Il sistema ISSN in Italia

The paper describes the main characteristics of the ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) method for identifying serials, and illustrates the institutional distinctive features, aim and objectives of the ISSN system. Some operational aspects of the ISSN international Network are briefly pointed out: how the ISSN is used in barcodes for the commercial distribution of the publications, how it is employed as a unique bibliographic identifier in national and international databases and repositories, what's the procedure for the code assignation and for the cataloguing of serials, which are the data search functionalities in ISSN archive and its potential bibliographic uses. The article also describes the role and activities of the ISSN Italian Centre, that is an institutional member of the ISSN Network as well as a national interlocutor for publishing and scientific users.