Cataloging Procedures Manual

Appendix 14: Serials vs. Monographic Poilcy

From time to time, serials catalogers receive books to be cataloged with serial and monographic copy. Why does this happen and how do catalogers decide between the two options?
1. Many of these books have a analyzable monographic type title and a series title. Serial catalogers forward these to series decision and generally never see them again!
2. Others - books that just happen to have a monographic and a serial record on OCLC. Serial catalogers tend to liberally define as a serial if the publication seems periodic with some enumeration/chronology. For example, Footage '89 had both kinds of copy. We accepted as a serial despite the statement "it is hoped other editions will appear." Books that we tend to categorically reject as serials are:
  
  text books
  
  loose leaf for updating titles
  
  titles appearing less than once ever 5 years
The general issue of how serials are recognized by search team is a recurring one. Attached is one of the "definition" aids provided to Search Team by Serials Unit.

Definition of a Serial

Serial (AACR2)

A publication in any medium issue in successive parts bearing numerical or chronological designations and intended to be continued indefinitely. Serials include periodicals, newspaper, annuals (reports, yearbooks, etc.); the journals, memoirs, proceedings, transactions, etc., of societies; and numbered monographic series.

Potential serials can be identified by such indicators as:

ISSN

OCLC Bib lvl "s"

words in the title indicating frequency

year prominently placed on title page or cover

statement in preface indicating intent to continue publishing

old LC copy: volume numbering listed in body of card; space left for volume numbering in the body

of card and imprint begun on a new printed line

Examples of items not considered serials:

An Author's collected works

Proceedings of a single (not-to-be-continued) meeting

Encyclopedias arranged alphabetically

Loose-leaf publications which have replacement pages (even though replacement pages are dated)

Excerpts from a serial

Single issues of an analyzable serial

Monograph vs. Serial treatment of Publications
(from CSB, no. 20)

The following guidelines are intended to help in applying the definition, particularly when questions arise as to the publisher's intention. The statements also include the aspects of Library of Congress policies that specifically reject some items from serial treatment. Excluded from consideration are monographic series, although the guidelines may be applicable to the analytics thereof.

Initial Serial Treatment:

Catalog as a serial in the first instance an item with a title typical of the categories listed below, even though it does not carry a statement of intent--provided it carries a numeric or chronological designation (of. 12.3). (Note that a date of publication or a copyright date is not to be regarded as a chronological designation.)

Items with titles that imply continuing publication.

"Advances in ..."
"Developments in ..."
"Progress in ..."

Items with titles that include a frequency statement (up to and including "quinquennial"), except those listed in III. and IV. below.

Items with contents of the following types:

U.S. and European college catalogs

Court reports (unless they are transfer volumes of a loose-leaf publication

session laws

Items for which it is known that a continuing subscription order can be placed with the publisher except for conference, exhibition, and loose-leaf publication (of IV. below).

Items that bear an ISSN (except for conference, exhibition, and loose-leaf publications) unless the ISSN applies only to a series within which the work is published.

Retrospective Serial Treatment:

If I. above does not apply, decide on serial treatment for the following types of items after evidence has appeared (according to information to the item, in bibliographies, or in the catalogs against which the item is being cataloged) that:

Other issues have been published with identical titles (with identical or closely related other title information),

The person(s) or body or bodies responsible for its assurance have remained the same, and

Five items have been issued within a 15-year period.

almanacs

anthologies

bibliographies

catalogs (for college catalogs see A above)

"desk copy" editions of court rules, etc.

directories

guidebooks

handbooks

indexes

items of personal authorship

manuals

travel guides

"who's who" - type publications

If conditions A. and C. are met, catalog or recatalog as a serial a work of personal authorship not to be entered under the heading for a person (cf. LCRI 21.1A2) that emanates from a corporate body but for which the personal authorship varies from issue to issue.

Treatment as Monograph:

Reject from serials treatment items in the following categories, even if they are issued with a statement of frequency.

Items that lack a numeric or chronological designation (cf. 12.3) Do not consider the date of publication or the copyright date to constitute a chronological designation. A publication in this category may become a bona fide serial if at a later time it acquires such a designation (cf. 12.30). EXCEPTION. Continue to make additions to existing serial entries on which the date of publication or the copyright date was used as the chronological designation according to earlier cataloging policies. (It is, therefore, prudent always to check whether a serial entry for such an item already exists.)
Items of the following types:
dictionaries
encyclopedias
publications of five-year plans and of other similar programs
general law codes; revised statutes
general administrative law codes
items issued for the duration of a single occurrence
(e.g., a daily bulletin issued for the duration of a meeting

Generally treat geographic atlases as monographs.
Special Problems:

Conference and Exhibition Publications. Even though items of this class often give evidence that the event is held repeatedly (e.g., the name of the event includes numbering of frequency as part of its name or title), there is much unpredictability as to the stability of the name of a conference or exhibit or of the title under which its publications are issued. In addition, if cataloged as a serial, much of the necessary and desired detail in access points is lost, or the record will need to be updated frequently and ad infinitum to be of maximum use. International meetings especially tend to be published in different countries and thus, even if the language of the title page remains the same, the sponsoring bodies, editions, and the availability of the publication tend to vary from meeting to meeting.
Do not accept the presence of an ISSN or information as to continuing subscription orders as a guarantee of consistency. Scrutinize such an item with the above-mentioned problems in mind and catalog/recatalog it as a serial only if both of the following conditions are met.
1. The name of the meeting or exhibition remains constant and this constancy is documentable for five consecutive issues within no wider than a 15-year period (by evidence in the item(s), in LC catalogs, or from bibliographies).
2. The title remains constant and in the same language, and this constancy is documentable for five consecutive issues within no wider than a 15-year period (by evidence in the items(s) in hand, in LC catalogs, or from bibliographies).
Loose-leaf
1. Do not catalog as a serial a publication that is loose-leaf for updating, nor any of its updates, revisions and supplements, although the latter are frequently issued in packages carrying a numeric or chronological designation suggestive of serial publication.
2. Generally do not catalog as a serial loose-leaf material of permanent value (e.g., court decision) that constitutes a section of a loose-leaf publication and that at the end of the year or from time to time is transferred from the loose-leaf binder to a permanent binder or is sent by the publisher to the subscriber in a permanent volume that contains the material previously received in loose-leaf form. (Access to the special section and the transfer volumes is provided by a title added entry/entries on the catalog record for the loose-leaf.)
3. Catalog as a serial a loose-leaf publication that is issued periodically and does not contain individual pages to be interfiled with existing text but instead consists of numbered or dated issues for which there is no provision for revision of earlier issues and which are to be filed chronologically in binders.
Catalog as a serial a loose leaf publication that is issued periodically (usually annually) with a basic volume covering a particular period plus individual pages to be interfiled into the basic volume (as 1979 plus page to be interfiled; 1980 plus pages to be interfiled, etc.).

Table of Contents

Appendix 15 - under construction

Appendix 16

Cataloging Procedures Manual

Appendix 14: Serials vs. Monographic Poilcy

Contents:

Initial Serial Treatment:

Retrospective Serial Treatment:

Treatment as Monograph:

Special Problems: