Original: The International Standard Serial Number or ISSN seen on magazines and other periodicals , an equivalent to the International Standard Book Number ( ISBN ) applied to books , is serially assigned but takes its name from the library science use of serial to mean a periodical .
Simplified: It is the similar to the International Standard Book Number ( ISBN ) for books . It is serially assigned but takes its name from the library science use of serial to mean a periodical , like a newspaper .