ISSN International Centre Accepts VTLS Customized Software System for ISSN-L

ISSN Contact:

Centre International de l'ISSN

20 rue Bachaumont, 75002

Paris, France

issnic@issn.org

Paris, France --The ISSN International Centre, based in Paris, France, has accepted a customized software system for managing ISSN-L that was developed by VTLS Inc.

The project has an interesting history. During the revision of the ISO Standard on ISSN (ISO 3297), the worldwide serials community—those involved in the production, distribution, management of, and access to serial resources—requested that the ISSN system meet two needs:

1. The need for the ISSN to identify the various media versions of a continuing resource for product identification and management purposes. To meet this need, a separate ISSN is assigned to the various media versions of a resource in accordance with the ISSN Manual.

2. The need for a collocation, or grouping mechanism, that would link various media versions of a continuing resource and thus facilitate content management. To meet this need, the ISSN-L was defined. ISSN-L is the ISSN designated by the ISSN Network to enable collocation, or linking, among the different media versions of a continuing resource.

“We are very happy that VTLS was able to develop and deliver a software system to meet the complex set of requirements for ISSN-L. We have met our goal to put in production an automated system that increases the reliability of the data and reduces the workload of our day-to-day operations. We appreciate the long partnership that the Centre has had with VTLS,” said Françoise Pelle, director of the ISSN International Centre.

To start the project, the ISSN International Centre developed a detailed set of specifications. These specifications were designed to automate most of the daily functions associated with creating and managing the new ISSN-Ls. The project also required the migration of the existing data (more than 1 million records) using a complex set of rules for assigning the ISSN-L to each existing record. Additionally, software had to be developed to automatically assign ISSN-L in real time during the cataloguing process or to accept a cataloguer-assigned ISSN-L.

Pierre Godefroy, project manager for the ISSN-L, worked closely with VTLS from the first draft of the specifications until January 2009, when the system was completed and accepted. “I was quite happy to have the opportunity to work again with the knowledgeable and professional staff at VTLS. They had previous experience with ISSN and therefore understood our complex requirements and specifications. The cooperation was excellent, and we are satisfied with the results,” said Godefroy.

VTLS welcomed the opportunity to work on this project. “Our experience in creating the linking systems for FRBR and for the Archival Management System put us in a good position to develop this record-linking system for the ISSN International Centre. The Centre provided us with a great set of specifications, complete with examples and test cases, thus facilitating the software development process. We look forward to many years of continued partnership with the Centre,” said Vinod Chachra, president and CEO of VTLS Inc.

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About ISSN International Centre

The ISSN International Centre, headquartered in Paris, was created in 1976, following an agreement between UNESCO and the French government. The ISSN network consists of 87 National Centres, a Regional Centre for South East Asia and the International Centre. The main purpose of the Centre is to maintain, manage and promote the ISSN Register; to coach the National Centres in assigning and cataloging continuing resources and to create bibliographic records for continuing resources published in countries without a National Centre.