Hi Chris -- I've done a couple television series over the years (mostly local):

Bill Nye the science guy #36081590
>From the forum #54810930
Eyewitness #49216047

Although technically a television or radio series has a 'predetermined conclusion' (ie, defined by the contract...typically season by season) in reality contracts can be renewed *many* times so we've taken what I think is a little more practical approach of cataloging an ongoing radio or television series (or a series that appeared to be ongoing at the time of broadcast) as a serial.

Steve Shadle/Serials Access Librarian         shadle@u.washington.edu
NASIG President
University of Washington Libraries              Phone: (206) 685-3983
Seattle, WA 98195-2900                            Fax: (206) 543-0854

On Wed, 18 Apr 2012, Chris Blackman wrote:

> I'm a little out of my element here as I'm usually only cataloging serials that are primarily textual in nature (perhaps with accompanying visual or sound material), but I've been asked to catalog the freely
> available web radio archive of "This American Life" for our library and I'm not sure whether a serial record is really appropriate. By appropriate, I mean according to CONSER since we always try to follow CONSER
> policy -- that is, when we don't deviate ;-)
>
> The whole Website (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/) could be done as an integrating resource, and I'd be comfortable doing that since overall it is text based with the added sound and video files.  However, it is
> really the Radio Archive (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives) that we want, and that walks and talks like a serial, e.g. numbered, in successive parts, on-going.  As I can find no mention in CCM of how
> to deal with spoken word other than as accompanying material, I'm hoping some CONSER librarian here could provide a little advice.  Have radio shows mostly been done as monographs by season or subject just because
> that's how they've come out on physical carriers, and are Web archives a more accurate representation of their true serial nature, or am I wrong that they are in essence serials? 
>
> Thanks,
> Chris
>
> --
>
> Christine Blackman
> Catalog Librarian
> Williams College Libraries
> 413-597-4403
>
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