ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It is a unique numeric identifier used worldwide to identify books and other independent publications. Each ISBN corresponds to a specific edition and format of a book, making it easier for publishers, libraries, booksellers, and readers to find and organize publications accurately.
Initially, the ISBN was a 10-digit code, but it was expanded to a 13-digit format in 2007 to increase the range of identifiers available. The ISBN includes components that represent the book's language or country of origin, the publisher, the item number, and a check digit for validation. An example of an ISBN in the 13-digit format is 978-3-16-148410-0.