Gibraltar Represented at ISBN and ISMN Conferences in Paris - 648/2024

Gibraltar Cultural Services recently attended the ISBN and ISMN Conferences in Paris, France. Over 84 delegates from 58 different countries and organisations attended. As Gibraltar's official ISBN agency, GCS representatives found the presentations and workshops provided valuable insights into international standards for book identification and music publications.

An ISBN is a unique international identifier for publications and replaces handling of long bibliographic records. An ISMN works on the same principal but for music manuscripts and related publications.

During the ISBN Conference, presentations from agencies across various countries shared updates and developments in their respective operations. This offered a clearer picture of the publishing landscape and the activities undertaken by other countries in the world of literature. A particularly memorable phrase from the conference was, "Receiving an ISBN is like christening a book," capturing the significance of the ISBN process in the publishing world.

In Gibraltar, on average two books are issued ISBNs every month, 24 new books every year. The majority of books in Gibraltar are self-published. Obtaining an ISBN ensures that a particular book can be recognised globally by any publisher, retailer, library and any other relevant institution. Gibraltar currently provides ISBNs for free in exchange for a donation of the publication to the John Mackintosh Hall Library. This ensures that Gibraltar maintains a complete collection of all books published in Gibraltar, for prosperity and accessibility to knowledge.