Someone undoubtedly knows the statistics, but I think most library workers
looking for recent materials routinely first search OCLC, etc. by
ISBN. It's much more likely to bring up a single, matching record than a
title search does. And ordering by ISBN instead of title makes it easier
to specify and get a particular edition of a title which has different
editions. Collectively, the ISBN system has saved lots of library time and
money. It was, and is, a good idea.
Stephanie Andrew
Film Study Center
Yale University
At 12:48 PM 3/23/2006, you wrote:
>It seems that some of our older films ( DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST, COME AND SEE)
>have them but most newer ones don't. I am afraid this is not anything we
>would pursue or pay for on our own so I assume most of our films will not
>have them. I would be surprised if companies like New Yorker, Wellspring,
>Koch Lorber etc have them either but I don't really know.
>
>
>
>On 3/23/06 9:44 AM, "Marlene Graham" <mgraham@york.cuny.edu> wrote:
>
> > Jessica
> >
> > FYI, I noted that a Kino title listed in the New York Public Library
> > database does not have an ISBN number. What it has is a Dynix number that
> > was assigned by the library.
> >
> > At Cinema Guild and Third World Newsreel where I was the distribution
> > director they purchase and assign ISBN numbers.
> >
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Marlene
> >
> >
> > Marlene Graham (aka Afua Kafi-Akua)
> > Media Resources Manager
> > York College
> > The City University of New York
> > Center for Academic Computing and Education Technology
> > Academic Core Building, 4G02A
> > 94-20 Guy R. Brewer Blvd.
> > Jamaica, NY 11451
> > Phone: 718-262-2753
> > Fax: 718-262-2114
> > mgraham@york.cuny.edu
> >
> >
> >
> > Quoting jrosner@kino.com:
> >
> >> Sorry I realize I am so out of the loop on this I was confusing them
> >> with OCLC numbers or records. We definately don't pay for ISBN
> >> numbers in fact
> >> our video dept has never heard of them. I suppose that means our
> >> titles do not
> >> have them but I really don't know. It has honestly never come up at all.
> >> I know that various wholesalers buy our stuff and resell it pre-catalogued
> >> but am totally clueless as to if that means that they get them ISBN
> >> numbers or they don't have them.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Quoting Herownword@aol.com:
> >>
> >>> Thanks to all who have responded (and to future responders as
> >>> well!). I'm a
> >>>
> >>> big fan of ISBNs and have put them on all the work we have
> >>> published/released since 1989 (and retroactively to the ones we produced
> >>> 1986-1988). I have
> >>> every intention of continuing to assign ISBNs to all new releases,
> but have
> >>> run into a roadblock, as I mentioned. Here is what I have learned
> so far:
> >>>
> >>> 1. Bowker is indeed the only agency that can assign ISBNs in the US and
> >>> since it is a monopoly it can and does charge big bucks. (As an aside,
> >>> ISBNs in
> >>> Canada appear to be free.)
> >>>
> >>> 2. ISBNs have traditionally been 10 digits (as are the ones I currently
> >>> use). As of January of 2007, a new 13-digit ISBN system will go into
> >>> effect. I
> >>> haven't called Bowker back yet, but my hunch is that it's because
> >>> the entire
> >>>
> >>> numbering system is being modified that I can't keep my old prefix.
> >>>
> >>> 3. Because each prefix is a technical number that denotes first
> of all the
> >>> country of origin and second of all the particular publisher, it's
> >>> much more
> >>>
> >>> convenient and less error-prone for a publisher to have the same
> prefix for
> >>> all titles. (To put this in perspective, the current 10-digit system
> >>> consists
> >>> of 7 digits of prefix and only 3 of suffix that changes with each
> >>> title.)The
> >>>
> >>> issue for smaller publishers is that Bowker sells ISBNs in blocks of
> >>> numbers
> >>>
> >>> and you can only get a consistent prefix when you purchase
> that particular
> >>> block; you can't go back and get more numbers for that prefix. The
> >>> smaller,
> >>>
> >>> more affordable blocks are much more expensive per number than
> the larger
> >>> blocks and also involve changing prefixes as time goes by. Larger
> >>> publishers of
> >>> course just purchase an initial block of 100 or 1,000 or 10,000
> ISBNs and
> >>> then they have the right to use those numbers, all with the same
> >>> prefix, far
> >>>
> >>> into the foreseeable future. (As another aside, I came across a website
> >>> that
> >>> suggested that in the future book and media reviewers will be able to
> >>> discern
> >>> the size of a publishing/media house by its ISBN; as far as I know,
> that's
> >>> not possible now.)
> >>>
> >>> 4. The tooth fairy doesn't put ISBNs under your
> pillow, Jessica. Somebody
> >>> somewhere is in charge of assigning them to your titles. The ones you
> >>> distribute that are produced by others would, of course, come with ISBNs
> >>> already
> >>> assigned (and with a variety of prefixes, one for each
> publisher). But for
> >>> any
> >>> that Kino actually publishes, someone on your staff (or possibly an
> outside
> >>> contractor like a copyright/permissions professional or lawyer)
> assigns the
> >>> ISBN.
> >>>
> >>> So, there you have it. I'll probably bite the bullet and purchase
> a pricey
> >>> block of ISBNs, but then, I've been in business for 20
> years. It does seem
> >>> to me unfortunate that a system is evolving that greatly disadvantages
> >>> startup
> >>> and micro publishers. The ISBN system is fabulous; it's just too
> bad that
> >>> the US ISBN price system is structured the way it is.
> >>>
> >>> Many thanks again for this listserv.
> >>>
> >>> Jocelyn Riley
> >>> HerOwnWords.com
> >>> NontraditionalCareers.com
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Videolib mailing list
> >> Videolib@library.berkeley.edu
> >> http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/videolib
> >>
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/videolib
>
>
>
>Proud Resident of a BLUE STATE
>
>Jessica Rosner
>Kino International
>333 W 39th St. 503
>NY NY 10018
>jrosner@kino.com
>212-629-6880
>
>
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