First 979 ISBN prefixes assigned

The first 979-prefixed, 13-digit ISBNS will come from France as a result of their assignment to the French ISBN agency, AFNIL. The assignment is a wake-up call to organisations with systems that are not compliant with the 13-digit ISBN, because of the possibility that the last 10 digits of 979 ISBNs will duplicate ones carrying the current, 978 prefix. However, Nielsen Book, which runs the UK ISBN agency, believes that most UK organisations are ready for the transition. The International ISBN agency reports that there is still "plenty of capacity" in the system for ISBNS with publisher prefixes of three, four or five digits. Those publishers will continue to use the 978 prefix for some time to come - BookBrunch