ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

International Standard Bibliographic Description

International Standard Bibliographic Description, or ISBD, is a set of rules used by librarians and other people who work with books to make sure that all the important information about a book is recorded consistently and accurately.

Think of ISBD as a special recipe book for librarians. Just like how a recipe tells you exactly how much of each ingredient to use, ISBD tells librarians exactly what information they must include when describing a book. Just like how a recipe makes sure you don't forget any key ingredients, ISBD makes sure that librarians don't forget any important details about a book, like its author, title, and publication date.

ISBD is important because it helps everyone who uses libraries to find the books they're looking for. If you're looking for a specific book, like "The Cat in the Hat" by Dr. Seuss, you can search for it by using the book's title, author, or other identifying information. Librarians use ISBD to make sure that each book has all the information needed to accurately identify it, no matter where in the world it was published.

So if you ever visit a library and need help finding a book, you can thank ISBD for making it easier for librarians to organize and describe all the books on their shelves!