If you are searching for how to translate ISIL codes, how to translate ISO 15511 library identifiers, how to preserve library, archive or museum identity across languages, or how to handle institutional codes in multilingual catalogues, the first rule is that the identifier is not prose. Translate the institution name, service description and explanatory metadata; preserve the ISIL exactly as the authoritative record supplies it.
This matters in libraries, archives, museums, union catalogues, interlibrary loan, collection management, holdings data, digital repositories, preservation systems, bibliographic metadata and cultural-heritage networks. A target can be linguistically excellent and still become operationally wrong if an ISIL is altered, a branch is confused with its parent institution, a local library code is mistaken for a country code, or a translated institution name becomes detached from the organization that actually owns the identifier.
This guide explains how to translate around the International Standard Identifier for Libraries and Related Organizations under ISO 15511:2019, which ISO confirmed in 2024 as the current edition. It covers organization identity, subordinate units, existing national identifiers, holdings and originator roles, multilingual institution names, mergers, branches, linked data, authority metadata and quality assurance so language can change while library and cultural-heritage identity remains stable.
1. ISIL identifies organizations and subordinate units
ISO 15511 allows an ISIL to identify a library or related organization and also a subordinate unit responsible for an action or service in an information environment. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
2. ISO 15511:2019 is the current edition
The fourth edition was published in 2019 and confirmed in 2024, so current implementation notes should use this edition rather than withdrawn predecessors. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
3. ISIL is an identifier, not a classification
The standard explicitly separates identity from classification; an ISIL says which organization or unit is involved, not what type of services or holdings it has. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
4. The institution name can change while identity remains
Libraries can have legal names, public brands, translated labels and acronyms that vary without necessarily changing the underlying organizational identity. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
5. Existing national codes can be incorporated
The standard minimizes disruption by allowing existing codes to participate in the ISIL framework, so translators should not expect one invented global numbering pattern. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
6. One organization can sometimes have more than one ISIL
Because legacy code systems can be incorporated, duplicate identifiers can exist in some circumstances even though the standard seeks to minimize them. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
7. ISIL can identify the holder of a resource
The identifier can show which institution holds library material, an archival collection or another information resource. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
8. ISIL can identify the originator of information
An institution that creates machine-readable information, metadata or another information service can be identified through ISIL. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
9. Branches must remain distinct when separately identified
A public-library branch or specialist university library can have operational identity that should not be collapsed into the parent institution during translation. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
10. Parent and subordinate unit are separate metadata levels
A translated record may need both the parent organization and the specific unit that actually owns, lends or manages a resource. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
11. Libraries, archives and museums can all use the framework
The scope includes libraries and related organizations such as museums and archives, so translators should not reduce every ISIL entity to the word library. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
12. Official multilingual institution names should be preferred
When an organization publishes official names in several languages, those forms are safer than improvised literal translation. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
13. Acronyms are not enough for identity
Short names can collide across institutions and countries; the ISIL should remain the stable anchor while acronyms serve discovery or display. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
14. Country components are controlled data
Country-related portions of an ISIL should not be replaced with translated country names, localized abbreviations or flag symbols. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
15. Local identifier portions are not translatable
Letters, digits and punctuation in the locally assigned portion are authority data rather than words to expand or adapt. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
16. Hyphens and punctuation should follow authoritative form
Presentation characters should not be changed merely because a target-language style guide would format codes differently. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
17. Case should follow the canonical record
Restyling an identifier into sentence case or lowercase can create avoidable inconsistencies in exact-match systems. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
18. ISIL is not ISBN
ISBN identifies a book edition while ISIL identifies an organization or unit; both can appear in the same bibliographic environment without being interchangeable. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
19. ISIL is not ISSN
ISSN identifies serial publications, whereas ISIL identifies institutions participating in information activity. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
20. ISIL is not DOI
DOI identifies registered objects, while ISIL identifies the organization or unit connected to an informational action or resource. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
21. ISIL is not MARC syntax
MARC tags describe record structure; ISIL identifies an institution. A record can contain both, but the functions are different. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
22. ISIL is not ISNI
ISNI identifies public identities across creative and content activity, while ISIL focuses on libraries and related organizations in information environments. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
23. ISIL is not ROR
ROR focuses on research organizations and affiliations; ISIL can identify a university library or archive as a specific information institution or unit. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
24. Interlibrary loan depends on exact institutional identity
Borrowing, lending, requesting and returning roles can be routed incorrectly if a translated library name is attached to the wrong ISIL. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
25. Holdings statements depend on the right code-to-resource relationship
A valid ISIL in the wrong holdings row is still an error; relational integrity matters as much as character integrity. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
26. Provenance chains can use institutional identifiers
Historical custody, digitization and stewardship can involve several institutions whose roles must remain separately identified across languages. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
27. Digitization projects can involve multiple organizations
One institution may own a collection, another may scan it and another may host the repository, making role labels and identifiers equally important. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
28. Consortia do not erase member identity
A consortium can coordinate services for many libraries without replacing the member-level ISILs used for holdings or transactions. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
