International Standard Book Number, or ISBN

The unique number that is assigned to any book. It helps in identifying a book in the spheres of publishing and librarianship. An ISBN consists of letters and numbers and usually represents a set of numbers and hyphens separated with spaces. For example, the ISBN 978-5-7442-0729-8.

This number is indicated on the back of the title page, at the bottom and to the left. Each book is assigned its own unique ISBN, and the same number cannot be used for different books.

If the book is divided into several parts, where each one represents an edition, then each of these parts will have its own ISBN. For example, if a book has two volumes, then each volume will have its own ISBN, and there will also be the general ISBN for the entire edition.

The editions that are published with different covers but belong to the same issue will have identical ISBN.

The ISBN system has been used since 1972 in international publishing, also in Russia since 1987 in Russia. Here the Russian Book Chamber performs the functions of the national ISBN agency.