ISN Searching

ISN is an acronym which stands for International Standard Number. An International Standard Number can either by an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) or an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN).

An ISBN is a unique ten digit machine readable number that is assigned to a book for identification purposes.

An ISSN is a unique eight digit machine readable number that is assigned to a serial (ie. periodical, magazine, etc) for identification purposes.

To search for either an ISBN or an ISSN (both of which are usually located on one of the first few pages of a book or serial) simply enter the number (ignoring any punctuation marks such as ‘-‘) and then press Enter or select Search.

To repeat an ISN search you had conducted earlier without having to re-enter your search:

• select the down arrow appearing to the right of the ‘Search History’ box that appears at the top of the search results screen; the
• select the search you wish to repeat and the results of the search will automatically display.

What to do if your search was unsuccessful

• Check the numbers which display in the search box at the top of the search results screen to ensure that no “typos” were made when the search was entered. If this has occurred, simply correct the numbers which display in the search box and then select the ‘Search’ button which display’s to it’s right.
• If your search is still unsuccessful try conducting either a Title or Keyword search for the book or serial you are trying to locate.

More tips on searching are available here.