On June 25, 2020, the Library posted ISSNs on the pages of all of its blogs, including In Custodia Legis, which now bears ISSN 2691-6592 right under the “About this Blog” link on the upper left side of the page, and also on the bottom of the “About” page. If you are a serials cataloger, current or former, you probably geeked out as soon as you heard the news. It will now be so easy to find the blogs in an integrated library system (ILS); so much easier to track their status. It will also be easier to search for the title in its CONSER record!
If you’re not a serials cataloger, and not a librarian, chances are good you’ll wonder what an ISSN is. Or, more to the point, how this information affects you.
So, first, the basics. ISSN is the acronym for International Standard Serial Number. “An ISSN is an 8-digit code used to identify newspapers, journals, magazines and periodicals of all kinds and on all media–print and electronic.” In recent years, according to Regina Reynolds, the Library’s ISSN director, “blogs with specific topical or subject content (as opposed to general personal blogs) can receive ISSNs. In fact, ISSNs are encouraged for blogs with scholarly content.” All of the Library’s blogs just received these numbers on the basis of that scholarly content, including In Custodia Legis.