Improving the Availability of ISSN—A Joint Project

This session described the 2015 pilot project and ongoing cooperation between the International ISSN Centre based in Paris and ProQuest to identify active titles without ISSN. The project is using Ulrich’s periodicals database as the initial resource. Under the supervision of the International Centre, national ISSN centers determine whether the ISSN is simply missing or has never been assigned. The outcome of the project will be a benefit to librarians, publishers, and vendors as more titles will have ISSN registered with the national and international ISSN centers and in Ulrich’s Periodical Database. This will improve the electronic loading and matching of titles. Gaëlle Béquet, director of the International ISSN Centre, and Laurie Kaplan of ProQuest discussed how the project came to be, the pilot work and refinements to the process, and the ongoing work and schedule for going forward. The audience was encouraged to ask questions and help determine the best way to encourage all interested parties to use the ISSN as an identifier whenever possible.