What is ISNI?
The International Standard Name Identifier (ISO 27729) is used to uniquely identify persons and organisations involved in the creation, production, management and distribution of cultural content.
ISNI is a unique and permanent 16-digit number.
Registration agencies
KBR is the ISNI Registration Agency for Belgian public identities operating in a creative sector, e.g. the publishing industry.
We are the interface between the applicant and the ISNI International Agency, which creates and distributes the identification numbers, and manages the database.
Why get an ISNI?
The use of ISNI offers many advantages:
- it guarantees reliable identification of Belgian authors and prevents confusion between namesakes
- it facilitates the exchange of information about the creators of a work, for example for intellectual rights management
- it makes it easier to find and promote Belgian cultural content on the web
ISNI is also very useful to link data from different collections and databases, e.g. for scientific research or for applications intended for a wider public.
How do I obtain an ISNI?
To check whether you have already been assigned an ISNI, please check the international ISNI database.
KBR will assign an ISNI to all persons listed in its catalogue provided that the information about them is sufficiently rich and that at least one of their works is kept in the KBR collections.
Found an error?
Any errors in the ISNI database can be reported via the link « Please help us improve this record » in the ISNI database.
Errors in the bibliographic descriptions in the KBR catalogue can be reported via the link « Found an error? » in the description.