ISBNs are definitely not unique. Years ago I had an example of one ISBN that brought up nearly 60 different titles in OCLC. These were all some publisher's adaptations of classics such as Anne of Green Gables and Moby Dick. I used to joke that publishers had to buy ISBNs and this publisher bought ONE!
Using ISBNs as barcodes is also a bad idea if you have two copies of the same book. It works for bookstore inventories but not so well for libraries. Janet Janet Schrader C/W MARS Inc. Supervisor of Bibliiographic Services 67 Millbrook Street, Suite 201 Worcester, MA 01606 tel: 508-755-3323 ext. 25 fax: 508-757-7801 jschra...@cwmars.org -----Original Message----- From: open-ils-general-boun...@list.georgialibraries.org [mailto:open-ils-general-boun...@list.georgialibraries.org] On Behalf Of Aaron Zsembery Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2012 1:35 PM To: Evergreen Discussion Group Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] ***SPAM*** Importing from ISBN On Tuesday, October 16, 2012 at 1:18:10 PM "Cassondra Vick" <cassondra.v...@kentonlibrary.org> wrote: > According to my research, ISBNs are unique. > http://www.isbn.org/standards/home/isbn/us/major.asp In an ideal world, yes. In the real world? It happens, see: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/975488-isbn-duplication www.amazonsellercommunity.com/forums/message.jspa?messageID=2531583 and many others Aaron Z Jr. Systems Administrator Pioneer Library System 2557 State Rt. 21 Canandaigua, New York 14424 Phone: (585) 394-8260
