The International ISTC Agency, the official Registration Authority for the International Standard Text Code (ISTC), has announced that the International Organization for Standardization has formally published ISO Standard 21047, which is available now at http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/
catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=41603.
The ISTC system provides a means of uniquely and persistently identifying textual works in information systems. It also facilitates the exchange of information about such works between publishers, authors and authors associations, collective management organisations, libraries, search engines and others on an international level. The ISTC makes it possible to group together products containing the same content, or even in some cases, different content with the same origins, optimising their discoverability in search engines, retail and library cataloging systems.
The International ISTC Agency has already received a number of formal expressions of interest from prospective ISTC registration agencies in Europe.
Founded in 2008, the International ISTC Agency is responsible for the promotion, coordination and supervision of the ISTC standard and system. Bowker, Nielsen, CISAC (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers) and IFFRO (International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations) are its founding members.
