[thelist] World Full of Books - Database Collection
Luther, Ron
ron.luther at hp.com
Tue Jul 13 12:41:18 CDT 2004
Rob Smith asked:
>>Is there some MASTER database for ISBN that I can run queries off of?
Hi Rob,
I'm not an expert on Library Science or Book Classification schemes but I
do some book collecting ... so I run into some info from time to time.
I'm guessing no. There are a number of different groups that are
authorized to issue ISBN numbers. (While these activities are coordinated
by the International ISBN Agency in Berlin, that may not guarantee the
existence of a single centralized db to get access to.)
If it did exist, I'm still guessing the answer would be no ... unless
you would be willing to pay some kind of substantial fee -and- had
credentials indicating you were someone they wanted to grant that
kind of access to anyway.
Also, it may not get you what you think it might. (e.g. Your comment on
the Library of Congress - which, while it has a lot of books certainly
doesn't have one copy of *every* book.) The International Standard Book
Number (ISBN) is a relatively recent phenomenon. (As are the SBNs that
pre-date the ISBNs.) That means that there are a lot of old, out of print
books that never had and never will have an ISBN.
These sites that you are talking about that offer these searches. What
are they? Are they bookstores offering to let you search their wares by
ISBN? Univerity libraries? Publishing companies?
Here's a starting point on some ISBN faqs:
http://www.isbn.org/standards/home/isbn/us/isbnqa.asp
HTH,
RonL.
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