ISO 5428-1984 PDF

Full title and description

ISO 5428:1984 — Greek alphabet coded character set for bibliographic information interchange. Defines a coded set of graphic characters for interchange of bibliographic citations and annotations written in the modern Greek alphabet; includes a code table, legend and explanatory notes.

Abstract

Specifies an 8‑bit coded character set tailored for bibliographic information in Greek. The standard lists 73 graphic characters with their coded representations and descriptive names; the character set is intended to be used together with the international reference version of ISO 646 for full bibliographic interchange.

General information

• Status: Published (International Standard; edition 2). Confirmed on review in 2020.
• Publication date: October 1984 (Edition 2, 1984‑10).
• Publisher: International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
• ICS / categories: 35.040.10; 35.240.30 (character sets; bibliographic information).
• Edition / version: Edition 2 (1984).
• Number of pages: 5 pages.

Scope

Defines a repertoire of 73 graphic characters and their code points to form a Greek alphabet coded character set intended specifically for the international interchange of bibliographic citations (including annotations). The set is designed to be used in combination with the international reference version of ISO 646 so that bibliographic records in Greek can be exchanged reliably between systems.

Key topics and requirements

• Character repertoire: specification of 73 graphic characters for modern Greek bibliographic use.
• Code table and legend: mapping of each graphic to a coded value and a descriptive name.
• Compatibility: intended to work alongside ISO 646 reference characters for full interchange.
• Bibliographic interchange: focused on citations, annotations and library/metadata records rather than general text processing.
• Implementation guidance: explanatory notes to clarify character use in bibliographic contexts.

Typical use and users

Libraries, bibliographic agencies, cataloguing systems, archives and vendors of library and bibliographic software that needed a standardized coded representation of Greek for exchange of records in the pre‑Unicode era. Also of historical interest for implementers of legacy encodings, data migration and MARC/UNIMARC conversion.

Related standards

Standards and specifications related by subject or historical use include ISO 5426 (extensions for Latin bibliographic interchange), ISO 5427 (Cyrillic bibliographic character set), ISO/IEC 8859‑7 (8‑bit Latin/Greek coded character set) and later transliteration/romanization standards such as ISO 843; UNIMARC and MARC character‑set tables also reference or make use of ISO 5428 in bibliographic contexts.

Keywords

Greek, character set, coded character set, bibliographic interchange, ISO 5428, UNIMARC, MARC, encoding, legacy encoding, bibliographic data.

FAQ

Q: What is this standard?

A: ISO 5428:1984 is an ISO International Standard that defines a coded character set of 73 graphic characters for the Greek alphabet intended for bibliographic information interchange (edition 2, published October 1984).

Q: What does it cover?

A: It covers a code table and legend that assign coded values and names to each graphic character used in Greek bibliographic citations and annotations, plus explanatory notes on their intended bibliographic use.

Q: Who typically uses it?

A: Historically, libraries, bibliographic agencies, cataloguers, and software vendors handling Greek bibliographic records used ISO 5428. Today it is mainly relevant for maintaining or migrating legacy bibliographic data and for understanding historical encoding choices.

Q: Is it current or superseded?

A: The 1984 edition remains published and was confirmed on review (ISO confirmation noted in 2020), but in practice modern implementations use Unicode for Greek text interchange; ISO 5428 is therefore mainly of legacy and bibliographic-historical importance.

Q: Is it part of a series?

A: It is part of a family of ISO bibliographic character‑set standards (for example ISO 5426, ISO 5427) and is related to later and broader character encodings (ISO/IEC 8859‑7, Unicode) as well as MARC/UNIMARC code tables used in library metadata exchange.

Q: What are the key keywords?

A: Greek, coded character set, bibliographic interchange, ISO 5428, legacy encoding, UNIMARC, MARC.