Mark of the Beast, Again
February 12, 2007 12:34 AM   Subscribe

On January 1, 2007, the book industry began using 13 digits to identify books in global trade. There's a 10 to 13 digit converter and of course the ISBN 13 For Dummy's.
posted by sluglicker (29 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
First one to write "ISBN number" gets a backhand to the face.
posted by oncogenesis at 12:38 AM on February 12, 2007


Check your apostrophication.
posted by aliasless at 12:59 AM on February 12, 2007


"Dummy's"?
posted by premiumpolar at 1:06 AM on February 12, 2007


"Dummy's"?
Hehe...that was a joke. Get it?

ok, not really. Sorry.


posted by sluglicker at 1:49 AM on February 12, 2007


Greengrocers’ apostrophes

Apostrophes used incorrectly to form plurals are known as greengrocers’ apostrophes (or grocers’ apostrophes, or sometimes humorously greengrocers apostrophe’s). The practice comes from the identical sound of the plural and possessive forms of most English nouns. It is often considered a form of hypercorrection coming from a widespread ignorance of the proper use of the apostrophe or of punctuation in general. Lynne Truss, author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves, points out that before the 19th Century, it was standard orthography to use the apostrophe to form a plural of a foreign-sounding word that ended in a vowel (e.g. banana's, folio's, logo's, quarto's, pasta's, ouzo's) to clarify pronounciation. Truss says this usage is no longer considered proper in formal writing.[7]

It is believed that the term was first coined in the middle of the twentieth century by a teacher of languages working in Liverpool, at a time when such mistakes were common in the handwritten signs and advertisements of greengrocers, e.g., “Apple’s 1/- a pound, orange’s 1/6d a pound”. In recent years, this misuse has become increasingly frequent in other forms of advertisement, particularly those of small businesses, e.g., from Hackney Market in London, UK: “Christmas Card’s”. Some have argued that its use in mass communication by poorly educated employees of large companies has led to the less grammatically able accepting it as correct and adopting the habit themselves.[8]

It has been parodied by Terry Pratchett in his novel Going Postal, in which a greengrocer goes “so far a’s to u’se greengrocer’s apo’strophe’s in ’speech.”

The same error is sometimes made by non-native speakers of English, and this hyperforeignism has been formalised in some pseudo-anglicisms. For example, the French word pin's (from English pin) is used (with the apostophe in both singular and plural) for collectible lapel pins. Also, there is an Andorran football club called FC Rànger's (after such British clubs as Rangers F.C.).

posted by killdevil at 1:52 AM on February 12, 2007


It has been parodied by Terry Pratchett in his novel Going Postal, in which a greengrocer goes “so far a’s to u’se greengrocer’s apo’strophe’s in ’speech.”

Funny... I assumed that was pterry trying to replicate, and exagerate, a northern (UK) accent.
posted by twine42 at 1:54 AM on February 12, 2007


/gives oncogenesis a backhand to the face.
posted by chrismear at 3:07 AM on February 12, 2007


I personally see this as a joyworthy sign of humanity's progress.
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 3:14 AM on February 12, 2007


This ISBN a long time coming.

It's early and I didn't get enough sleep.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 3:52 AM on February 12, 2007


It seems like they are just doubling the total number of possible ISBNs; The existing '978' EAN prefix, and just adding an additional set of '979' prefixes. Won't they just run out of ISBNs again? Why not future proof it by moving to a ReallyBigNumber™ right now?
posted by yeoz at 4:58 AM on February 12, 2007


yeoz I'd imagine they considered it, but decided not to for reasons that must have seemed reasonable to them.

Personally, I agree with you, why not at least make it 16 digits or so.

OTOH, even with our modern publishing rate, they won't be using up the 13 digit space for some time yet.
posted by sotonohito at 5:22 AM on February 12, 2007


problem: too many books for existing isbn system.

bad solution: increase avaible isbns.
good solution: publish less fucking garbage.
posted by shmegegge at 5:29 AM on February 12, 2007


First one to write "ISBN number" gets a backhand to the face.

Did you mean the first one after yourself, or have you smacked yourself already?

good solution: publish less fucking garbage.

Huh? Are most books "garbage"? I haven't noticed many people complaining. It's like people often find themselves reading books they otherwise wouldn't.

They've gone, theoretically, from 10 billion to 10 trillion. That's a pretty big jump. And even if they're just adding new prefixes now, they can add more later (I would imagine)
posted by delmoi at 5:35 AM on February 12, 2007


Damnit, explaining the check-digit algorithm for (10-digits) ISBNs was one of my favorite little bits in teaching modular arithmetic.

