eResources & Library Technical Services: Obtain ISBN & ISSN numbers

How do I request an ISBN for a CSIR publication?

Certain documents published by the CSIR must have an International Standard Book Number (ISBN). An ISBN is a unique numeric book identifier usually allocated to commercial items of which substantial numbers are publicly for sale. ISBNs are not typically assigned to contract or internal reports.

Procedure to obtain an ISBN:

• CSIR publications: If you or your unit are publishing a document under the name of the CSIR, please contact us at CSIR Information Services to obtain an ISBN. She will also provide the names and addresses of the 5 legal deposit libraries, one of which is the National Library of South Africa, to which you are required by law to send a copy.
• Other South African publications: If you or an association to which you belong is publishing a publication, e.g. the proceedings of a South African conference, you need to ensure that the publication has an ISBN. In this case the ISN Agency at the National Library of South Africa will be able to assist. Copies of the publication should be submitted to the legal deposit libraries.

The advantage of an ISBN:

The National Library adds all South African publications to their collection. That implies that details of your publication will be available to all libraries in South Africa via SABINET. The National Library also adds the bibliographic details of all publications submitted to them to the database of the International Online Computer Library Centre (OCLC). The OCLC is situated in the USA but its database is accessible to all libraries world-wide. Having the bibliographic details of your publication included on SABINET and OCLC significantly increases the visibility of your publication.