The 14th International ISMN Panel Meeting will take place on June 8 and 9, 2006, in Helsinki. Our kind host will be Ms. Maarit Huttunen, the head of the Finnish ISMN Agency.

The Music Publishers Association is very pleased to announce that it is joining forces with DE-PARCON GmbH to work on the development and expansion of the MPA's Catalogue of Printed Music.

DE-PARCON, a software technology company based in Hürth near Cologne in Germany, has already developed IDNV (International Database for Printed Music) for the German Music Publishers Association and the German Music Retailers Association. IDNV has been working successfully for the German printed music industry for several years and the partnership with DE-PARCON offers an excellent opportunity for the MPA to take advantage of building on a pre-existing system which already fulfils many of the requirements sought to take its own Catalogue forward and to streamline the administration of ISMNs in the UK and Eire.

The decision to proceed with DE-PARCON is fully supported by members of the MPA's Board and Printed Music Publishers Committee. Final negotiations between the two partners are already in hand and work on the new system is now under way. The MPA will launch the revamped Catalogue in its new online format in Spring 2006.

We shall keep you informed of progress but in the meantime please contact Mrs Lois Clark or Herr Wolfram Krajewski if you require further information.

Mrs Lois Clark Editor
MPA Catalogue
Managing Partner Music Publishers Association Ltd
New contact details from 5 December 2005:
6th Floor, British Music House;
26 Berners Street
London W1T 3LR, UK
Direct Tel: +44 (0)20 7637 4052
Fax: +44 (0)20 7637 3929
Email:lclark@mpaonline.org.uk

Herr Wolfram Krajewski 
DE-PARCON GmbH 
Kalscheurener Straße 8 
D - 50354 Hürth Germany 
Tel.: +49 (0)2233 - 804 100 
Fax: +49 (0)2233 - 804 1030 
Email: wk@de-parcon.net

The proposal for a new work item which includes the Working Draft of the revised standard text as agreed upon during the ISMN Panel Meeting in Zagreb was circulated among the P-members of TC 46 / SC 9 for voting. Members are requested to vote on the adoption of the proposal as a new project and on the adoption of the associated draft as a Committee Draft (CD).

A contract was signed with the National Library of the Philippines and the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina paving the way for the introduction of the ISMN in these two countries.

On May 19-20, the 13th ISMN Panel Meeting took place in Zagreb at the National and University Library on the occassion of the 10th anniversary of the Croatian membership in the ISMN system.

The revision of the ISMN standard was the major topic of this meeting. A first draft of the revised standard text presented by the International Agency was the point of departure for an extended discussion of the regulations laid down in the text for ISO 10957. The second draft which was agreed upon in Zagreb and is supposed to be submitted to the ISO TC46 /SC 9 secretariat takes into account the new 13-digit structure of the ISMN and the increased importance of virtual items offered in the Internet as digital notations. The term "printed music" is supposed to be substituted by "notated music." Furthermore, it was announced that the institutional status of the International ISMN Agency will have to change within the next few months.

Post-panel activities included a visit at the music department of the National and University Library and at "Cantus" music publishers. A detailed report about the meeting will be published in the ISMN Newsletter No. 15. For a photo gallery click here.

The ISMN flyer introducing into the ISMN system appeared in French and Spanish. A PDF version of both documents can be downloaded here (fr. / sp.)

Based on the third edition of the ISMN Users' Manual from 1998, a revised edition has been published with minor additions and corrections. For a download of a PDF version of the manual, click here. If you want to order printed copies, please send us an e-mail.