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by jdunck 5362 days ago
This is actually the same issue ISBN faces - it does not refer to a work, but a specific printing, binding, etc.

It is the reason xISBN exists. http://www.worldcat.org/affiliate/webservices/xisbn/app.jsp

Ideally an ID cross-reference would be an open dataset, but it is difficult to achieve that in the market. A proprietary xref is better than no xref.