I like the idea of a master ISBN (one number to rule them all? Sorry, too easy) but I think failing that I'd stick with the Ebook's ISBN. Any search on it will give a user the title and author of the work. Plus, it gives you a unique number for each item.

Joel

-----Original Message-----
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Michael Lackhoff
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 02:30
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Minimal bibliographic record as filename

On 21.05.2013 20:14 Eric Lease Morgan wrote:

> The convention I have always used included the first word of the author's last name, the first (non-stop) word of the title, and an integer (accession number):
> 
>   plato-republic-105.epub

It has the advantage of being short but I would like a bit more info, at least publication year and a longer part of the title and the/a ISBN.
Perhaps I will just make something up myself.

Since I would also like to include the ISBN, is there such a thing like a "main" or "master" ISBN in case a work has more than one of them? I am looking for something like the ISSN-L, but of course for books instead of journals. Something like the reverse of the xISBN service: 'many to one' instead of 'one to many'.
If there is nothing like that I might just use the first one given in the book.

-Michael