> I have yet to see someone on this list point to AACR2rev for the FIRST
> place to try for aid in determining title.

        Sorry, though I didn't explicitly cite the rules in my original
post on this topic, AACR2 was certainly at the heart of my reply.  I quite
agree that AACR2 is the appropriate starting point for cataloging-rule
inquiries.  (Though the LCRIs and CONSER manuals flesh out the rules on
troublesome topics.)

I wrote:
"The chief source for cataloging information for serials is the title page
of the earliest, or earliest available, issue. However, many serials lack
a true title page (table of contents pages, etc., don't count!), and so
the cover becomes the "title page substitute".  --Rule 12.0B1, condensed &
paraphrased, with a bit of CONSER guidance and personal experience thrown
in.  For anyone with access to the CONSER cataloging manual, Module 3.2 is
especially helpful, with several illustrations of pages that are or aren't
to be considered t.p's.  (They admit that there are ambiguities, "a wide
range of possibilities that keep catalogers guessing!")  The LCRIs for
12.0B1 give clarifications and exceptions to the basic rule.

and:
"... if the title appears in both full form and initialism, the full form
is generally used as title proper unless the initialism is the only form
that appears elsewhere."  --Rule 12.1B2, paraphrased.

        I regret that in my attempt to keep my answer short & sweet for
the purposes of the list, I failed to mention my sources.  But I wouldn't
presume to offer cataloging advice without consulting the rules--and yes,
we do refer to AACR2.  Continually!

                                Nancy Burns
                                Cataloging Unit IV (Serials)
                                Princeton University Library
                                nburns@princeton.edu