SirsiDynix ISBN-13 TechTalk

Yesterday I attended the SirsiDynix TechTalk on ISBN-13. They addressed how they will be handling the conversion to ISBN-13 in their Unicorn product. If you are not using this product, you should contact your vendor to find out what conversion features they are offering.

The features below are available only if you upgrade to version GL3.0 (ask for the ISBN-13 patch that goes with this version) or GL3.1:

· All ISBN-10 title control numbers will be converted to ISBN-13. This conversion will aid in the match and load process that takes place via bibload and smartport.

· Any bibliographic record that contains an ISBN-10 in the 020 field will be searchable by both the ISBN-10 and the ISBN-13. The system will perform a conversion that will index all ISBN-10s and will calculate the ISBN-13 so it can be indexed as well. This means both numbers will be searchable in a general keyword search. If you have set up a custom ISBN search index, both numbers will be indexed there as well.

· NOTE: Bibliographic information will not be touched in this conversion process. These features only effect the title control # field and the search indexes.

· If you have been importing records from OCLC and the ISBN-13 is in the 024, it should not matter. Remember that if your match point is on the ISBN, it will be converted to ISBN-13, no matter where that number is in the bibliographic record. In addition, it will be indexed for searching as long as you have the ISBN-10 in the 020 field.

· EDI users will also see a conversion process. It will not matter whether the vendor sends you information with just an ISBN-10, your response to them will show an ISBN-10 and an ISBN-13. This will happen automatically whether you have both numbers in your bibliographic record or not.

The EDI feature is actually available in 2003.1. It is the only ISBN-13 feature that was back ported to 2003.1 systems.

For all ISBN-13 features to work, you must run Rebuildtext after you upgrade to GL3.1 or after you've upgraded to GL3.0 and have applied the ISBN-13 patch.

If you are a Sirsi library and have questions about this, I'd be happy to help address those if I can. Also, there is an ISBN-13 FAQ on the client care website. I don't think it's as clear as the TechTalk was but it does address several questions you might have. Thanks and have a great day everyone!