A new analysis of Bowker® Books In Print shows that a full 33 percent of its contributors have the ISO-certified International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI) connected with their names and in use in the database. ISNI was created just over two years ago and has topped 8 million assignments, 2.33 million of which are represented in Books In Print, showing rapid uptake by authors and other contributors.
Published in early 2012, the standard applies a unique 16-digit code to public identities, providing a single identifier that can be leveraged across many applications, syncing alternate or disparate spellings of the same name, and eliminating confusion when names are alike. ISNIs are in use by organizations such as Wikipedia, Digital Science, ORCID, and many others. Bowker, an affiliated business of ProQuest and a registration agency for the standard, tracks assignments and usage of ISNIs.
The ISNI International Agency – a worldwide group of organizations that serves researchers, rights management organisations, authors, musicians, and other public contributors – created the standard to disambiguate names. Once an ISNI is assigned by a registration agency, it is shared across the global digital information industry, enabling organisations to apply it to content held in their databases by or about that party. The ISNI then acts as a link for data.
Users tapping into any of the organisations that use ISNIs will need only a name and just enough background data (such as a birth date or book title) to zero in on the correct identity. ISNIs are especially critical for rights management, accurate royalty payments, and cross-domain linking.
Organizations and individuals can apply for an ISNI for any public identity – real or fictional – through a registration agency, such as Bowker.
