Overview
ISO 11822:1996 - "Information and documentation - Extension of the Arabic alphabet coded character set for bibliographic information interchange" defines an extended Arabic alphabet coded character set intended specifically for bibliographic information interchange. The standard specifies a set of 90 graphic characters, presented as a code table and a legend with character codes, graphics and character names. It is designed for interchange among data processing systems and message transmission systems and may be used in 7-bit or 8-bit environments in accordance with ISO/IEC 2022.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Character repertoire: Adds 90 Arabic-script characters to complement the base set in ISO 9036, covering additional letters and vowel marks used across many languages.
- Code table and legend: Provides a table mapping code positions to graphic symbols and names; includes explanatory notes for usage.
- 7-bit / 8-bit use: The set can be implemented in 7-bit or 8-bit contexts following ISO/IEC 2022 extension techniques; identification is by an escape sequence (to be assigned).
- Language coverage: Intended to support bibliographic data in languages using Arabic script such as Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Sindhi, Kurdish, Uighur, Kashmiri, Pushto, Berber, Hausa, Malay, and others listed in the standard.
- Presentation forms: Graphics are given in isolated form only - initial, medial, final forms and ligatures are explicitly out of scope.
- Non-spacing marks: Includes non-spacing vowel marks (notably positions 7D and 7E) used in Urdu; these are input before the characters they modify.
- Implementation notes: Implementation details for physical media, transmission and error checking are referenced to other standards (annex B and normative references).
Practical applications
- Library and bibliographic systems exchanging multilingual citations and annotations where extended Arabic-script letters are required.
- Cataloguing, metadata exchange and serials/bibliography interchange between library systems and national bibliographic agencies.
- Software vendors and implementers building character encoding libraries, transliteration tools or message gateways that must support extended Arabic characters in legacy 7-bit/8-bit environments.
- Archives, publishers and information centers that need standardized character codes for reliable data interchange and long-term data preservation.
Who should use it
- Librarians, cataloguers and bibliographic data managers
- Software developers and systems integrators working on library management systems, metadata exchange and character encoding support
- Standards bodies and implementers of multilingual encoding (in conjunction with ISO/IEC 2022, ISO 9036 and ISO/IEC 10646)
Related standards
- ISO/IEC 2022 - Character code structure and extension techniques (normative reference)
- ISO 9036:1987 - Basic Arabic 7-bit coded character set for information interchange (base set referenced)
- ISO/IEC 10646-1 - Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set (related multilingual encoding architecture)
- Bibliographic implementation references in the standard’s annex (e.g., ISO 962, ISO 1155, ISO 1177, ISO 1745)
Keywords: ISO 11822:1996, Arabic alphabet coded character set, bibliographic information interchange, ISO/IEC 2022, ISO 9036, 7-bit 8-bit, Arabic script encoding, bibliographic data.
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