Let's not get too testy on the open airwaves. Re: definitions of serials.
I replyed privately with 2 "operational/functional" definitions, since I
was pretty sure that the AACR2 definition would be 1) either available
to the requestor or 2) supplied by other readers. I think the problem is
a real one -- since what we TREAT as serials may reasonably include more
that a careful cataloger would DEFINE as serials. Functionally, one
point of view is that "if you have to handle/acquire/process it more than once
in its lifetime, then it is managed more easily as a serial "sensu lato"
(for all you erudite taxonomists).
I was surprised that none of the other replies went beyond the AACR2 definition
-- do you only include these items as management objects in technical services?
Kate McCain