I would suggest that you read the criteria for 246 12 carefully.  It does not apply to titles within a series/serial, but rather to what might be in a subfield p were the volume cataloged separately:

     "Distinctive titles are special titles that may appear in addition to a regular title on individual issues.  ...  Do not confuse distinctive titles with individual titles (e.g., analytics) within a series." -- OCLC BF&S

I understand that the difference between distinctive title and individual title is not entirely clear -- that's why I think of it as similar to subfield p titles, although subfield p titles (traced as 246 30) apply to the entire serial, whereas distinctive titles (246 12) apply only to one volume/part/piece/issue of a serial.  This is why subfield f is required (which volume has this title?).

Otherwise, I agree completely regarding the subject content affecting how the individual volumes should be cataloged.
-------------------------
Frank E. Sadowski Jr.
Principal Cataloger
River Campus Libraries
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY 14627-0055

(585) 275-4496
fsadowski@library.rochester.edu

>>> Susan Andrews <Susan_Andrews@TAMU-COMMERCE.EDU> 8/29/2006 10:08:26 AM >>>

I'm a little slow replying to this, but I decided to go ahead
anyway.  The way I decide on whether a title should be cataloged as a
serial or separate monographic titles is by looking at what the
subject headings would be.  If it looks like the subject headings are
going to be pretty much the same for each volume, then I catalog it
as a serial with the entries for the titles (so that they are still
searchable, of course).  If it looks like the subject headings are
going to be fairly different for each volume, then they get cataloged
separately.  Since many serials with distinctive titles are cataloged
both ways, it is really up to the cataloger.  You just need to
establish what criteria you want to use for making that decision.

Hope this helps,

Susan Andrews
********************************************************************************
At 01:10 PM 8/24/2006, you wrote:
>Good morning!
>
>I've been noticing serial records that include 246 12 for the distinctive
>titles. Is this the preferred way to deal with distinctive titles in
>serials?  It seems to me that if you want the distinctive title, you would
>catalog each volume separately and add a 440.
>
>Example: #39226063 Title: Sociology of crime, law, and deviance
>This is a particularly difficult example, because the first two volumes do
>not have distinctive titles, but the rest of the volumes do have distinctive
>titles. I'm trying to decide which way to go ... whether  to catalog them on
>the serial record or the monographic records, both of which, of course,
>exist on OCLC.
>
>Thanks kindly,
>Julie Moore
>
>
>Julie Renee Moore
>Catalogue Librarian
>California State Univ., Fresno
>julie_moore@csufresno.edu
>julie.renee.moore@gmail.com
>559.278.5813
>"Nature and books belong to the eyes that see them."
>--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Susan Andrews
Head, Serials Librarian
Texas A&M University-Commerce
P.O. Box 3011
Commerce, TX 75429-3011
Susan_Andrews@tamu-commerce.edu
(903)886-5733
"Your Success Is Our Business"