They've gone, theoretically, from 10 billion to 10 trillion.
I don't think that's right, because books have to share space in the new coding scheme with other products, if I've read all that correctly. It looks like a certain slice is reserved for books, and I can't tell from any of the material how much that is. It looks like they're planning to mostly fill up the 978- and 979-prefixed space first. Best I can tell is they've "at least doubled" the number of available ISBN's, but probably they'll have access to many more.
posted by Wolfdog at 5:45 AM on February 12, 2007


I work for Pearson Education, the source of the ISBN converter listed here. There is not a one-to-one relation to ISBNs and books. The same book can have different ISBNs according to small variations in packaging. For example, the Martin-Gay Beginning Algebra book 9th edition can be purchased as a standalone hard back, packaged with a MML for CourseCompass access code, packaged with a MML for Blackboard access code, packaged as a MML for Bb Vista access code, purchased as a custom book (each custom version with it's own ISBN) and so on. Items with the same ISBN can not be sold for a different price, so we use lots of them.
posted by Red58 at 6:45 AM on February 12, 2007



Personally, I agree with you, why not at least make it 16 digits or so.


Many non-chain bookstores would have to rework their computer systems to handle 16 digits. In fact, many haven't made the switch to 13 yet (granted, switching from 13 to 16 might not be that hard, but for some reason some of the software will take 13, but not 16 digits). Some of the big stores (for example B&N) have already started using 14 digits.
posted by drezdn at 6:49 AM on February 12, 2007


Red58, some publishers also do the opposite, using the same ISBN for different books. I know the British government press does this all the time, usually for books on similar topics(a real pain in the ass if you work in a library). Also some less reputable publishers in places like Russia and Latin America just slap the same ISBN on different books.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:08 AM on February 12, 2007


Yesterday, I looked at the copyright page of a novel I recently picked up, and noticed it had two different ISBNs. I was going to look up why this morning. Thanks Mefi!
posted by muddgirl at 7:14 AM on February 12, 2007


I don't think that's right, because books have to share space in the new coding scheme with other products, if I've read all that correctly.

Oops, you're right. Reading the "ISBN-13 for dummies" section makes it clear that they are moving from nine data digits to 9.3 (that last number counts for 0.3 'digits' because it only has two options). They are doubling, from one billion to two billion the possible number of books.
posted by delmoi at 7:18 AM on February 12, 2007


They've gone, theoretically, from 10 billion to 10 trillion.

ISBN-10 is only 1 billion, 000000000X through 999999999X.
Don't forget that the last digit is a checksum digit.
posted by yeoz at 7:24 AM on February 12, 2007


The Canadians have a great FAQ on the expansion. Basically, the numbering system is made manageable by breaking it into regional and other segments and delegating management of number assignment. Many segments are now growing much faster than previously planned for due mainly to electronic publishing. One option would be to flatten the system and just assign numbers as needed, but that would require an expensive centralized management agency.
posted by dhartung at 8:34 AM on February 12, 2007


Amazon is now reporting both ISBN-10 and ISBN-13. However, while direct ISBN-10 links work at Amazon the ISBN-13 links don't. isbn.nu works, although they truncate it back to 10 digits in the UI. And it fails with a dash in the ISBN-13.
posted by Nelson at 8:39 AM on February 12, 2007


Huh? Are most books "garbage"? I haven't noticed many people complaining. It's like people often find themselves reading books they otherwise wouldn't.

Have you looked at what's on the tables at your average Barnes & Noble to see where many of those ISBNs are going? The Microsoft Book of Sex Positions... The Shopaholic's Guide to Low-Fat Self-Esteem .... Thomas Friedman books....
posted by QuietDesperation at 9:51 AM on February 12, 2007


Isn't this post kind of late for anyone who it would affect? I started working on ISBN-13 issues back in August.
posted by 2sheets at 10:49 AM on February 12, 2007


It has always amused me that ISBNs were neither standard nor international, as we used them here in the US. This is a start.
posted by QIbHom at 10:57 AM on February 12, 2007


2sheets: I started working on ISBN13 over a year ago! I win!
posted by mrnutty at 11:23 AM on February 12, 2007


...and boy, I can't wait for the switch to GTINs!
posted by mrnutty at 11:26 AM on February 12, 2007


I haven't started working on ISBN-13 issues yet (but will some day)... I guess I lose.
posted by drezdn at 11:49 AM on February 12, 2007


...The same book can have different ISBNs according to small variations in packaging. For example, the Martin-Gay Beginning Algebra book 9th edition can be purchased as a standalone hard back, packaged with a MML for CourseCompass access code, packaged with a MML for Blackboard access code, packaged as a MML for Bb Vista access code, purchased as a custom book (each custom version with it's own ISBN) and so on...

"In the beginning was the Word...", Genesis Chapter 1, Volume I, Old Testament, Gutenberg Bible, 1454-1455.

552 years later, I wonder what Johann might think?
posted by cenoxo at 6:36 PM on February 12, 2007


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