Introduction
This article provides instructions to fill the ISAN bulk excel form (isan3.0) for bulk ISAN registrations.
This bulk excel form can also be used for matching catalogues with the ISAN Registry [as soon as this service is available].
Note that this bulk excel form applies to all types of works : Series, Groups (e.g. Seasons), Episodes, Single Works and Version records in line with the new ISAN system.
Do not display grids in the excel sheet, it might lead to a system error preventing data loading.
Obtaining the bulk excel form isan3.0
Start by obtaining the latest version of the bulk excel form 3.0. You can also download examples of filled in bulk excel forms 3.0.
Fill in record details
Use the tab “registration form” to fill-in record details. You can also add more tabs provided that you copy the first line with column names in each new tab.:
- Each record must be in its own row.
- Processing will begin with the first data row and will continue until the first empty row.
- Some data points can occur more than once per record (e.g., Titles) while others can occur only once (e.g., Work Type). Repeating fields have a number in their name (e.g., “Title-1”).
- When providing values in a repeating column, begin filling in from the left (lowest column number first) so that any blank cells are to the right.
- Each data point must be in a separate field. For example, if there is more than one Director, each must be entered in a separate column. They cannot both be entered in the same cell.
- Do not change the column order, other than to add repeating columns in numeric order.
- Do not repeat a particular value more than once per record (e.g., do not list the same Title more than once; you can list the same Language more than once as long as each entry has a different Language Kind; you can have two Directors, as long as they have different names; etc.).
- Do not include formulas or cells with special formatting. All entries must be plain Text.
- Make sure that the data you provide comply with the ISAN Registration best practices.
- The assigned ISAN and V-ISAN will be returned in the "Record_ISAN" column and any error messages or notes at the right edge of the spreadsheet (purple header).
Individual data requirement
index#
Unused in Bulk registrations .Optional. An alphanumeric string, unique within the spreadsheet. This could be the row number.
match#
Unused in Bulk registrations
bundle#
Unused in Bulk registrations
Agency
Unused in Bulk registrations
Timestamp
Unused in Bulk registrations
Registrant
Description: The client identifier (prefix) provided by the ISAN Registration Agency, or the registrant's username (See How to create an account with an ISAN registration agency?)
Required: Yes.
Possible values: the client identifier or the registrant's username.
How to find your client identifier and your username
Parent_Record_ID
Description: A unique identifier defined by the registrant to identify the parent's record when applicable and when the parent has no ISAN yet (e.g. the parent Group/season for an Episode or the parent Work for a Version). When the parent has an ISAN, then leave this cell empty and provide the parent ISAN in the column Parent_Record_ISAN.
This identifier cannot be reused anytime later by the registrant as Parent_Record_ID to identify another content.
Required: Mandatory for group, episode and version records
Possible values: Free text. A unique value within the works catalogue of the user.
Record_ID
Description: A unique identifier defined by the registrant to identify the record. This identifier cannot be reused anytime later by the registrant as Record_ID to identify another content.
Required: Mandatory for all records
Possible values: Free text. A unique value within the works catalogue of the user.
Parent_Record_ISAN
Description: The ISAN of the parent's record when applicable (e.g. the root ISAN if the record is a group or an episode without a group)
Required: Mandatory for group, episode and version records
Possible values: ISAN / V-ISAN
Record_ISAN
Description: The ISAN and V-ISAN of the record, after registration.
Required: No, the ISAN and V-ISAN after registration will be added to this column.
Record_Kind
Description: The Kind of record
Required: Mandatory for all records, Not repeatable, only one value allowed
Possible values: one record from the list of authorized values for Record Kind.
Title_Value-1
Description: The name by which the work was (or will be) first known in its original release in its home territory, presented in mixed case without trailing articles.
Required: One original title is mandatory for all records. A descriptive title is required for variant, manifestation, related content and related Item.
Possible values: Free text. Refer to ISAN Registration best practices for a proper formatting of titles. Note that ISAN Registration best practices provide also guidance for Episodes that do not have a distinct title.
NOTE:
- If there are more Titles than available columns, then add additional Title columns as necessary, incrementing the number by 1 each time. See Adding Additional Columns.
- If a work was known by multiple titles in its original release, select the most prominent of them and list it first.
Title_Kind-1
Description: The kind of title, whether Original (title), Alternate (title), Working (title), Transliterated (title) or Descriptive (name) for versions.
Required: Mandatory, Not repeatable, only one value allowed
Possible values: use one of these codes from the list of authorized values:
- original = Original title
- alternate = Alternate title
- working = Working title, used for projects (works in development)
- transliterated = Roman transliteration of titles (mainly from Asian languages , Russian, Arabic, Hebrew…)
- descriptive = Descriptive name (versions)
Title_Lang_Code-1
Description: The language in which the title is written.
Required: Yes (whenever a title is provided).
Possible values: an ISO 639-2 language code.
