ISBN comes up as invalid?

[Michele]

Hi - I attempted to create a book in response to a user's request, but when I go to save it I get an error message that the ISBN is invalid. What does that mean?

This is the request, with the book information: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... I did double check the ISBN at the URL the user provided and it looks ok to me.

[Renske]

While it has the same length, that number is not an ISBN. An ISBN13 always starts with 978 or 979.

[Michele]

OK, so the page on the linked site must have a typo in it then, I guess. Thanks!

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I wonder if the numbers in Bangladesh have a different prefix?

Bowker ISBN converter http://www.isbn.org/ISBN_converter

accepts that ISBN and gives

7-00-000132-1

as the 10-digit.

(I have seen Bowker give an "invalid ISBN" result before, but not this time.)

[Michele]

I did a little research and yes, it appears that 984 is the prefix for Bangladesh, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

Is there a way to override the error?

[Miriam]

Michele wrote: "I did a little research and yes, it appears that 984 is the prefix for Bangladesh, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

Is there a way to override the error?"

The 984 Bangladesh ISBN is an ISBN-10, rather than an ISBN 13

[Renske]

The country/language part of the code comes after the 978 or 979 of an ISBN13, it doesn't replace it. The example for Bangladesh on the Wikipedia page is an ISBN10, not an ISBN13.

But practical speaking, if this is the number given on the book, there are two ways. Either it could be seen as an ISBN, with an error in it, and we add it in the ISBN slot, ignore the warning and add also a librarian note to explain it.
Or it is not an ISBN and it is not added to the ISBN slot, but can be added to the description as information for the users.
And I don't know what is the right solution for this case, but I think the first one is only used for very specific situations.

[Michele]

Thanks to everyone, I learn so much from you guys :) I went ahead and created the book, and put in a librarian note with the ISBN explaining that GR wouldn't accept as valid. I hope that's ok.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...