How are the ISBN numbers on books determined?
by 
wickedwillie
ANSWERS: 1
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A publisher applies to the ISBN agency (in the U.S. http://www.isbn.org) for a publisher number. This number encodes what country the publisher is based in, and is unique for each publisher. The publisher may have multiple numbers, if more books are published than the number would allow for. Once the publisher has their prefix (which is less than 10 digits long), then they have the rest of the 10 digit number to assign to their products. They should only assign each number to one product, or book. The publisher may then (in the U.S.) send the information to R.R. Bowker, which maintains Books in Print, and is the database of record for the U.S. ISBN agency.
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