Serial or Monograph?
Points to Ponder
Note: If you want to look at this issue in more depth, please consult the CONSER Cataloging Manual (CCM), Module 2, What is a serial? for further information. The CCM is available on Cataloger's Desktop. (Choose the folder labeled CONSER Documentation.)
We follow the definition of serial that is found in AACR2:
A continuing resource issued in a succession of discrete parts, usually bearing numbering, that has no predetermined conclusion.
Successive, discrete parts When we get many parts of a continuing resource at the same time, it is easier to see them. When we get only one piece at a time, we have to look for clues.
Numbering is the most important clue. Numbering may be a volume, or a number. For annual or less-frequent serials, years are often used.
But not everything numbered is a serial! Many government documents have a date of issuance; that doesn't automatically make them serials. Look for further internal evidence that a document has no predetermined conclusion.
How we buy a serial doesn't affect how we catalog it. The quality of the copy and the type of publication define whether an item is a serial, not its budget code.
How to search a serial
Be sure you omit the numbering when you search; if you have
2002 Handbook of Mental Health for Librarians
search it as han,of,me,h not 200,ha,of,m
Many annuals have both an ISBN and an ISSN; search the ISSN, not the ISBN!
Indexed:
Serial or Monograph?
How to Search a Serial
Prepared by: Naomi Young
Updated: February 6, 2006
