tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4990922102626688253.post784399862504474818..comments2023-04-15T11:42:35.385-04:00Comments on Go To Hellman: What IS an eBook, Anyway?Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14172740163003223132noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4990922102626688253.post-47872753391877842842011-01-13T15:06:31.342-05:002011-01-13T15:06:31.342-05:00So let me get this straight: publishers need separ...So let me get this straight: publishers need separate ISBNs to track sales per format...but publishers aren't interested in applying separate ISBNs. Am I the only one who sees a contradiction there? And why should there be any necessity to track a title based on DRM. Does a hardcover need a separate ISBN for the dust jacket?<br /><br />The fact of the matter is everyone is trying like mad to make an identifier work for something it was never intended to be applied to then coming up with reasons for why it needs to be done after the fact.<br /><br />As a publisher, if I wish to micromanage my ebook sales, I will do what any retailer does with products that come in multiple "formats": assign an in-house SKU for each item I want to track. The problem is that the industry has become so fixated on using ISBNs as identifiers they've developed tunnel vision.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09877467572070539509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4990922102626688253.post-57284480844544530052010-07-15T15:53:25.349-04:002010-07-15T15:53:25.349-04:00Although xISBN has a certain post facto value, it ...Although xISBN has a certain post facto value, it seems it would be sensible for publishers/distributors to make connections between the various ebook ISBNs that are derived from the same text. My understanding is that epub is used as a base format and the other formats are derived from that digital file.<br /><br />And couldn't we apply URI hash extensions to ISBNs? Something like <br /> <br /> uri:isbn:382649382x#pdf (or #epub, or etc.)Karen Coylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02519757456533839003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4990922102626688253.post-69106436298973988202010-07-15T12:16:23.520-04:002010-07-15T12:16:23.520-04:00The ISBN enabled machines to handle all the inform...The ISBN enabled machines to handle all the informational and transactional processes that involve the physical book via one unambiguous identifier for the physical object. It bridged the physical format and the electronic processes. <br /><br />When what you are transacting is an electronic object itself, the compelling need for that unambiguous identifier lessens dramatically. Elements in the transaction--even simply the name of the file--can convey file format, DRM data, price, duration, etc.Deanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08291611768450675127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4990922102626688253.post-48436335636266563202010-07-15T11:24:55.348-04:002010-07-15T11:24:55.348-04:00I fear that applying FRBR to ebooks might turn out...I fear that applying FRBR to ebooks might turn out to be like making layer cake out of pudding. But <a rel="nofollow">Lukas Koster's post</a> does a good job of stirring up that pot. Also, I usually get work, expression and manifestation confused. That must be a manifestation of working too hard on my expression!Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14172740163003223132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4990922102626688253.post-26159606644861338632010-07-15T10:43:34.069-04:002010-07-15T10:43:34.069-04:00In the workshop FRBF and Identifiers at ELAG 2010 ...In the workshop FRBF and Identifiers at ELAG 2010 that I attended (see http://elag2010.nationallibrary.fi/files/2010/06/ELAG-2010-workshop-on-FRBR-and-identifiers.pdf), ISTC was classified at the Expression level, not the Work level. For this we had ISWC, ISAN, OWI.<br /><br />In my own blog post http://commonplace.net/2009/11/is-an-e-book-a-book/ I treat ebooks a bit differently. Depending on the nature of the content it can be a Manifestitation or an Expression in the existing FRBF model. But it can be much more compicated than that. <br /><br />I must say, it was only art ELAF that I saw the true, commercial, nature of the ISBN, as you clearly describe here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4990922102626688253.post-5014331232723191912010-07-15T08:57:02.285-04:002010-07-15T08:57:02.285-04:00ISTC is intended to be a work identifier: http://w...ISTC is intended to be a work identifier: <a href="http://www.istc-international.org/html/" rel="nofollow">http://www.istc-international.org/html/</a>.<br /><br />If you want a URI for a work that is out there NOW, you could do worse than to use the OCLC Work ID, which is exposed through the xISBN service. for example, the Huck Finn OCLC Work ID is owi21660, which can be put into a URI like this: http://xisbn.worldcat.org/webservices/xid/owi/owi21660 The API for this is part of "xOCLCnum":<a href="http://xisbn.worldcat.org/xisbnadmin/xoclcnum/api.htm" rel="nofollow">http://xisbn.worldcat.org/xisbnadmin/xoclcnum/api.htm</a>.Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14172740163003223132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4990922102626688253.post-83621727491170989362010-07-15T00:48:30.238-04:002010-07-15T00:48:30.238-04:00Thanks for this.
You will obviously understand t...Thanks for this. <br /><br />You will obviously understand the reason of my question: is there a a universal identifier for the _work_ itself? I just want to refer to, say, Mark Twain's Hucklebery Finn, regardless of its edition... (I guess that is the FRBR Work)? Clearly, ISBN does not do it...<br /><br />Cheers<br /><br />IvanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com