The Sultanate of Oman has joined the ISSN network by signing a Memorandum of Understanding during its participation in the ISSN annual meeting held in Tunis in October 2024.

By joining the ISSN network, the Ministry aims to learn from global experiences in using the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) to support the marketing and dissemination of periodicals published in Oman and to enhance the publishing sector and cultural identity on the international scene.

The UAE, represented by the National Library and Archives (NLA), has become the latest member state of the ISSN network. The NLA announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the ISSN International Centre and the UAE National Commission for Education, Culture and Science. The MoU was signed by Abdulla Majed Al Ali, Director General of the NLA, and Gaelle Bequet, Director of the ISSN International Centre.

In Bosnia-Herzegovina, no books have been published for weeks because International Standard Book Numbers (ISBN) and ISSN numbers for publications, journals and scientific papers are no longer being issued. The University and National Library, the only institution in Bosnia-Herzegovina that can issue such numbers, is out of operation. The background to the current crisis is that funding for seven state cultural institutions is not secured. Since 7 October 2024, nothing has been functioning at all due to the unclear legal status of the National Library. The library has also been closed to the public.

Each year this conference brings together more than 2,000 information professionals and exhibitors. On 14 November 2024, Gaëlle Béquet, Director of the ISSN International Centre, took part in a round table discussion on collaborative documentary policy as part of the Cooperative Collections Lifecycle Project (CCLP) coordinated by NISO, USA.

The National ISBN-ISSN-CIP Centre, hosted by the National Library of Romania, participated in the BIBLIOPUBLICA International Conference organized by the National Association of Public Libraries in Romania, held on November 11-12, 2024. The conference theme was The Public Library Network – A Dynamic Infrastructure Supporting Sustainable Development Priorities.

Aurelia Persinaru, the coordinator of the National ISBN-ISSN-CIP Centre, delivered a presentation titled Opportunities for Sustainable Development in Libraries – Standardized Identification of Publications. It emphasizes the role of bibliographic products, catalogs and databases generated through standardized publication identification activities in facilitating information access. The presentation highlighted resources such as the Catalog of Romanian Publishers, the CIP Catalog and Bibliography, the ISSN Portal, and ROAD.

The meeting provided an excellent opportunity to share information on standardized identification of publications in Romania and its objectives, while also facilitating discussions on strategies to promote Romanian publishing output.

Look at the programme.

Regina Romano Reynolds, Director of ISSN USA and head of the ISSN Section at the Library of Congress, will participate in a webinar organized by NASIG (North American Serials Interest Group).

ISSN may seem a simple subject but behind those 8 characters there is a lot going on. Learn about some of the shadowy situations that ISSN staff handle, and the detective work they sometimes have to do, as well as some ISSN facts– just the facts, ma’am– that might surprise you. The presentation will also pull back the curtain on some bright and shiny things to come in the ISSN world and will leave room for questions.

This webinar will take place on December 04, 2024, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET.

Register: https://nasig.org/event-5910944

Due to performing a renewal of ISSN Japan’s system, there will be a delay in the following services of the Japanese National Centre for ISSN from December 23, 2024.

-Sending Advance Notices to inform of an assigned ISSN
* Please submit your application by December 16, 2024 if you need to receive an ISSN in 2024.
* Though the centre will continue to accept applications from December 17, 2024, Advance Notices to notify of assigned ISSNs may be sent in January 2025 or later.
– Sending Formal Notices of ISSNs
– Answers to inquiries by e-mail (issnjpn) and by telephone.

Thank you for your understanding.

As part of the partnership between the ISSN International Centre and Mir@bel, new information has been added to Mir@bel. The open data on the country of publication of journals is now automatically retrieved from the ISSN portal to enrich journal records in Mir@bel.

Take a look at the Mir@bel data production diagram to see all the enrichments made automatically. From now on, the data retrieved from the ISSN portal will be the ISSN-L and the journal’s country of publication.

Gaëlle Béquet, Director of the ISSN International Centre, takes stock of the organisation’s development since 2014. In particular, she mentions the creation of the ISSN portal and the opening up of data, the expansion of the network notably with the accession of Austria, the United Arab Emirates, the Russian Federation, Peru and Ukraine, the implementation of a new data production tool accessible to all national centres and the collaboration with a wide range of partners such as DOAJ, Latindex, CLOCKSS, Portico, Rede Cariniana and Springer Nature, to name but a few. Read the full  article:

https://www.researchinformation.info/analysis-opinion/expanding-horizons

Gaëlle Béquet, Director of the International Centre, presented the Centre’s strategy at the General Assembly of the ISBN International Agency on 25 September. This was an opportunity to meet representatives of national ISBN centres from various countries, some of which are also national centres of the ISSN network.