3. Identification of electronic products in the field of sheet music

It was discussed that, similar to ISBN and ISSN, these forms should have a different ISMN because this is a different form of media. Nevertheless the problem of terminology will certainly have to be solved.

Peter Schuck informed the meeting of the view of the publishers in Germany that only the content counts, not the form. The customer chooses the way of distribution because of the possibility of cutting costs.

The IA encourages the numbering of Internet publications as this may be the only means of bibliographic control currently available. The advantage is that sheet music publications in whatever media may be identified by the same system, and this system is completely compatible with both the DOI and the NBN.

Barcoding

Dr. Walravens once more drew the attention to the fact that the EAN bar code is free of charge for both ISMN and ISBN. EAN is a non-profit organisation in close cooperation with the IA.