" > <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > ISBNs are not matching points. Publishers re-use the all the time, > > for example (this is a particular problem with children's nonfiction > > series publishers). You may reach a point where they will no longer > > tally with the item in hand. Also, older books will not have ISBNs, > > so depending on the overall collection in your library, you may find > > that ISBNs are not dependable. > > > > Elaine > > > > ________________________________ > > > > > > J. Elaine Hardy > > PINES Bibliographic Projects & Metadata Manager Georgia Public > > Library Service > > 1800 Century Place, Ste 150 > > Atlanta, Ga. 30345-4304 > > > > 404.235-7128 > > 404.235-7201, fax > > [email protected] > > www.georgialibraries.org > > www.georgialibraries.org/pines > > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [email protected] > > [mailto:[email protected]] On > > Behalf Of Andrew Morton > > Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2012 4:36 PM > > To: Evergreen Discussion Group > > Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Importing from ISBN > > > > Yea. > > They all seem to tally to the ISBN.... > > > > btw, im on a mac, so marcedit may not be available... > > > > Andrew. > > > > On 9 Oct 2012, at 20:59, Jason Etheridge wrote: > > > >>> I was thinking that using the fast item add feature in Evergreen's > >>> z39.50 workflow might be what makes it faster than batch loading > >>> the bibs and adding holdings separately. > >> > >> Ah, I can see that. Andrew, are you getting unique barcodes for > >> all > > your books? > >> > >> -- Jason > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was > scrubbed... > URL: < > http://libmail.georgialibraries.org/pipermail/open-ils-general/attachm > ents/20121011/974f69d8/attachment-0001.htm > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2012 13:22:06 -0400 > From: Jason Etheridge <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] ***SPAM*** Re: Importing from ISBN > To: Evergreen Discussion Group > <[email protected]> > Message-ID: > < > cacditt8jdncqtp6qczvkxynocjqse-djp144cpt077gdhzq...@mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > On Thu, Oct 11, 2012 at 1:19 PM, Andrew Morton > <[email protected]> wrote: > > So are you saying that there is no unique way to identify a publication? > > Sort of seems like isbn is useless if that is the case.... > > It's useful enough for the purpose that "added content" vendors rely > on it for providing libraries reviews, jacket images, etc. > > It's just not perfect by a longshot, and if you're using them as item > barcodes, you'll probably hit more complications down the road. > > -- Jason > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 4 > Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2012 18:41:50 +0100 > From: Andrew Morton <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] ***SPAM*** Re: Importing from ISBN > To: Evergreen Discussion Group > <[email protected]> > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > Jason, > > Thanks for the clarification on that- most helpful! > > Getting back to the original question on this thread... > Are we saying that there are 2 methods to add books? > > 1) import a batch Marc record. But then it's a manual thing to add it > to holdings. > 2) use a z39.50 server to search for it and use a fast add to add it > to holdings in one step? > > Regards, > Andrew > > > > > On 11 Oct 2012, at 18:22, Jason Etheridge <[email protected]> wrote: > > > On Thu, Oct 11, 2012 at 1:19 PM, Andrew Morton > > <[email protected]> wrote: > >> So are you saying that there is no unique way to identify a publication? > >> Sort of seems like isbn is useless if that is the case.... > > > > It's useful enough for the purpose that "added content" vendors rely > > on it for providing libraries reviews, jacket images, etc. > > > > It's just not perfect by a longshot, and if you're using them as > > item barcodes, you'll probably hit more complications down the road. > > > > -- Jason > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 5 > Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2012 13:47:32 -0400 (EDT) > From: "Hardy, Elaine" <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Importing from ISBN > To: "'Evergreen Discussion Group'" > <[email protected]> > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > There are ways to match an item in hand with a MARC bibliographic record. > Catalogers use a combination of fields to do so. ISBNs are finding > aids and can point you to the correct record but cannot stand by > themselves. We use main title (245), edition (250), publisher (260 b), > date of publication > (260 > c) and pagination (300) as well as other fields for type and format. > > > > ISBNs aren?t useless, they just aren?t matching points by themselves. > > > > Elaine > > _____ > > > J. Elaine Hardy > PINES Bibliographic Projects & Metadata Manager Georgia Public Library > Service > 1800 Century Place, Ste 150 > Atlanta, Ga. 30345-4304 > > 404.235-7128 > 404.235-7201, fax > [email protected] > www.georgialibraries.org > www.georgialibraries.org/pines > > > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf > Of Andrew Morton > Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2012 1:19 PM > To: Evergreen Discussion Group > Subject: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] ***SPAM*** Re: Importing from ISBN > > > > So are you saying that there is no unique way to identify a publication? > > Sort of seems like isbn is useless if that is the case.... > > > > Andrew > > > > > > > > > On 11 Oct 2012, at 15:31, "Hardy, Elaine" > <[email protected]> > wrote: > > ISBNs are not matching points. Publishers re-use the all the time, for > example (this is a particular problem with children's nonfiction > series publishers). You may reach a point where they will no longer > tally with the item in hand. Also, older books will not have ISBNs, so > depending on the overall collection in your library, you may find that > ISBNs are not dependable. > > Elaine > > ________________________________ > > > J. Elaine Hardy > PINES Bibliographic Projects & Metadata Manager Georgia Public Library > Service > 1800 Century Place, Ste 150 > Atlanta, Ga. 30345-4304 > > 404.235-7128 > 404.235-7201, fax > [email protected] > www.georgialibraries.org > www.georgialibraries.org/pines > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf > Of Andrew Morton > Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2012 4:36 PM > To: Evergreen Discussion Group > Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Importing from ISBN > > Yea. > They all seem to tally to the ISBN.... > > btw, im on a mac, so marcedit may not be available... > > Andrew. > > On 9 Oct 2012, at 20:59, Jason Etheridge wrote: > > > > > I was thinking that using the fast item add feature in Evergreen's > > z39.50 workflow might be what makes it faster than batch loading the > > bibs and adding holdings separately. > > > > Ah, I can see that. Andrew, are you getting unique barcodes for all > > your books? > > > > > > -- Jason > > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was > scrubbed... > URL: < > http://libmail.georgialibraries.org/pipermail/open-ils-general/attachm > ents/20121011/7d4e516a/attachment.htm > > > > End of Open-ils-general Digest, Vol 76, Issue 16 > ************************************************ > -- Nancy B. Grant LMS, NBCT Penquis Valley Information Center MSAD #41 48 Penquis Drive MIlo, ME 04463 207-943-7346 ext 110 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://libmail.georgialibraries.org/pipermail/open-ils-general/attachments/ 20121011/8f59b210/attachment.htm> End of Open-ils-general Digest, Vol 76, Issue 17 ************************************************
