I. Objective

This policy explains the Special Collections cataloging practice for treatment of serials and serial analytics. The objective of this policy is to better control serial holdings and acquisitions, particularly in cases where whole issues of serials have been acquired for the purpose of analysis. Recording issues as part of the appropriate overall serial record helps avoid duplicate purchases.

II. Instructions

Whole issues of serial items in Special Collections should be recorded in the serial record for their title(s), even though the issue was acquired for analysis of an individual article within the issue, and even though this might result in a Special Collections holding of only one issue. This includes instances where the issue is the only issue in the library (e.g., there is not another subscription in Lee). The purpose of this is twofold: to allow public access to the serial issue for items in it that have not been analyzed, and to avoid duplicate purchasing of the same issue (which might later be wanted for analysis of another author’s work).

The serial record

a. Title record

If a title record already exists for the serial for a copy elsewhere in the system, use it. If no copies already exist, and thus there is no title record, a title record must be created.

b. Call number

Normally, all issues of the serial should be in the same number and collection within Special Collections. The cataloger should determine the call number and collection on a case by case basis; however, normally these serials should be classified into a general collection, such as Rare or Americana, rather than a more specific collection. This is because we may later get another issue of the same serial collected for another reason (e.g., we have a few issues of a serial to be analyzed because of Kipling contents; later we may get other issues of the same serial because of stories by another author).

An exception to this might be where an author we collect donates his or her own publications. In this case it might be appropriate to keep those issues in the author’s number, even though there might be other issues of the same serial elsewhere in the collection. Exceptions are left to the cataloger’s judgment, keeping in mind that it would be best to keep issues of a single serial together rather than scattered throughout the collection. (Among other considerations, keeping issues in a single number will make for a much less confusing serial record.)

c. Housing

Bear in mind that individual issues in Special Collections are unlikely to be bound with other issues unless they arrived bound together. There are at least four possible situations for housing:

1. The issues arrive bound together. In this case, they can simply stand on the shelf as though they were a monograph.

2. Each issue of the serial is bound as a book. In this case, it can simply stand on the shelf as though it were a monograph.

3. Issues of the serial are limp, i.e., not bound as a book. We have one or only a few issues. In this case, either

a. A stiff board housing construction (e.g., LBS pamphlet binding) may be used for each issue. These are available in the Special Collections supplies. If we eventually collect enough to warrant it, these issues should be moved to box housing (situation 4).

b. House issues in folders within one of the pamphlet series. Keep all issues within a single pamphlet number

Example. Issues of the serial The Red Dawn are classified in Rare Quart0 AC 901 .A1a no. 1008. Individual issues have classification numbers

AC 901 .A1a no. 1008 vol.1 no. 4

AC 901 .A1a no. 1008 vol.1 no. 5

AC 901 .A1a no. 1008 vol.1 no. 6, etc.

If we eventually collect enough to warrant it, these issues should be moved to box housing (situation 4).