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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <title>ISNI | Our History</title> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, maximum-scale=1.0, user-scalable=0"> <link rel='canonical' href='https://isni.org/page/our-history' /> <meta name='description' content='Around the year 2010, six major organizations came together to establish the ISNI International Agency (ISNI-IA) as a vehicle to launch the ISNI standard.'> <meta name='keywords' content='History, origin, founding members'>  <meta itemprop='name' content='Our History'> <meta itemprop='description' content='Around the year 2010, six major organizations came together to establish the ISNI International Agency (ISNI-IA) as a vehicle to launch the ISNI standard.'> <meta name='twitter:title' content='Our History'> <meta name='twitter:site' content='ISNI | '> <meta name='twitter:description' content='Around the year 2010, six major organizations came together to establish the ISNI 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alt="Home page" title="Home page"><img src="https://isni.org/images/isni-logo.png" class="img-responsive"/></a> </div> <div class="navbar-header"> </div> <div class="col-md-10 nav-links-sect padding-fix"> <div class="col-md-7 col-sm-12 padding-fix"> <div class="container-fluid padding-fix">  <div id="navbar" class="navbar-collapse collapse menu-dropdown padding-fix"> <ul class="nav navbar-nav resp-menu"> <li class="dropdown"> <a class="dropdown-toggle" aria-expanded="false" href="#" data-toggle="dropdown">ABOUT<strong class="caret arw-ico"></strong></a> <ul class="dropdown-menu"> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/what-is-isni/">What is ISNI?</a></li> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/governance" >Governance</a></li> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/our-history">Our History</a></li> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/objectives-and-policies">Objectives & Policies</a></li>  </ul> </li> <li class="dropdown"> <a class="dropdown-toggle" aria-expanded="false" href="https://isni.org/page/isni-community" data-toggle="dropdown">ISNI COMMUNITY<strong class="caret arw-ico"></strong></a> <ul class="dropdown-menu"> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/isni-community">The ISNI Community</a></li> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/isni-registration-agencies" >ISNI Registration Agencies</a></li> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/isni-members">ISNI Members</a></li> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/direct-data-contributors">Direct Data Contributors</a></li> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/isni-consultation-groups">ISNI Consultation Groups</a></li> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/isni-technical-advisory-committee">ISNI Technical Advisory Committee</a></li> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/joining-isni">Joining ISNI</a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="dropdown"> <a class="dropdown-toggle" aria-expanded="false" href="#" data-toggle="dropdown">RESOURCES<strong class="caret arw-ico"></strong></a> <ul class="dropdown-menu"> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/how-isni-works">How ISNI Works</a></li> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/Data-Quality-Procedures">Data Quality Procedures</a></li> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/data-inputs-and-outputs">Data Inputs & Outputs</a></li> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/guidance-for-isni-practitioners">Guidance for ISNI practitioners</a></li> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/technical-documentation">Technical Documentation</a></li>  <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/linked-data">Linked Data</a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="dropdown"> <a class="dropdown-toggle" aria-expanded="false" href="https://isni.org/page/news" data-toggle="dropdown">NEWS<strong class="caret arw-ico"></strong></a> <ul class="dropdown-menu"> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/articles/news">News & Archive</a></li> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/isni-newsletter">ISNI Newsletter</a></li> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/articles/events">Events</a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="dropdown"> <a 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action="https://isni.org/page/news/" method="GET" class="searchbar" role="search"> <input type="hidden" name="SF1" value="keyword"> <span>SEARCH WEBSITE: </span><input autocomplete="off" class="searchbar form-control-no-border qsearch inactive_search" name="ST1" type="text"> </form> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </header> <div class="container main-gutter"> <div class="edit" contenteditable="false"><h2 class="page-title-header">ISNI Origins</h2><p>In 2010, six major organizations came together to fund and establish the ISNI International Agency (ISNI-IA) as a vehicle to launch the ISNI standard.  These Founding Members contributed initial data loads, specialist expertise and software/database design to get the new standard off the ground.  The Founding Members were:</p><ul class="isni-list"><li><p>CENL (the Conference of European National Librarians, jointly represented by the British Library and Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF))</p></li><li><p>CISAC (the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers)</p></li><li><p>IFRRO (International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations)</p></li><li><p>OCLC</p></li><li><p>ProQuest</p></li><li><p>SCAPR (Societies' Council for the Collective Management of Performers' Rights)</p></li></ul></div><div class="edit" contenteditable="false"><p>Five organizations associated with the Founding Members are still actively involved with ISNI and provide the majority of the members of the ISNI-IA Board:</p><ul class="isni-list"><li><p>The British Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, jointly continuing the earlier involvement begun by CENL</p></li><li><p>CISAC – Members of CISAC are 229 authors’ societies from 121 countries. CISAC indirectly represents around 3 million creators and publishers of artistic works in all genres including music, drama, literature, audiovisual, photography and the visual arts.