ISTC-the new book Identifier
by John Wolf (Derived from a blog by Gordon Woolf)
By the end of next year, ISTC (International Standard Text Code) numbers will likely become an additional book industry standard used worldwide. The principle purpose is to to identify content rather than edition. It goes beyond the traditional ISBNs (International Standard Book Numbers).
The ISTC number will look similar to this: ISTC 0B8-2012-007F10BC-7. It will reference different editions of a work, even from different publishers and is likely to be placed on the copyright page and not intended to replace the ISBN number.
In this way, you'll be able to tell instantly whether a trade paperback, a hardback, an audio book or an ebook have the same content. This should end the confusion on whether different presentations of the same book should have the same ISBN. They should not. They should have the same ISTC number.
The issuers of ISTCs will almost certainly be the same as the issuers of ISBNs, in other words the biggest players will be Bowker and Nielsen under the supervision of the ISTC Agency using a single, global XML database system.
Items covered are described as "creative works" such as prose, poetry. lyrics, original screenplays, audio and stage scripts. Photographs, although they can be part of such works, are not in themselves covered and while graphic novels would be, the registration would cover only the text elements of these.
The registration agency will run a computer test to check whether the content has already been registered.
Works can be registered by an author, publisher, literary agent, library, rights management or collection agency or distributor. It is not yet clear what the fee structure is likely to be. Currently ISBNs are commonly priced per number issued, which reduces with quantity, although there are provisions in some countries for free issue of ISBNs, especially single registration.
The ISTC identifier is a 16-character code (using numbers 0-9 and letters A-F, i.e. the hexadecimal system) in four sections to identify the registration agency, the year of registration, the identifier and a check digit.
It has no section for registrant, so the same content can be published by diffreent publishers but would have only one ISTC. That's a major difference to the ISBN which primarily identifies a publisher.
A work that is translated, abridged, annotated, a compilation, criticism, excerpt, expurgated, revised or adapted, will get a new ISTC but the metadata must state the original ISTC and just what its relationship is.
This could pose a problem for authors and publishers of non-fiction works which have frequent editions. New ISBNs are usually adopted if there is anything but superficial changes, but often there are substantial changes between editions, and all degrees in-between. It seems it will still be a matter of opinion with the publisher making the decision whether to use a new ISTC or reference the original and provide a version number.
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There will be internet search engines to identify works from the ISTC and for prospective publishers, etc., to search on title, author, etc., to establish whether a work has been registered. They will not link to ISBN data and it would be normal for a work to be registered for an ISTC well before it gains an ISBN, such as that an author might register it before submitting to an agent or publisher, or an agent might register a work before submitting it to publishers.
No one will own any single ISTC once it has been created, and an ISTC will not imply any rights to the material.
It may help in book searches, since once a particular example of a work has been found, that will provide the ISTC which is what is needed to identify the work in other formats, even if they have a different title. It may also help avoid duplication of acquisitions by libraries.
The usefulness of ISTC will increase with time, more rapidly if the registration agencies decide to start entering past works, especially those who already maintain databases used extensively by the book industry. There seems to have been some indications that this will happen though that may depend on what they see as possible financial benefits.
For an author or small publisher, I would suggest that ISTC is not something they need to act on instantly, but should watch what is happening. Once the codes start to appear for new works by major publishers in your genre, then that will be the time to act.
In the meantime you may like to delve further:
ISTC: http://www.istc-international.org/
Book Industry Study Group discussion paper:
http://www.bisg.org/contentweb/papers/the-international-standard-text-code-istc-a-work-in-progress/
A 2009 overview by Andy Weissberg, VP of Identifier Services at Bowker: http://www.myidentifiers.com/multimedia/pdfs/ISTC_overview_ISQv21no3.pdf
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The Wolfman writes from San Diego. Tall tales and short stories are his passion with the occasional poem. This bleeds over into the joy of making music with friends and playing in bands.
visit JohnWolfBooks.com for lit
visit WolfTracksMusic.com for music |
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