Every book should have an ISBN, and every ISBN should point to exactly one book. In Nepal, neither is reliably true. That matters for anyone building a library catalogue, because a catalogue that depends on ISBNs will break on Nepali books. Here’s how ISBN works in Nepal and what libraries should do instead.
What an ISBN is
The International Standard Book Number is a 13-digit number (10 digits before 2007) that identifies one edition of one book from one publisher. A paperback and a hardback of the same novel have different ISBNs; two copies of the same paperback share one.
That last point is the one libraries sometimes miss: an ISBN identifies a title, not a copy. If your library owns three copies of a book, all three carry the same ISBN.
How Nepali books get an ISBN
- Tribhuvan University Central Library (TUCL) is Nepal’s national ISBN agency. It began issuing ISBNs in 2000.
- Publishers and authors apply online and pay by bank. The fee reported in 2018 was Rs 300 per ISBN; check TUCL’s ISBN page for today’s.
- Getting an ISBN is voluntary. Plenty of Nepali books, especially from small publishers, schools, NGOs and self-published authors, have none.
Why Nepali ISBNs are unreliable in a catalogue
A 2018 Kathmandu Post investigation found three problems:
- Duplicates. An ISBN officer said they “once found 14 books with the same ISBN”, because some publishers reused one number and barcode on several books.
- Not listed internationally. Nepali ISBNs weren’t being forwarded to the international directories, so looking one up online often returned nothing.
- Many books have none. Publishers saw little use in them for the domestic market.
The international ISBN agency asked TUCL for clarification after the report, and applications have since moved online. But the books printed before then are already on your shelves, duplicates and all.
What this means for your catalogue
Don’t make the ISBN compulsory. A catalogue that requires an ISBN can’t hold half of a typical Nepali collection.
Don’t treat the ISBN as unique. If your software refuses a second title with the same ISBN, you’ll hit a wall the first time a publisher reused one.
Don’t expect ISBN lookup to fill in Nepali records. Online book databases rarely have Nepali titles, so plan to type them in, in Unicode. See cataloguing Nepali books in Unicode.
Do give every copy its own number. The accession number, written in the register and on the book in the order books arrive, is what identifies a copy. Put it on a barcode label, and lending and stock checks become one scan.
How Khulla handles ISBNs
Khulla was built with Nepali collections in mind:
- The ISBN is optional, and Khulla doesn’t reject a repeated ISBN, so a book with a reused number can still be catalogued.
- Every physical copy has its own barcode, which must be unique. Leave it blank and Khulla assigns the next number in sequence; or type your existing accession number.
- Khulla prints those numbers as barcode spine labels, and the same barcode is what you scan at the desk.
- Search finds a title from part of its ISBN, title, author, publisher or shelf mark, in Nepali or English.
In short
- In Nepal, TUCL issues ISBNs, but many books have none and some share one.
- Use the ISBN to help find a title, never to identify a book.
- Identify every copy with its own accession number or barcode.
Questions
Who issues ISBNs in Nepal?
Tribhuvan University Central Library (TUCL) in Kirtipur is Nepal's national ISBN agency. It has issued ISBNs to books published in Nepal since 2000, and accepts applications online.
How much does an ISBN cost in Nepal?
TU Central Library charged Rs 300 per ISBN when it moved applications online, according to 2018 reports. Check TUCL's ISBN page for the current fee.
Can two Nepali books have the same ISBN?
They shouldn't, but it has happened. A TU Central Library officer told the Kathmandu Post in 2018 that they once found 14 books with the same ISBN, because publishers reused numbers and barcodes.
How should a library identify books that have no ISBN?
Give every physical copy its own accession number or barcode when it arrives, and use that to lend and track it. The ISBN, where there is one, is useful for finding a title, not for identifying a copy.
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