</p></li><li><p>IFRRO – Some 90 Reproduction Rights Organizations plus about 55 national and international author, publisher and visual creator associations are IFRRO Members and Associate Members.</p></li><li><p>OCLC – OCLC is a non-profit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing library costs. More than 72,000 libraries in 170 countries have used OCLC services to locate, acquire, catalogue, lend, preserve and manage library materials.</p></li></ul></div><div class="edit" contenteditable="false"><p>OCLC has played a dual role throughout ISNI’s development to date, both as Board Member and as the technology supplier that has constructed and maintained the ISNI database and associated algorithms and software.  Operationally, OCLC operates the ISNI Assignment Agency (ISNI-AA) on ISNI-IA’s behalf.</p><p>In a parallel development, the ISNI Quality Team (ISNI-QT) has been operated and and supported throughout this period by expert staff from the British Library and Bibliothèque nationale de France. More recently, both organizations have also become ISNI Registration Agencies in their own right.</p></div><div class="edit" contenteditable="false"></div></div> <footer> <a href="#" class="back-to-top"><i class="fa fa-arrow-circle-up"></i></a> <div class="container-fluid"> <div class="footer-main"> <a class="search-database-btn-footer" href="https://eepurl.com/hu4IRj" target="_blank">MAILING LIST</a> <a class="search-database-btn-footer" href="https://isni.org/page/get-an-isni">GET AN ISNI</a> <a class="search-database-btn-footer" href="https://isni.org/page/search-database">SEARCH DATABASE</a> </div> </div> <div class="container-fluid notice "> <div class="row "> <div class="col-md-12"> <p>Interested in ISNI implementation? Join our public group email list by sending a blank email to <a href="mailto:isni+subscribe@groups.io">isni+subscribe@groups.io</a></p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="container-fluid"> <div class="footer-sub"> <nav> <p> <span class="bold-this">ISNI International Agency (ISNI-IA) LIMITED</span> </p> <p style="font-size: 90%;"> Registered address: c/o EDItEUR, United House, North Road, London, N7 9DP, UK </br> Company registration number: 07476425 </p> <p class="bold-this"> Follow us <a class="social-circle" href="https://twitter.com/isni_id" target="_blank"><span class="fa fa-twitter twi-icon"></span></a> <a class="social-circle" href="https://www.facebook.com/ISNI.International.Agency/" target="_blank"><span class="fa fa-facebook twi-icon"></span></a> <a class="social-circle" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/19282660/" target="_blank"><span class="fa fa-linkedin twi-icon"></span></a> <a class="social-circle" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKot2wNpDzrhFo1_itTaVYg" target="_blank"><span class="fa fa-youtube-play twi-icon"></span></a> </p> <ul class="list-inline"> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/privacy-policy">Privacy</a></li> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/gender-policy/">Gender Identities Policy</a></li> <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/terms-of-use">Terms of Use</a></li>  <li><a href="https://isni.org/page/faqs">FAQs</a></li> </ul> </nav> </div> </div> </footer>   <script type="text/javascript" src="https://isni.org/js/jquery.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://isni.org/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>  <script type="text/javascript" src="https://isni.org/js/ehaus/ehaus.functions.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://isni.org/js/ehaus/livesearch/livesearch.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://isni.org/js/ehaus/jquery.cookie.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://isni.org/js/ehaus/imgLiquid/imgLiquid-min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://isni.org/js/ehaus/flexslider/jquery.flexslider.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://isni.org/js/ehaus/lightbox/jquery.lightbox-0.5.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://isni.org/js/ehaus/raty/jquery.raty.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://isni.org/js/components/moment.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://isni.org/js/components/daterangepicker.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://isni.org/js/plugins/jquery.parallax.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://isni.org/js/ehaus/lightslider/lightslider.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://isni.org/js/ehaus/ehaus.tracker.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://isni.org/js/ehaus/ehaus.functions.init.js?v=1.01"></script>     <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/cookieconsent2/3.1.1/cookieconsent.min.css" /> <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/cookieconsent2/3.1.1/cookieconsent.min.js" data-cfasync="false" integrity="sha384-xLPjH6nqG4p/2mu1KJ1t+4KqcvkyXVwBucQtyGK65lDNfKzECxGY/QEYWR+Wompr" crossorigin="anonymous"></script> <script src="https://isni.org/include/gtag-1.js?v=1.02"></script> <script src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-190511554-2" integrity="" crossorigin=""></script> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-XDCXV3WGKL"></script> <script src="https://isni.org/include/gtag-2.js?v=1.02"></script> <script src="https://isni.org/include/gtag-3.js?v=1.02"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://isni.org/js/cookie.cutter.js?v=1.17"></script>  </div> </body> </html>