Allgood, Serials and Multiple Versions
Julian Everett Allgood, a cataloguer at New York University Libraries, has an article called “Serials and Multiple Versions, or the Inexorable Trend Toward Work-Level Displays,” in the new Library Resources & Technical Services (July 2007, 51:3). Here’s the abstract:
The proliferation of multiple versions for bibliographic works presents numerous challenges to the cataloger and, by extension, to the cataloguser. Fifteen years after the Multiple Versions Forum held in Airlie, Virginia, online public access catalog (OPAC) users continue to grapple with confusing displays representing numerous serial manifestations (i.e., versions) resulting from the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules’ (AACR2) cardinal principle (Rule 0.24). Two initiatives offer hope for more coherent OPAC displays in light of a renewed focus upon user needs: the ongoing revision of AACR2, and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions’ Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) model. A third potential tool for improving OPAC displays exists within a series of standards that have developed to parallel library needs, and today offer a robust communications medium: the MARC 21 authority, bibliographic, and holdings formats. This paper summarizes the challenges posed by multiple versions and presents an analysis of current and emerging solutions.
Rule 0.24 has changed over various revisions of AACR, and Allgood gives the old version and the new one. As of 2002, Rule 0.24 reads, “It is important to bring out all aspects fo the item being described, including its content, its carrier, its type of publication, its bibliographic relationships, and whether it is published or unpublished. In any given area of the description, all relevant aspects should be described. As a rule of thumb, the cataloger should follow the more specific rules applying to the item being cataloged, whenever they differ from general rules.”
“Carrier” refers to the medium used for the publication: Can I get the article I want online, or do I have to go to the shelf and find the right issue of the journal? Allgood says, “Users are more interested in obtaining the journal article content than in the manifestation-level details of the serial title in which the article is published.” Very true!
For an earlier and oft-cited paper about this issue, read Content vs. Carrier by Lynne Howarth.