Standardization issues within the ISSN Network

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Standardization issueswithin the ISSN Network

• F. Pellé, Director
• ISSN International Centre
• Vilnius, September 2004

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ISSN an ISO standard

• ISO 3297 International Standard Serial Number
• ISO/TC46/SC9
• Chair Brian Green (BIC / EDItEUR)
• Secretary Jane Thacker (LAC-BAC, Canada)

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under revision

• 5-year review
• Working group WG5 (ISO TC46/SC9/WG5)
• WG5 includes representatives from the various
  communities interested in the identification of
  continuing resources

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WG5 (1)

• Publishers
• STM publishers
• Periodicals
• And others
• Subscription agents
• Libraries
• AI services

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WG5 (2)

• Other standards in relation
• ISBN, ISMN
• ISTC
• DOI
• OpenURL, Crossref
• Rights management organisations
• ISSN network
• Etc

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WG5 main tasks assigned

• Scope (continuing resources ?)
• Definitions
• Assignment policy
• Metadata
• Administration of the system
• New roles for some actors ?
• produce the new standard !

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Revision deadlines

• Revision launched in October 2003
• Committee draft (CD) end of 2004
• 3 months review and comments (SC9)
• Draft international standard (DIS) spring 2005
• 5 months vote and comments (ISO national bodies)
• Final Draft International Standard (FDIS)
  spring 2006
• 2 months vote (ISO national bodies)
• Publication October 2006

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What has been done ?

• 2 WG5 meetings
• Paris (ISSN IC), January 2004
• Amsterdam (Elsevier), May 2004
• Survey
• Ad hoc groups created an actively working

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Outcomes (1)

• ISSN is used for many various purposes, e.g.
• Publishing process
• Identification function
• Management
• Serials, subscriptions, etc.
• De-duplication of records (union lists,
  libraries)
• Rights
• Distribution (bar-codes)
• Press distribution, postal services, etc.
• Citation
• Titles, articles

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Outcomes (2)

• ..
• Access to journals and articles in the Internet
  environment (Crossref, DOI, OpenURL, URLs, URNs,
  etc..)
• Both in print and electronic environments

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Outcomes (3)

• ISSN is used by many various users, e.g.
• Publishers
• Libraries and union lists
• Subscription agents
• Press distributors
• Postal services
• OpenURL, Crossref, DOI
• AI services
• Etc

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Decisions already made (1)

• Scope continuing resources, including
• serials, with a principle of comprehensive
  coverage
• and ongoing integrating resources, with a
  principle of selective coverage
• whatever the medium of publication
• No extension to  pure  article identification

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Decisions already made (2)

• Informational annexes to be added
• Bet practices for the use of ISSN in DOIs
• ISSN as DOI suffix
• Best practices for the use of ISSN in relation
  with OpenURL
• Definitions and wording to be carefully worked out

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Decisions already made (3)

• ISSN decision structures
• Open decision structures to ISSN user communities
  outside the library world
• Principle approved by the Governing Board
  implementation being investigated
• Contract with ISO / TC46
• Needed now to designate ISSN IC as Registration
  Agency for ISSN
• Such contracts did not exist when IC was created

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Main question

• Assignment policy
• Today separate ISSN assigned to the various
   versions  of a  same  title, for instance to
  the print and the electronic versions
• What about tomorrow ?

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Main needs (1)

• Differentiation
• 2 separate  products  have to be identified
  separately (subscription managment, press
  distribution, bar-codes)
• ISSN assignment (and ISSN records creation) has
  to be kept harmonized with the main cataloguing
  codes (to avoid extra work, and to support
  library functions)

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Main needs (2)

• Collocation (grouping)
• 1 unique  title  has to be uniquely identified,
  whatever the medium of production
• Need for accessing the content, whatever the
  medium of production
• therefore need for grouping the various
  versions, for various uses and users
• ..and wish to use the ISSN for that purpose

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First step

• WG5 acknowledged those 2 apparently contradictory
  needs
• Grouping (collocating)
• Differentiating
• And decided to undertake a survey on 4 scenarios

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The scenarios (1)

• A stick to the present policy assign separate
  ISSN to different product media
• B move to assignment at the  title  level
  assign only 1 ISSN to the different media products

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The scenarios (2)

• C expand the system to a  base  ISSN a
  suffix
• Same base ISSN for the various media, suffix to
  differentiate
• D assign separate ISSN to the various media,
  designate one of them as the  master  or
   reference  ISSN, link the other ISSN to the
   reference  ISSN

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Survey results (1)

• No consensus or majority opinion in favour of one
  approach
• although scenarios A and C were preferred more
  than the others.
• Some major users of ISSN at opposite extremes in
  terms of their positions.

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Survey results (2)

• A status quo
• desired AND not desired
• B change ISSN to title-level identifier
• Product-level identification missing
• C base ISSN suffix
• attractive, BUT problems
• Costs ? Feasibility of implementation in all
  communities ?
• Bar-codes ?
• D  master   product  ISSN
• too complicated unclear

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Other solutions ?

•  Functional granularity  assignment policy
• Publishers determine how many ISSN are needed for
  transactions
• Create a title-level identifier
• Embed one of multiple ISSN in a larger identifier
  such as DOI, URN, ISTC, etc.

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Where are we today ?
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Ad hoc groups

• Scope in the light of functional granularity
  policy
• Communicate to libraries about work in progress
  and  functional granularity More prominent
  role for publishers in ISSN assignment ?
• Title /  work  level identification, including
  use of ISSN in combination with DOI, URN, ISTC,
  etc.
• ISSN Register new functions and services ?

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Scope

• Under discussion
• continuing resources as products ?
• Include
• principles for determining inclusion/exclusion
• Exclude
• ephemeral resources, local or personal interest,
  freely distributed promotional advertising
  publications

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Functional granularity (1)

• According to transaction needs
• publisher determines how many ISSN are needed,
  e.g.
• Publisher A 1 ISSN for print and electronic
• Publisher B 3 separate ISSN for print,
  eletronic and CD-ROM

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Functional granularity (2)

• Cons
• Unpredictable, inconsistent
• Problems for library catalogs and national
  library records
• No assignment policy !
• Pros
• Greater publisher involvement and  ownership 
  on ISSN
• Better comprehension, better partnership, better
  update and coverage

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Title-level identification

• Embed one ISSN in another identifier
• URN ?
• DOI ?
• ISTC ?
•  Info URI ?
• Pros and cons in each case still under
  discussion

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ISSN Register

• Direct input of metadata by publishers
• possible and beneficial
• New computer system (under implementation) a
  plus for all users
• Interface improvements
• New functions
• real-time checking of ISSN request status
• Etc..

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Main question remains

• Assignment policy
• Role and place of ISSN in the electronic
  environment
• Role and place of publishers in the assignment
  process

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Next steps

• Next meeting 25-26 October 2004, Washington
  D.C.
• More information at
• http//www.lac-bac.gc.ca/iso/tc46sc9/wg5.htm

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Thank you for your attention

• issnic_at_issn.org