29. Mergers require authority-level review
Significant administrative changes can affect identifier allocation, so translators should not decide on identifier replacement from a name change alone. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
30. Renaming does not automatically mean a new identifier
A public-facing name change may leave the organization itself continuous; identity governance belongs to the registration authority. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
31. Closure does not erase historical identity
A closed institution can still be the correct holder, originator or transaction party in historical metadata. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
32. Relocation does not necessarily change identity
Moving buildings changes address data and perhaps local service information, but it does not automatically create a new organization. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
33. Postal addresses and ISIL should remain separate
Address translation can change order, script and formatting while the institutional identifier remains unchanged. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
34. Authority records can link several name variants to one ISIL
Local-language names, English names, former names and acronyms can all support discovery around one stable institution record. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
35. Linked-data systems benefit from stable institutional keys
Multilingual labels can vary while RDF or knowledge-graph relationships continue to use a stable institution identifier. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
36. CSV exports need protected ISIL fields
Sorting or filtering only some columns can preserve valid codes but attach them to the wrong libraries. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
37. JSON APIs should separate code from display name
Changing locale should update the visible institution name without changing the ISIL returned by the backend. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
38. Machine translation should not process identifiers
The code has no linguistic content; masking it prevents punctuation, spacing or character changes. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
39. Translation memory can carry stale institutional data
A high match from an older record can insert the wrong library name or identifier unless codes are treated as variables. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
40. OCR can corrupt letters, digits and punctuation
Old printed catalogues and scanned accession records require identifier verification against an authoritative registry. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
41. Right-to-left layouts need direction isolation
Arabic or Hebrew interfaces should display the institution name naturally while keeping the identifier in its canonical left-to-right form. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
42. Transliteration belongs to the name layer
A non-Latin institution name can be transliterated for readers without altering the identifier. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
43. Search intent: translate an ISIL
Most users need to know whether the code changes with language and how the institution name should be rendered; the code itself should remain stable. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
44. Search intent: identify a library code
A code seen in a catalogue may be ISIL or another local identifier, so namespace recognition should precede translation. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
45. Search intent: translate a library name with ISIL
The safest workflow is to choose an official target-language institution name where available while retaining the same code. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
46. Search intent: translate archive or museum identifiers
Archives and museums fit the standard’s related-organization scope and follow the same identity-preservation logic. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
47. Worked example: university and law library
A law library can have an operational identity distinct from the university parent, so an interlibrary-loan translation should preserve the unit-level identifier. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
48. Worked example: public-library branch
Similar translated branch names can misroute requests unless the branch-specific ISIL remains attached to the correct holding. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
49. Worked example: museum archive
A multilingual digitization project can publish different institution labels while the archive’s identifier keeps provenance relationships stable. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
50. Worked example: merger and historical loan
A historical transaction can require the old institution’s identifier even after current systems use a successor organization. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
51. Worked example: CSV row shift
All ISILs can remain syntactically valid while sorting mistakes attach them to the wrong institutions, showing why row-level QA is essential. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
52. Bulk migrations need institution-level reconciliation
Large catalogue moves should compare record counts and holdings by ISIL before and after migration, not merely confirm that codes still exist somewhere. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
53. Discovery interfaces need disambiguating context
City, parent institution, branch label or organization type can help users distinguish institutions with similar translated names. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
54. Authority provenance should travel with mappings
Recording the source registry and retrieval date makes later changes explainable when branches merge or names evolve. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
55. Reference route: ISO 15511:2019
The official ISO record documents the current standard, its scope and its confirmation status. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
56. Connection to the protected language ecosystem
Vocabulary Learning and How English Works support precise institution names and role descriptions, while this page remains responsible for identity. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
57. Connection to the master translation architecture
The master translation system owns broad terminology and QA governance; this specialist owner should remain narrowly focused on ISO 15511 institutional identity. In translation, keep the ISIL as protected reference data while adapting the human-readable name, role or explanation for the target audience. Check the finished record at two levels: the literal identifier must match the source, and the identifier must still belong to the same institution or unit. When a branch, parent body, historical name or registry status is unclear, preserve the source relationship and resolve it through authoritative metadata rather than guessing from language alone.
58. Release checklist
Before release, confirm the code is actually an ISIL; preserve identifier characters exactly; distinguish parent institutions from subordinate units; prefer official multilingual names; keep aliases as discovery aids rather than identity replacements; preserve historical codes for historical events; protect ISIL fields from machine translation, OCR and spreadsheet corruption; and verify every holdings, provenance or interlibrary-loan relationship still points to the correct institution. Then review the institution names, service labels and explanatory prose for natural target-language accuracy.
59. Final rule: translate the institution name, preserve the institutional identity
Libraries, archives and museums operate across languages and often change names, buildings, systems and public labels. ISO 15511 gives those organizations a stable identifier layer. Translate what people need to read, preserve what systems need to recognize, and keep every holding, service and provenance relationship anchored to the same institution from source to target. For the current standard, use ISO 15511:2019.