Although this issue is coming to the forefront in January with NEW books,
several people asked why I would convert the old ones to the new ones. Good
question! I have done the conversion in the Alexandria program, which now
allows me to match either the new OR old number for ordering purposes. The
best website I received was the isbn.org website cited here:
The final digit of the ISBN is a check digit, so once the 3-digit prefix is
added, the final digit, the check digit, will need to change in order for
the "ISBN formula" that is processed on the 12-digits to equal the new 13th
check digit.
the isbn.org site states:
"Two new prefixes are being created. The 978 prefix will be added in front
of the current ISBN-10 and with the addition of a new check digit at the
end, the new ISBN-13 is created.
To convert an ISBN-10 to and ISBN-13, use this Free ISBN Conversion Tool
<http://www.isbn.org/converterpub.asp>.
The new 979 prefix will not be utilized until all 978 pre-fixes have been
assigned. However, 13 digit ISBNs that begin with 979 can never be converted
to 10 digit ISBNs. They have no 10 digit counterpart."
This site also gives an example of a title's 10-digit and 13-digit ISBN:
ISBN-10: 1-56619-909-3
ISBN-13: 978-1-56619-909-4
[note the different final, or check, digit]
Other replies:
Why or what did you have to convert? It seems to me that my system accepts
either. (Follett). Is there something I am not doing that I should be?
Don't convert old ones. Just use the new ones
My circulation system (Spectrum) had to have an update to handle them. I
just tried to import some MARC records from a vendor and some of them didn't
work. I found out it was because I hadn't done the update on the station I
was using for import. You might call Alexandria tech support and ask.
And finally, from our Alexandria rep:
It really isn't a technology issue. From what I understand, they just
wanted to make sure there are enough numbers for the ever increasing number
of materials that are created nowadays. I asked around and didn't hear any
other reason than that. Hope that helps.
Kevin.
On Dec 4, 2006, at 12:04 PM, Ellen Taylor wrote:
> Hey thanks! Well, the question came up as to WHY we are converting existing
> ones, and I felt rather like a sheep. Is there a technological reason that
> later we will need everything in 13-digits?
>
>
> On 12/4/06 12:48 PM, "Kevin Dibb" <kdibb@companioncorp.com> wrote:
>
>
>> Ellen,
>>
>> I was forwarded your email about the 13 digit ISBN numbers. It's been sent
>> to development and QA. They did find a little glitch in the conversion (with
>> the X). The update will be fixed in 5.2.2.3. Just thought I'd let you know.
So, this may be a non-issue ;) Thanks to all those who replied.
--
Ellen Taylor, RHS LMS
Rossview High School
1237 Rossview Road
Clarksville, TN 37043
931.553-2070
ellen.taylor@cmcss.net
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