The following announcment is being posted to various lists.  Please
excuse any duplication.

     The National Serials Data Program is pleased to announce its
home page on the World Wide Web:  http://lcweb.loc.gov/issn/.

     The page features both a downloadable and an interactive ISSN
application form.  Initially, the interactive form will only be
used for electronic publications.  This is because online
publications can most easily accommodate the requirement that the
form be accompanied by a representation of the publication or an
electronic address.  Use of the form is limited to U.S. publishers
since NSDP can assign ISSN only to serials published in the United
States.  However, the page also includes a link to the ISSN
International Centre's Web site, a site which includes addresses of
all centers in the ISSN Network and links to those centers with
online sites.

     The U.S. center's page also includes the text of NSDP's
printed "ISSN is For Serials" brochure;  a Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQ) list;  special instructions about ISSN for
electronic serials;  information about AmIS, the American ISSN
Friends group;  and the text of the brochure, "What's in a Name?"
developed by the Serials Section of the Association for Library
Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS), a division of the
American Library Association.  This brochure contains guidelines on
the presentation of titles, title changes, numbering, bar coding,
and other areas of interest to serial publishers.  The page
concludes with links to related resources for serial publishers.

     NSDP staff are looking forward to publishers' use of the
interactive application form because the form is linked to a
conversion program which will enable a cataloger to convert the
data supplied by the publisher into a preliminary catalog record,
ready for editing and the addition of an ISSN and specialized data
by the cataloger.

   From:    Regina Reynolds <rrey@LOC.GOV>