ISMN Users' Manual - 8. Administration of the ISMN system

The ISMN Users' Manual:

8. Administration of the ISMN system

The administration of the ISMN system is carried out at three levels: at the international, national/regional, and publisher level.

8.1. International administration

The international administration of the system is handled by the International ISMN Agency, which has an Advisory Panel representing ISO and the music publishing and music library communities (e.g., the International Association of Music Libraries Archives and Documentation Centres).

The address of the International ISMN Agency is:

International ISMN Agency
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz
10772 Berlin
Germany
Tel.: (+49 30) 266-2338 or 2496
Fax: (+49 30) 266-2378
E-mail: ismn@sbb.spk-berlin.de
URL: http://ismn-international.org

The main functions of the International ISMN Agency are as follows:

to supervise the use of the system.
to approve the definition and structure of national and regional agencies.
to allocate identifiers to national and regional agencies.
to advise national or regional agencies on the allocation of publisher identifiers.
to promote the world-wide use of the system.
to select an international board of experts to help with problem solving.
to promote the exchange of information by means of publications and regional meetings.
to publish and update an instruction manual. And
to coordinate ISMN bar code applications.

In addition, the International ISMN Agency offers the following services. It will:

provide a national or regional agency with lists of ISMNs (with computer-generated check digits) for the use of publishers in the agency's territory, or with the necessary software, respectively.
provide from information supplied by national or regional agencies an international music publishers' directory.
provide from information supplied by national or regional agencies a computer print-out of invalid or duplicate ISMNs.

8.2. National or regional administration

The assignment of publisher identifiers and liaison with publishers in the ISMN system is normally handled by national or regional agencies.
These agencies are appointed by the International ISMN Agency on the basis of a contract.

The functions of a national or regional agency are:

to maintain contacts with the publishers in the country or region and introduce new publishers to the system.
to handle relations with the International ISMN Agency on behalf of all the publishers in the country or region.
to decide, in consultation with trade organisations and publishers, the publisher identifier ranges required.
to allocate publisher identifiers to publishers eligible to join the system in the country or region and to maintain a register of these publishers and their publisher identifiers.
to decide, in consultation with trade organisations and publishers, which publishers shall assign numbers to their own publications and which publishers shall have numbers assigned to their publications by the national or regional agency.
to provide technical advice and assistance to the publishers and to ensure that standards and approved procedures are observed.
to make available a manual of instruction for publishers in the vernacular language(s).
to make available computer print-outs of ISMNs to publishers numbering their own publications with check digits already calculated.
to validate all ISMNs assigned by publishers numbering their own publications and keep a register of them.
to inform publishers of any invalid or duplicate ISMN assigned by them.
to assign numbers to all items from those publishers who do not assign their own ISMNs and advise the publishers concerned of ISMNs assigned to them.
to achieve, thereby, total numbering in the country or region.
to arrange with music listing and bibliographic agencies for the publication of ISMNs with the titles to which they refer.
to arrange with publishers for the numbering of their back lists and for the publication of these in appropriate trade lists and bibliographies.
to assist the trade in the use of the ISMN in computer systems.
to provide the International ISMN Agency regularly and free of charge with the complete data of publishers' prefixes and addresses for inclusion in an international music publishers' directory.
to inform the International ISMN Agency regularly about its own activities and the current state of the ISMN system in the region. And
to contribute financially to the maintenance of the International ISMN Agency.

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