About Us

The administration of the ISBN system is carried out on three levels :

The International ISBN Agency is appointed by [ISO] as the registration authority for the ISBN system worldwide. The International ISBN Agency is based in London and has appointed different National Agencies in different geographical areas to look after the administration of ISBN in that particular area for which they pay an annual fee to International ISBN Agency.
The administration of the ISBN system within a registration group/geographical area is the responsibility of the ISBN registration agency. Accordingly in India, it is done through an ISBN registration agency by name Raja Rammohun Roy National Agency (RRRNA) for ISBN under the Book Promotion Division, Deptt. of Higher Education, Ministry of Education. The ISBN registration agency provides publishers with all the forms and guidance that they need in order to receive ISBNs, in India ISBN is provided free of cost.
The publisher is the group, organisation, company or individual who is responsible for initiating the production of a particular publication.

It replaces the handling of long bibliographic descriptive records, thereby saving time and staff costs and reducing copying errors.
Correct use of the ISBN allows different product forms and editions of a book, whether printed or digital, to be clearly differentiated, ensuring that customers receive the version that they require.
The ISBN facilitates compilation and updating of book-trade directories and bibliographic databases, such as catalogues of books-in-print. Information on available books can be found easily.
Ordering and distribution of books is mainly executed by ISBN; this is a fast and efficient method.
Publishers, booksellers, libraries and others in the book industry use ISBNs to identify publications and determine the publishing country

Printed books and pamphlets (and their various product forms)
Braille publications
Publications that are not intended by the publisher to be updated regularly or continued indefinitely
Audiobooks (talking books) either on a physical carrier or accessible on the Internet for download or streaming
Digital publications (e-books) either on physical carriers (such as machine-readable tapes, diskettes, or CD-ROMs) or on the Internet (for download or streaming)
Digitised copies of printed monographic publications that are available in the supply chain
Microform publications
Educational or instructional software, films, videos, DVDs, transparencies either on a physical carrier or accessible on the Internet for download or streaming
Mixed media publications where the principal constituent is text-based, e.g. book with CD or book with DVD
Individual articles* or issues of a particular continuing resource where these are made available separately (but not the continuing resource in its entirety)
Art books and illustrated books with a title page and/or text or captions
e-book apps provided that they have a significant textual content and can be considered a monographic publication and are available to the public. Pictures, moving image and sound may be included
Maps and atlases

Continuing resources treated in their entirety as bibliographic entities (individual issues may qualify for ISBNs)
Abstract entities such as textual works and other abstract creations of intellectual or artistic content
Printed or digital materials that are intended for marketing or promotional purposes only such as advertising matter, widgets and the like
Printed music
Art prints and art folders without title page and text
Personal documents (such as a digital curriculum vitae or personal profile)
Greetings cards
Music sound recordings
Software, films, videos, DVDs or transparencies that are intended for any purpose other than educational or instructional
Digital bulletin boards
Emails and other digital correspondence
Games
Customized or personalised books not intended for general availability
License key vouchers to access digital monographic publications on the Internet