[uf-new] ISBN, ISSN and the case for moving forward now

Alexander Graf alexander.graf at deri.org
Sun Mar 18 04:16:33 PST 2007


Andy,

while I personally think a microformat for ISBN numbers is a great
idea, I want you to know that the ISBN format has changed as of
Januar 1st 2007. In your test cases, the ISBN numbers are ten
digits, which is *no longer valid*!

To quote:

> As of January 1, 2007, all book and book-related products must  
> carry 13-digit ISBNs.
>
> All 10-digit ISBNs in circulation will have the 3-digit EAN prefix  
> "978" added (which currently represents the book industry). This 13- 
> digit ISBN is already represented, and will be identical, to  
> current EAN bar codes carrying ISBN with the "978" prefix.
>
> All 10-digit ISBNs must be converted to the 13-digit format and all  
> systems will need to accommodate its use in this format. To easily  
> convert your 10-digit ISBNs to 13-digits use a conversion utility.

	- from:  http://www.niso.org/standards/resources/ISBN.html

Those are also a good read:
	- http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue41/chapman/
	- http://www.lac-bac.gc.ca/iso/tc46sc9/isbn.htm

I agree with a possible ISBN microformat standing alone so it can
be incorporated into other formats.

Oh, and I vote for class="isbn".

Best regards,

Alexander Graf


DERI Innsbruck
Digital Enterprise Research Institute
Leopold-Franzens-Universität
ICT Technologiepark, Technikerstrasse 21a
6020 Innsbruck, Austria

mail: alexander.graf at deri.org
web:  www.deri.at


On 18.03.2007, at 12:11, Andy Mabbett wrote:

>
> Abstract
> ========
>
> We can have uFs for ISBNs and ISSNs. The very specific nature of  
> the way
> in which those codes are formatted means that further evidence  
> gathering
> would be superfluous. Such uFs would be useful components in a  
> number of
> other, currently-proposed, microformats. Acting now will ensure that a
> standard method can be applied across such be formats
>
>
> Coverage
> ========
>
> This post addresses the use of ISBNs; almost all of it applies to  
> ISSNs
> equally.
>
>
> Proposal
> ========
>
> There as been previous discussion of marking-up ISBNs (International
> Standard Book Numbers:
>
>         <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN>
>
> ISBNs include a checksum digit:
>
>         <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN#Check_digit_in_ISBN_10>
>
> and can (only) be either 10 or 1 digits long.
>
> Such discussion has, for example, taken place around the proposed
> citation uF:
>
>         <http://microformats.org/wiki/citation-examples>
>
>
> I believe, however, that a UF for ISBN should stand alone, and thus be
> available for use in any other microformat (for recipes, for  
> example, or
> for hResume, hAtom, hReview or hListing).
>
>
> I then started to think about evidence-gathering, and it occurred  
> to me
> that so many websites use ISBN numbers, that I would never have  
> time to
> examine even 1% - so I could ever be sure that I was dealing with  
> cases
> in the larger side of an 80-20 divide.
>
> It then occurred to me that there are very few ways in which ISBN
> numbers can be marked up, in a meaningful and valid sense.  
> Furthermore,
> the very nature of ISBNs, with rigidly defined formats, and check- 
> sums,
> means that detecting, validating and parsing ISBNs is relatively  
> easy to
> describe.
>
>
> Consider these examples (all found on the aforesaid citations- 
> examples)
>
>         <div class="isbn">0-313-32847-1</div>
>
>         <span id="lblIsbn">0-313-32847-1</span>
>
>         <span class="isbnNumber">0195162471</span>
>
> (note that "isbnNumber" is a tautology!)
>
> and these other possible methods of marking up those ISBNs:
>
>         <div class="isbn">ISBN 0-313-32847-1</div>
>
>         <span id="lblIsbn">ISBN: 0-313-32847-1</span>
>
>         <span class="isbnNumber">the ISBN is 0195162471</span>
>
>         <span class="isbn">ISBN: 0-95115-320-X</span>
>
> in each case, the marked-up text includes a valid ISBN (some with
> permitted, but superfluous, dashes) and, in the latter cases, some  
> other
> non-numerical characters. All a parser need do is discard the non
> numerical characters, apart from a possible "X" check-digit (it's
> interesting to note that no "X" check-digit occurs on
> citation-examples), and check that the remaining digits validate to  
> the
> included checksum digit.
>
> If the mark-up has introduced additional digits:
>
>         <span class="isbnNumber">the ISBN of book #42 is
>         0195162471</span>
>
> then a parser may simply discard the results as invalid - and thus
> requiring a more tightly applied element.
>
>
> Use case
> ========
>
> Marking up ISBNs would allow tools to enable users to quickly  
> locate the
> relevant title in a shop or library; for example in the way which
> Wikipedia uses ISBNs:
>
>         <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php? 
> title=Special:Booksources&isbn=0950788120>
>
> Indeed, that service could be the target used by a user agent (as  
> could:
>
>         <http://worldcat.org/issn/0006-3657>
>
> for ISSNs).
>
>
> Conclusion
> ==========
>
> I believe that we could, quickly, have uFs for ISBN and ISSN; and that
> this would be of benefit to the development of any other uF which
> includes an ISBN or ISSN component - as well as benefiting the many
> thousands of publishers, and the any millions of consumers, of  
> ISBNs and
> ISSNs
>
> All that remains is to agree a suitable class-name (ISBN vs. hISBN,  
> for
> example).
>
>
> Next steps
> ==========
>
> I hope Mike Kaply, to whom I'm forwarding a copy of this e-mail, will
> agree to place a test-case version in a beta version of Operator.
>
>
> I've marked up a test-case (using class="isbn") on:
>
>         <http://www.westmidlandbirdclub.com/biblio/ 
> sandwellISBNTEST.htm>
>
> which has two with "X" check digits, and I'll be happy to add further
> examples.
>
> I'll be placing a version of this message on the 'wiki' in due course.
>
> -- 
> Andy Mabbett
>                  <http://www.pigsonthewing.org.uk/uFsig/>
>
>             Ten-day moderation delays amount to a defacto ban!
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