Apologies. We followed up on this issue offline so, to keep list
subscribers in the picture, here is the situation. It seems that Knovel,
who have their own registrant prefix, assigned their own ISBNs to other
publishers ebooks and, in the process, managed to assign some ISBNs to
multiple titles. The US agency are in touch with Knovel and will try to
resolve this issue.
The ISBN is, in principle, a unique identifier of an edition of a book and
should never be re-assigned. Since the ISBN is a distributed system, with
publishers assigning ISBNs to titles from their own allocation of numbers,
there is always the possibility of human error, but this is quite unusual
these days and normally rapidly corrected.
Brian Green
International ISBN Agency
> -----Original Message-----
> From: An informal open list set up by the UK Serials Group [mailto:LIS-
> [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Stephens, Owen
> Sent: 08 April 2009 12:56
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [LIS-E-RESOURCES] FW: [LIS-E-RESOURCES] Knovel e-book
> records
>
> Although issues with ISBNs do occur, and much more often than you'd
> hope, the numbers you mention here sound high (what percentage of the
> package did this affect?). Can we verify that issuing of duplicate
> ISBNs is actually the problem? (I can't tell from the OCLC response you
> report whether they had actually checked this)
>
> Could you post the details?
>
> Owen
>
> Owen Stephens
> Assistant Director: eStrategy and Information Resources
> Central Library
> Imperial College London
> South Kensington Campus
> London
> SW7 2AZ
>
> t: +44 (0)20 7594 8829
> e: [log in to unmask]
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: An informal open list set up by the UK Serials Group
> [mailto:LIS-
> > [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Hegarty, Mary
> > Sent: 07 April 2009 20:45
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: [LIS-E-RESOURCES] FW: [LIS-E-RESOURCES] Knovel e-book
> > records
> >
> > Was I being so naive, I thought that the ISBN was unique and use this
> > to confirm that I have the correct book especially when checking on
> the
> > British Library system and online publishers catalogues. I find this
> > highly disturbing that the numbers are being reused what do others
> > think?
> >
> > Mary
> >
> >
> > Mary C Hegarty
> > Liaison Librarian
> > Whitechapel Library
> > School of Community and Health Sciences
> > City University London
> >
> >
> > Tel: 0207 040 3125
> > ________________________________________
> > From: Brian Green [[log in to unmask]]
> > Sent: 07 April 2009 12:02
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: [LIS-E-RESOURCES] FW: [LIS-E-RESOURCES] Knovel e-book
> records
> >
> > We shall contact OCLC about this but if any subscribers find this
> sort
> > of
> > abuse of the ISBN system, please let us know at the International
> ISBN
> > Agency ([log in to unmask]) so that we or our national
> > agencies can
> > follow up and try to educate the publishers concerned.
> >
> > Thanks. Brian Green
> >
> > International ISBN Agency
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: An informal open list set up by the UK Serials Group
> > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lee, Erica
> > Sent: 07 April 2009 10:12
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: [LIS-E-RESOURCES] Knovel e-book records
> >
> > Hello
> > I've just tried to import a package of Knovel e-book records into our
> > catalogue which were sent to me from OCLC and have come across a
> > problem. Basically, it looks like about 100 of the records have the
> > same ISBNs as eachother even though they're completely different
> > titles.
> > This has caused havoc in our catalogue and I've now had to take all
> the
> > records out again. When I contacted OCLC about this, I got the
> > following reply:
> >
> > "Unfortunately, I have seen this situation before. It's not uncommon
> > for
> > publishers to use the same ISBNs for more than one title. I have seen
> > the same ISBN used by a publisher for multiple titles; and, as in
> this
> > case, the same ISBN is being used by two different publishers. ISBNs
> > aren't as unique as we would like for them to be.
> >
> > I'm sorry that havoc ensued and it's unfortunate that this situation
> of
> > ISBNs being re-used exists. I tend to avoid ISBNs as a unique match
> > point because of this situation."
> >
> > So my questions are, has anyone come across this same issue and if
> yes,
> > have you found any easy solutions to it?
> >
> > Thanks
> > Erica
> >
> > Erica Lee
> > Information Resources Specialist
> >
> > Library and Information Services.
> > Aston Triangle
> > Birmingham, B4 7ET, UK
> >
> > 0121 204 4501.
> > [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> >
> > www.aston.ac.uk/lis <http://www.aston.ac.uk/lis>
> >
> >
> >
> > lis-e-resources is a UKSG list - http://www.uksg.org/serials
> > UKSG groups also available on Facebook and LinkedIn
> >
> >
> ***********************************************************************
> > *****
> > ****
> > DISCLAIMER: This e-mail is confidential and should not be used by
> > anyone who
> > is
> > not the original intended recipient. If you have received this e-mail
> > in
> > error
> > please inform the sender and delete it from your mailbox or any other
> > storage
> > mechanism. Neither Macmillan Publishers Limited nor any of its agents
> > accept
> > liability for any statements made which are clearly the sender's own
> > and not
> > expressly made on behalf of Macmillan Publishers Limited or one of
> its
> > agents.
> > Please note that neither Macmillan Publishers Limited nor any of its
> > agents
> > accept any responsibility for viruses that may be contained in this
> e-
> > mail
> > or
> > its attachments and it is your responsibility to scan the e-mail and
> > attachments (if any). No contracts may be concluded on behalf of
> > Macmillan
> > Publishers Limited or its agents by means of e-mail communication.
> > Macmillan
> >
> > Publishers Limited Registered in England and Wales with registered
> > number
> > 785998
> > Registered Office Brunel Road, Houndmills, Basingstoke RG21 6XS
> >
> ***********************************************************************
> > *****
> > ****
> >
> > lis-e-resources is a UKSG list - http://www.uksg.org/serials
> > UKSG groups also available on Facebook and LinkedIn
> > lis-e-resources is a UKSG list - http://www.uksg.org/serials
> > UKSG groups also available on Facebook and LinkedIn
>
> lis-e-resources is a UKSG list - http://www.uksg.org/serials
> UKSG groups also available on Facebook and LinkedIn
lis-e-resources is a UKSG list - http://www.uksg.org/serials
UKSG groups also available on Facebook and LinkedIn
|