Total_Groups
Description: The total number of groups in the series
Required: Optional; only applicable to series records
Possible values: free text
Total_Episodes
Description: The total number of episodes in a series or a group
Required: Optional; only applicable to series or group records
Possible values: free text
Series_End_Year
Description: The year when a series ends.
Required: Optional; only applicable to series records
Possible values: free text
Group_Nb-1
Description: The Group Number of reference (e.g. Season Number)
Required: Mandatory; only applicable to group records
Possible values: free text
Episode_Nb-1
Description: The Episode Number
Required: mandatory; only applicable to episode records
Possible values: free text
Episode_Nb_Context-1
Description: The context for episode numbering (e.g. the original episode numbering, a re-numbering for broadcast...)
Required: Optional; only applicable to episode records
Possible values: fee text
Episode_Nb_Format-1
Description: The Episode numbering format
Required: Optional for Group, Episode. Not repeatable, only one value allowed
Possible values: select one of these formats from the list of authorized values.
Sequence_Nb
Description: The sequence number for sequential single works such as sequels. (e.g. The Universe - Part 1, The Universe - Part 2)
Required: when applicable for single works
Possible values: free text
Record_Property-1
Description: A property specific to the record (e.g. for group record : season, alternate_grouping, alternate_edit, episode_compilation...)
Required: Mandatory for Groups. Not repeatable, only one value allowed.
Mandatory for Variants and Manifestations; repeatable, one or more values allowed.
Possible values: one or more values in the closed lists :
- List of authorised values for Group
- List of authorised values for Variants and Manifestations
Work_Type
Description: The Work Type entity applies to Series, Groups, Episodes, Single and Related content and Items. The generic term "Work" is usually replaced by a "record" specific term:
- for Series we refer to Series Type
- for Groups we refer to Group Type
- for Episodes and Single we refer to Work Type
- for Related Contents we refer to Content Type
- for Related Items we refer to Item Type
The Work Type is a classification of the audiovisual content in categories such as
- Feature Film, Documentary… for Works (Work Type)
- Bonus, Clip, Interview… for Related Contents (Related Content Type),
- Subtitles, Posters, … for Related Items (Related Item Type)
Required: Mandatory for Series, Group, Episode, Single, Related Content, Related Item. Not repeatable, only one value allowed.
Possible values: One code from the Work Type code lists:
for Series, Group, Episode, Single
Work_Kind
Description: Outlines whether the work is animated, live action or a combination of both.
Required: Mandatory for Series, Group, Episode, Single. Not repeatable, only one value allowed
Possible values: Refer to the Work Kind code list.
Duration
Description: The approximate running time of the work in minutes or seconds expressed as a positive integer number, rounding up if necessary.
Required: mandatory.
Possible values: Positive integer number, rounding up if necessary.
- Zero (“0”) is not allowed.
- For works produced for television broadcast, you may use the scheduled time slot duration if the actual running time is not known.
Duration_Unit
Description: The unit of measurement used when recording the Duration.
Required: mandatory.
Possible values: Use “min” (for minutes) or “sec” (for seconds).
Reference_Year
Description: The Year of reference of the work (year of production or year of copyright).
Required: mandatory for Series, Groups, Episodes and Single. Not applicable to versions.
Possible values: The four-digit year (“yyyy”) of production or copyright as it appears in the credits of the work, from 1896 to current year +1.
Release_Date
Description: Date of First Publication, the date (possibly the year, if the date is not known) when the work was first presented to the public.
Required: mandatory for versions; optional for other records.
Possible values: The full date (in the format “yyyy-mm-dd”) or four-digit year (if the full date is not known) of the work’s original release or first public presentation, either actual (in the past) or anticipated (up to 10 years in the future).
NOTE: The date of first publication / broadcasting is required for episodes without titles (e.g. title formatted as "series_title - season xx - episode xx"). Without this information it can become impossible in some situations to distinguish episodes from each other as sometimes episodes are renumbered when distributed in foreign countries.
Color_Kind
Description: The color scheme applied to the images of the content
Required: Mandatory for Series, Group, Episode, Single, Relates content. Not repeatable, only one value allowed
Possible values: use one code from the Color Kind code list.
Country_Code-1
Description: The Country of Production i.e., where the main production company’s headquarters are located.
Required: No.
Possible values: one code from the List of ISO 3166 Country Codes.
NOTE: If there are more countries than available columns, then add additional Country columns as necessary, incrementing the number by 1 each time. (See Adding Additional Columns.)
Country_Kind-1
Description: The country Kind
Required: Mandatory (when country available). Not repeatable, only one value allowed
Possible values: one value from the list of authorized values.
Language_Code-1
Description: Original Language, the language code for the most prominent language(s).
Required: One original language is required.
Possible values: one code from the List of ISO 639-2 Codes.
NOTE: If there are more languages than available columns, then add additional Language columns as necessary, incrementing the number by 1 each time. (See Adding Additional Columns.)
