Hi Marybeth and listers, I'm sure someone will check this book for you and see if it has an ISBN number. However, I will make a general reply, since I am a librarian and have some experience with ISBN numbers. ISBN numbers are assigned to books by their publishers, who purchase (they are not free) a series of numbers to assign to their upcoming publications. Unfortunately, most genealogy books are published in very limited quanties and are never assigned ISBN numbers. Also, often family genealogies are not published by a large publisher like Knopf, Harper, or the like, and the publisher does not have a series of numbers to pull from. Individuals often print things themselves, via a local printing company -- this is called 'vanity press' and these companies don't routinely even know what an ISBN is. If a book is purchased from a large bookstore like Barnes and Noble, it will have an ISBN. This is why the Centre co Genealogical Society books are not carried by these stores -- they will not carry them unless they have an ISBN and it is too much trouble and expense for the CCGS to purchase a series of ISBN numbers for our books. Also, an ISBN is unique to a certain edition of a book, so that if even one word is changed in a subsequent printing, the book must receive a new ISBN. More headaches than most societies or individuals are willing to put up with. Hope I've helped? I've been away for 2 weeks and have not read every posting to this list, so this question may already have been addressed. If so, sorry!!!! Ellen Copper State College, PA fec33@earthlinkl.net Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 14:30:29 EDT From: ACMBJC@aol.com To: PACENTRE-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <170.f948e64.2a4a10c5@aol.com> Subject: [PACENTRE] ISBN number needed Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Adams, Marguerite Eleanor Dolan, and Earl K. Adams. The Harper, Reader, Dolan Line Out of Pennsylvania (Some Texas Descendants) (San Diego, Calif., 1984). Listers: Could someone on the list who has access to the Centre Co., PA Library, Pennsylvania Room, check for the ISBN # for the above listed book? I would like to order this book through ILL, and have been told I need the number in order to do this . Many thanks for your help. Marybeth Corrigall ACMBJC@aol.com