ISBNs are unique for different editions, right?

[Gary]

The book cover image shown, the number of pages, and the physical dimensions are not right for the book I'm holding in my hand that has the ISBN shown. Do different editions of the same book have different ISBNs, or are they the same? I would like to "fix" the entry, but if some people actually HAVE a small book with 278 pages, I'd need to create a new entry with the same ISBN. Which sounds wonky.

Anyone?

[Jessica]

Sometimes they reuse the ISBNs. You can create a new entry with your information, just make sure you add a librarian note that it is an alternate edition for ISBNXXX. If you have trouble with this, just let us know and we'll add the note.

[Cheryl]

Sometimes a single ISBN can refer to two completely different books, not just two editions. Just saying, FYI.

[Dorin]

really, is that actually possible?
i did encounter two books for which the ISBN on the cover was the same. One book already existed on Goodreads, I wanted to add the other one and first searched by isbn.
(yet for one of the books there was another ISBN on the inside cover) - we are checking with the publisher which is which.

But is it actually possible for two totally different books (diff author, diff title, etc) to have the same ISBN? As in... the formula that generates the ISBN really has this output, or is it just a mishap of the publisher/printer/etc?

[Vicky]

Dorin wrote: "really, is that actually possible?
i did encounter two books for which the ISBN on the cover was the same. One book already existed on Goodreads, I wanted to add the other one and first searched b..."

Yes it is. I believe it's mainly in error (or attempt to save money) on the part of the publishers.

[Gerd]

If you think about it, for a publisher there's no reason to use a new ISBN number if theres one free again because the book that used it is no longer getting printed.

[Dorin]

i get it. although i would find it more appropriate for publishers to re-use an ISBN for an alternate edition for the same book (meaning same contents - author, title), if the previous edition is no longer being printed...

in the case of what I encountered, the two books are by the same publisher, at a difference of a couple of years (quite unlikely that the first book was no longer being printed), so probably it's just a "typo".

Thanks!