Language_Kind-1
Description: The kind of language, whether original, dubbed, subtitles...
Required: Mandatory (when language available), Not repeatable, only one value allowed
Possible values: one value form the closed list of authorised codes.
Company_Name-1
Description: The credited company name
Required: yes if set as a mandatory data by the agency
Possible values: free text
NOTE: If there are more companies than available columns, then add additional Company columns as necessary, incrementing the number by 1 each time. (See Adding Additional Columns.)
Company_Kind-1
Description: The credited company kind
Required: Mandatory for Series, Group, Episode, Single (when company available). Not repeatable, only one value allowed
Possible values: one value from the list of authorized codes.
Participant -1
Description: Full name of main participants to the work (director, scriptwriter, producer, cast,...). The role of the participant is defined in the corresponding role cell.
Required: the director is mandatory.
Possible values: free text
NOTE: If there are more participants than available columns, then add additional Participant columns as necessary, incrementing the number by 1 each time. (See Adding Additional Columns.)
Role-1
Description: The role of a main participants to the work. Goes in pair with Participant.
Required: Yes, only if a Participant is defined.
Possible values: one role code of the participant role list.
Distribution-1
Description: The distribution intention
Required: Mandatory for Variant & Media Manifestations, Repeatable, one or more values allowed
Possible values: one or more values from the list of authorized codes (e.g. airline, archive, broadcasting, catch up, digital_signage, festival, home_video...)
Media_Kind
Description: The Media Kind
Required: Mandatory for Media Manifestations, Not repeatable, only one value allowed
Possible values: one value from the list of authorized codes.
Media_Format
Description: The media format
Required: Optional, Not repeatable, only one value allowed
Possible values: one value from the list of authorized codes.
Container
Description: The encoding container
Required: Optional, Not repeatable, only one value allowed
Possible values: one value from the list of authorized codes.
Frame_Rate
Description: The image frame rate
Required: Optional
Possible values: free text
Image_Definition
Description: The Image definition
Required: Optional, Not repeatable, only one value allowed
Possible values: one value from the list of authorized codes.
Aspect_Ratio
Description: The image aspect ratio
Required: Optional, Not repeatable, only one value allowed
Possible values: one value from the list of authorized codes.
Rating_Country-1
Description:
Required:
Possible values:
Rating_System-1
Description:
Required:
Possible values:
Rating_Code-1
Description:
Required:
Possible values:
Content_Alert-1
Description:
Required:
Possible values:
Content_Alert_Country-1
Description:
Required:
Possible values:
Complementary_Info
Description: field to add any relevant info about the work, not already defined in the registered data
Required: Optional
Possible values: free text
Linked_ISAN_Value-1
Description: The linked ISAN identifies a content that promotes the work
Required: when applicable
Possible values: ISAN / V-ISAN
Linked_ISAN_Type-1
Description: identifies the nature of the link such as :
- part = the linked ISAN identifies a part of a program or larger work split in parts
- sequel = The linked ISAN identifies a work being part of a sequel
- composite = The linked ISAN identifies a component embedded in the work
- pilot = The linked ISAN identifies a related content. In principle this is a V-ISAN identifying a Related Content record.
Required: Mandatory when ISAN provided. Not repeatable, only one value allowed
Possible values: one value from the closed lists:
Linked ISAN Type for all records, except those below
Linked ISAN Type for Related Content
Linked ISAN Type for Related Item
Linked_ID_Value-1
Description: A linked identifier for the audiovisual work such as EIDR, IMDB, Amazon, Netflix, etc…
Required: Optional but recommended when available
Possible values: free text.
Linked_ID_Type-1
Description: The Linked identifier type.
Required: Yes, only if an Linked-ID is defined.
Possible values: one of the possible values from the Linked-ID Type List.
Linked_ID_Domain-1
Description: The domain associated to the linked ID.
Required: Yes, only if a Linked-ID is defined.
Possible values: free text. Consult first the Linked-ID Domains List for association with some Linked-ID Types.
Linked_ID_Details-1
Description: field to add any relevant info about the Linked-ID
Required: Optional, only if a Linkled-ID is defined.
Possible values: free text
Notes & Errors
Description: Placeholder for reporting Errors and/or Notes. This information is returned by the system (e.g. validation errors).
Operator's Comments
Description: Placeholder for comments by the operator. The initial purpose is to provide information or additional comments to the registrant (e.g. explaining an error returned by the system) . This information is not loaded in the system
Adding Additional Columns
To insert new columns to add data in the bulk load excel form, such as alternate titles, more participants, other credited companies or several countries and languages, follow the example below for titles.
To add 1 alternate title insert 3 columns right after Title_Lang_Code-1.
Select the 3 columns headings and drag till the last added column
the column headings are self-completing, incrementing the number by 1 each time.
To add 2 alternate titles, insert 6 columns, for 3 alternate titles, insert 9 columns etc.