Stupid Question: ISBN-10 and ISBN-13

[Tegan]

I notice that Amazon.com has both listed where possible. But I'm not sure about other sites. Should I be using the ISBN-10 or the ISBN-13 in the ISBN field... or does it matter at all?

[kovidgoyal]

ISBN 13 and no it doesn't matter

[Lady Fitzgerald]

As Kovid said, it doesn't really matter. ISBN-13 is a newer standard because the old 10 digit standard was running out of room but ISBN-10 isn't likely to be phased out any time soon since so many older books only use it. When given a choice, I always enter the ISBN-13 "just because."

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

As Kovid said, it doesn't really matter. ISBN-13 is a newer standard because the old 10 digit standard was running out of room but ISBN-10 isn't likely to be phased out any time soon since so many older books only use it. When given a choice, I always enter the ISBN-13 "just because."

Where did you hear that?

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) evolved from the Standard Book Number (SBN) previously used in some English speaking countries. An SBN is converted to an ISBN by prepending a digit '0'. Prior to January 1, 2007 books were published using ISBN-10, a 9-digit number plus one check digit. New books now are assigned an ISBN-13 number. Under the old ISBN-10 system, the ISBN number was used to make a number that could be encoded into an Bookland EAN barcode. Under the new ISBN-13 number, the ISBN and the Bookland EAN number is the same.

ISBN(-10) has check digits 0-9 and X (Mod 11) which did not convert to an all numeric UPC/EAN code

ISBN-13 codes start with 978+the ISBN-10 (sans the check character) and a EAN computed check digit

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by theducks

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) evolved from the Standard Book Number (SBN) previously used in some English speaking countries. An SBN is converted to an ISBN by prepending a digit '0'. Prior to January 1, 2007 books were published using ISBN-10, a 9-digit number plus one check digit. New books now are assigned an ISBN-13 number. Under the old ISBN-10 system, the ISBN number was used to make a number that could be encoded into an Bookland EAN barcode. Under the new ISBN-13 number, the ISBN and the Bookland EAN number is the same.

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) evolved from the Standard Book Number (SBN) previously used in some English speaking countries. An SBN is converted to an ISBN by prepending a digit '0'. Prior to January 1, 2007 books were published using ISBN-10, a 9-digit number plus one check digit. New books now are assigned an ISBN-13 number. Under the old ISBN-10 system, the ISBN number was used to make a number that could be encoded into an Bookland EAN barcode. Under the new ISBN-13 number, the ISBN and the Bookland EAN number is the same.

Rethink using the code tag to quote a paragraph.