While we aim to follow national standards in all circumstances, the nature of the Sierra system makes following such standards unduly burdensome in many circumstances. The following provides guidance for handling the most common conflicts between Sierra-generated default formats and formats outlined by national standards. Please note that the terms enumeration and chronology refer to a piece’s numbering and time period, respectively.
ANSI/NISO Z39.71 indicates that chronology should be recorded from highest to lowest orders of magnitude. That is, the largest time unit, such as the year of an issue, should be recorded first, before information about smaller time units, such as the season, month or day of an issue. However, Sierra records chronology in the American format of listing the month or season before the year. That is, Sierra records the chronology as Jan 2008 instead of 2008 Jan.
Given the workflow implications of re-entering the dates for the VOLUME field for each piece checked in using Sierra, EXCEPT for pieces with no enumeration, OPAL libraries should accept the Sierra default of recording chronology using the American date format, i.e., month (and/or date) or season first, followed by the year.
Example
The VOLUME field for the January 2008 issue of a monthly, numbered publication, v.23 no.1, should be entered as v.23 no.1 Jan 2008 instead of v.23 no.1 2008 Jan
For issues or pieces carrying no enumeration, OPAL libraries should enter the date according to the ANSI/NISO Z39.71 format: year first, followed by month (and/or date) or season.
Example
The VOLUME field for the January 2008 issue of an unnumbered monthly publication should be entered as 2008 Jan instead of Jan 2008
ANSI/NISO Z39.71 specifies that levels of enumeration and chronology should be separated by colons with no intervening spaces. However, Sierra separates levels of enumeration and chronology with a space. That is, Sierra records a volume with two levels of enumeration as v.23 no.1, instead of v.23:no.1. Likewise, Sierra records the chronology for a monthly publication as Jan 2008 instead of 2008:Jan.
Given the workflow implications of modifying each VOLUME field for each piece checked in using Sierra, OPAL libraries should accept the Sierra default of separating levels of enumeration and chronology with a space and no colon.
Example
The VOLUME field for the January 2008 issue of a numbered publication should be recorded as v.23 no.1 Jan 2008 instead of v.23:no.1(2008:Jan)
The OPAL standards, by endorsing Option A of the OhioLINK LIB HAS standards, specifically call for enclosing chronology within parenthesis. However, Sierra does not enclose chronology within parenthesis by default. That is, Sierra enters the VOLUME field for an issue checked in using the serials checkin module as v.23 no.1 Jan 2008 instead of v.23 no.1(Jan 2008).
Thus, OPAL libraries are free either to:
If enclosing enumeration in parentheses, the enumeration and chronology should not be separated by an intervening space.
Examples
The VOLUME field for the January 2008 issue of a numbered publication may be recorded as v.23 no.1 Jan 2008 or as v.23 no.1(Jan 2008)
The VOLUME field for the 2008 bound volume for a numbered publication may be recorded as v.23 2008 or as v.23(2008)
As mentioned earlier, OPAL libraries should exert great care to maintain consistency within their own practices.
Normal, Run-of-the-Mill Publication
| Example Title | Time |
|---|---|
| Appears on Publication As: | volume 189, #25 December 12, 2008 |
| Enter Into Item Record As: | v.189 no.25 Dec 12 2008 |
Note 1: Don’t put a space between the abbreviated caption that ends in a period and the enumeration. Commas should not be used between levels of enumeration.
Note 2: Always use all four digits to denote years.
Publication with Issue Number but No Date
| Example Title | Radical Teacher |
|---|---|
| Appears on Publication As: | #389 |
| Enter Into Item Record As: | no.389 |
Publication with Issue Number and Date but No Volume
| Example Title | Current |
|---|---|
| Appears on Publication As: | #890 May, 2008 |
| Enter Into Item Record As: | no.890 May 2008 |
Publication Covering Two Contiguous Months
| Example Title | Archaeology |
|---|---|
| Appears on Publication As: | v.56 no.2 March-April 2003 |
| Enter Into Item Record As: | v.56 no.2 Mar/Apr 2003 |
Combined Issue of a Publication
| Example Title | Advertising Age |
|---|---|
| Appears on Publication As: | v.80 no.9 March 9 & 16, 2009 |
| Enter Into Item Record As: | v.80 no.9 Mar 9-16 2009 |
Publication with Supplements
| Example Title | Accounting Technology |
|---|---|
| Appears on Publication As: | vol.24,#9 Oct 2008 supp.1 |
| Enter Into Item Record As: | v.24 no.9 Oct 2008 suppl.1 |
Note: Place the word suppl. at the end of the volume string. The word index also should be placed at the end and is not abbreviated.
Publication with Date but No Numbering (No Volume or Issue)
| Example Title | Turning Wheel |
|---|---|
| Appears on Publication As: | Summer 2008 |
| Enter Into Item Record As: | 2008 Sum |
| Example Title | Advocate |
|---|---|
| Appears on Publication As: | December 2, 2008 |
| Enter Into Item Record As: | 2008 Dec 2 |
Publication with Parts
| Example Title | Nurse Practitioner |
|---|---|
| Appears on Publication As: | v.34 no.2 part.1 Feb 2009 |
| Enter Into Item Record As: | v.34 no.2 pt.1 Feb 2009 |
Full Volume Bound Together
| Example Title | Accounting Technology |
|---|---|
| Can be Entered into Item Record As: | v.24(2008) |
| v.24 2008 |
Parts of a Volume Bound Together
| Example Title | Nurse Practitioner |
|---|---|
| Can be Entered into Item Record As: | v.34 no.1-3(Jan-Mar 2009) |
| v.34 no.1-3 Jan-Mar 2009 | |
| v.34 no.1(Jan 2009)-v.34 no.3(Mar 2009) | |
| v.34 no.1 Jan 2009-v.34 no.3 Mar 2009 |
Multiple Volumes Bound Together
| Example Title | Journal of Consumer Affairs |
|---|---|
| Can be Entered into Item Record As: | v.22/23(1988/1989) |
| v.22/23 1988/1989 |
Multiple Bound Volumes with the Same Volume Number and Year with Contiguous Pagination
| Example Title | Journal of Organic Chemistry |
|---|---|
| Can be Entered into Item Record As: | v.68 2003 pp.1-1640 |
| v.68 2003 pp.1641-3365 | |
| v.68 2003 pp.3366-5432 |
Monographic Annuals Attached to a Serial Bibliographic Record where the Year, i.e., the Chronology, Also Serves as the Highest Level of Enumeration
| Can be Entered into Item Record As: | 2007 v.1 |
| 2007 v.2 | |
| 2008 v.1 | |
| 2008 v.2 | |
| 2009 v.1 | |
| 2009 v.2 |
Month and Season Abbreviations Should be Three (3) Letters
Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
Win, Spr, Sum, Fal, Aut
Alphabetical Characters that are a Part of the Caption
These characters should be recorded as they appear on the piece.
v.23a
no.36B
v.C
Multiple Copies
Indications of the item copy number should not be entered in the volume field. Instead, please indicate this in the item “copy” fixed field.
Contiguous Volume Numbers or Years
The forward slash should be used if you have two contiguous volumes numbers, or years.
v.23/24 2005/2006
Non-Contiguous Volume Numbers or Years
The dash is used if the dates or years are not contiguous and form a range.
v.23-25 2005-2007
Example of a Bound Volume for Part of a Year
Indicate contiguous or a range of years by entering all four (4) digits of the year(s).
v.15 no.1-6 Jan-Jun 2009