ISBN Portal

• Union government has launched a portal for registration and allotment of International Standard Book Number (ISBN) .
• The ISBN portal is a part of central government’s e-governance initiative for streamlining the process of registration for publishers and authors which will make the process userfriendly.
• ISBN gives an identity to a book without which the bookshops will not sell it.
• The ISBN portal seeks to completely automate the process of seeking application, their examination and allotment of ISBNs. The developed software has several modules including users’ registration and online application submission.
• The automation process also seeks to maintain inventory as well as process the data that will be provided by the users. There will be doing away with receipt of hard copy of any document unless considered appropriate for establishing the identity of the applicant and for confirming the book publishing activity.

About ISBN

• Raja Ram Mohan Roy National Agency for ISBN is responsible for ISBN registration in India.It is nodal agency affiliated with UK based international ISBN agency.
• ISBN is displayed in barcode format, ISBN is a 13 character identification allotted by International ISBN Agency through the National ISBN Agency
• ISBN is free in India unlike other countries like US and UK where publishers need to pay huge money for its registration.

Analysis:

• This initiative is aimed at ensuring ease of registration, enhanced accessibility, wider transparency, trust and credibility and greater efficiency for the book writing fraternity in the country.
• This wll help in quick and easy search of bibliographic data.
• The books published and allotted ISBN Numbers by RRRNA will get globally identified in worldwide catalog of published books.
• The initiative will place India on the global map with other countries providing digital services.
• It is a key Milestone towards ensuring a “digitally” transformed India.

By: Vishal