The National Library of Australia as the Australian ISMN Agency is making some exciting changes to our services.

The Library currently provides Australian music publishers with a range of services to help your publishing workflow. Including suppling ISMN’s and the Cataloguing in Publication (CiP) service. Through CiP, the Library creates a catalogue record for a publication before it is published. This service is for Australian publishers who want details of their upcoming publications made available to over 1,000 Australian libraries and library suppliers for acquisition purposes.

What’s changing?

The Library is modernising the CiP service. Book publishers have already begun using the Library’s replacement service, known as the Prepublication Data Service (PDS), and music publishers will now be given the same opportunity. The new Music PDS will launch on 11 December 2019.

PDS offers a faster turnaround for publishers by automating the creation of prepublication data. The process is very similar to the current system of ISMN allocation and CiP records with publishers asked to provide details of their publications and choose from a short list of music specific subjects to best describe their publication. The new service will automatically create a prepublication record shared with Libraries Australia and Trove, enhancing the reach of your publication to Australian libraries and library suppliers.

It will no longer be mandatory for publishers to have an ISMN to use the service, though ISMN’s will continue to be available through the Australian ISMN Agency.

A prepublication record will no longer be supplied to print in your publications, instead an optional cataloguing statement will be made available for inclusion. You will continue to provide a copy of your publication via legal deposit.

Once launched information collected via ISMN allocation and PDS application will be used to automatically create a bibliographic record for your publication.

Our forms will look a little different

As part of our improved services, we are streamlining a number of our forms.

  1. If you are a new ISMN publisher, or an existing publisher who needs to update your contact details, you can register or vary your information in one place on our Publisher details form.
  2. You now have option to request a single ISMN if you are unlikely to use more than one, and the option to request standard barcodes for use on your publications.
  3. The ISMN allocation and PDS request will be combined in one form, streamlining the process for publishers.

Please note it is optional to include the prepublication cataloguing statement in your publication and an ISMN is not required to use the PDS service.

If you have any questions pleased read our FAQs. You can also make a general enquiry or enquire about an existing Prepublication Data Service application through our online application forms.