The story of one man's ISSN. (Management).

Paul Stamler recently and wisely changed the name of his Marine Safety Reporter to Marine Safety and Security Reporter. In the process he learned that he had to apply for a new ISSN, the International Standard Serial Number that uniquely identifies each periodical (or "serial") around the world to, among others, librarians, scholars, the Copyright Clearance Center, and USPS in the case of periodical-rate mailings.

Even the slightest name change calls for a new ISSN, Stambler was told.

But when he applied for it, nothing happened. He was ready to launch the new title but still didn't have the number from the National Serials Data Program, which assigns them.

Stambler visited the NSDP web site, to no avail, and he called the agency only to get voice recordings.

His launch rapidly approached, so he faxed NSDP and told them he needed the ISSN pronto.

To his surprise, he received a phone call that same day. The woman, whom Stambler described as a "classic Washington bureaucrat in the best sense-- knowledgeable, helpful and personable," told him to go ahead with the notation "ISSN Pending."

But then the next day the woman called back with his assigned number. She apologized for the delay and explained that they have a tractor-trailer truck parked behind their building full of the last six months' correspondence.

Other publishers report they are still having problems with mail delivery to the greater Washington, D.C. metro area.

But with persistence--and the fax machine--Paul Stamler was able to cut through the backlog.

P.O. Box 3367, Branford, CT 06405, 203-4889808, fox 203-488-3129.