Locate the ISBN on the back cover of the book or on the inside front cover of some paperpacks. Notice if there are two ISBNs. From 2007, the basic 10 digit code was prefixed by '978', so there may be a 10 or 13 digit code listed or both.
Look at the ten digits following the '978' prefix and notice that they are divided into 4 groups of numbers separated by a hyphen e.g. ISBN 978-1-906694-18-0
In this example:
The first group (1 ) indicates the language sharing country group the code was issued in.
The second group (906694) gives the name of the publisher the code was issued to.
The third group (18) shows the title and edition of the book.
The fourth group (0) is a single digit validating number to allow a check if the number has been quoted correctly. 'X' can appear here to represent the number 10 as there can only be one digit which is assigned from 0-10.
Use the ISBN to order books online and at retail stores or to locate a copy of the work in a library. To find further information on a book, take details from the ISBN.org site to contact the national body responsible for ISBN allocation in you country . In the US, for example, registrations are administered by R.R.Bowking.