My Desk

ISBN checker

• Checks and corrects the check digit of ISBNs, ISSNs, ISMNs and 13-digit EANs, or if the check digit is not supplied, calculates the required check digit.
• Hyphenates correctly most ISBNs and all ISMNs and ISSNs.
• Converts between ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 where appropriate.
• If the EAN (commercial barcode) is for a book, serial or item of music, extracts and displays the appropriate ISBN, ISSN or ISMN and calculates the correct check digit.
• If the EAN is for a serial publication and is longer than 13 digits, also extracts the issue number information contained in the extra digits.

Help
The check digit is incorrect: If you are told the check digit is wrong, then this could mean that one or more of the other digits in the number is incorrect.

What format must I type the number in? You should be able to type it in exactly as it appears on the publication. e.g. for the ISBN 0-19-235423-X you could type all sorts of things including 019235423X, 019235423x, 0-19-235423-x and 0 1923 5423 X.

It says I have typed in too much, or too little, or letters instead of numbers. All characters will be ignored apart from 0-9, X, x, M and m. For an ISSN the number should be 7 or 8 digits long, for an ISBN-10 or ISMN 9 or 10 digits, and for an ISBN-13 or EAN 12 or 13 digits (for a serial publication you can type in more, as the extra digits contain information about the issue number).

It reloads the page or doesn't work at all: This means that your browser does not have the necessary version of JavaScript enabled. If you think it ought to work and doesn't, you may contact me at the address below, giving full details of the problem and your browser set-up.

Useful dictionaries

• Your Dictionary.com (formerly A Web of Online Dictionaries)
• MLTT language identifier

Useful gazetteers, etc.

• Thesaurus of Geographic Names (Getty Information Institute)
• GEOnet names server
• Gazetteer of British Place Names
• AUSLIG Place Name Search (Australia)
• Querying Canadian Geographical Names
• New Zealand Geographic Place-Names Database
• U.S. Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)
• Useful list of UK local authorities

Miscellaneous Javascript and HTML links

• Colour codes chart
• JavaScript Reference
• JavaScript FAQ

Other miscellaneous links of possible reference use

• The definitive guide to British car numbers

Last updated 17th November 2003.