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Information about the agency

International context

The International ISIL Agency, established by and located at the National Library of Denmark in Copenhagen, designated and recognized the Royal Library of Belgium on 19 December 2008 as the National Belgian ISIL Agency.

ISO standard

The ISIL code corresponds exactly to the International Standard ISO 15111:2003 entitled International Standard Identifier for Libraries and Related Organizations (ISIL). The (sole) purpose of the code is to create a clear, sustainable, international identifier for libraries and related organizations, with minimal impact on existing systems (ILS, RFID, etc.).

The foreword to the standard summarizes, among other things:

"An ISIL code identifies an organization, i.e. a library or related institution... that is responsible for an activity or service in the bibliographic sector (e.g. the creation and provision of information that can be machine read or machine processed). The code may be used to uniquely designate the producer (creator) or the holder (owner) of a resource (e.g. library items). The ISIL code is intended for libraries and other library related institutions and individuals such as information professionals, documentalists, and publishers."

All institutions (including non library organizations) that wish to participate directly or indirectly in international library traffic and the book trade may apply for an ISIL code. This applies in particular to museums, museum libraries, archives, etc.

ISIL also serves as a MARC organization code

Following the example of several other countries (including Germany), the ISIL code will also function as the MARC Organization Code in Belgium. Therefore, Belgian institutions that supply MARC (21) data must also apply for an ISIL code.