Preface

After a preliminary version of the "ISMN Users’ Manual" has been in circulation for some time, this is the first complete edition of this interpretation of ISO Standard 10957. Large parts were first drafted by Lenore Coral (Cornell University Library, Ithaca) and Anders Lönn (Music Academy Library, Stockholm). The current edition profited from valuable suggestions from Jane Thacker (Ottawa).

A first "ISMN Users' Manual" was published in German in August 1994; it is proof of the strong interest of the publishers of the German-speaking area in the ISMN.

As some discussions and negotiations with EAN International are under way in order to achieve closer cooperation, the paragraphs regarding bar coding have not been filled in. Otherwise this manual is complete. To meet an urgent need worldwide this edition is therefore published in a preliminary way. The final edition is scheduled for autumn 1995.

Hartmut Walravens        Berlin, February 1995

Preface to the 3^rd edition

The "ISMN Users' Manual" has gone out of print again. The third edition now provides the welcome opportunity of making some minor additions.

In the meantime the ISMN system has grown to twenty agencies, while the second edition of the "Music Publishers' International ISMN Directory" is another landmark. The music -trade has already two "Music in Print" publications on CD-ROM (Germany and UK), and one database is also available on the Internet for online ordering--this shows the growing acceptance of the ISMN.

Hartmut Walravens        Berlin, July 1998