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The Newsweek situation in a new twist on an old idea. Over the years
industrial and agricultural publications have beeen offering "regional
editions" based on weather and crop conditions and so forth. This presents
problems for catalogers who may be faced with mixed editions over the
years. Inevitably the publisher gives up on the idea because it is
complicated to administer. There are still some of these around, however.
The best rule of thumb is to catalog the most predominant edition you have.
If you cannot determine that, choose the edition that fits your region best
and add a note that some issues are for other regions.

The new Newsweek situation is going to be a challenge. It reminds me of what
Saturday review did years ago when they split the magazine into Sat. review
of the Arts, Sat. review of Education, etc. That is one of the classic
examples of failure in publishing, and one the classic nightmares in serials
cataloging. So, it seems to me that Newsweek might be in some trouble if they
are trying to get innovative. Of course, technology could assist in the
success of this idea...

I think we better, as libraries, ask Newsweek if we can subscribe to all
the sections they are offering, since if we don't, we won't have all the
content that could be cited in indexes.   Of course, we'll have to pay more
for this extended subscription, how much do you bet? Anyway, we'll be looking
in to this one.

Also, I'm glad to hear that the Disney issue is retained on the microformat
subscription, especially after all the discussion of it.

Eleanor Cook
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC 28608
cookei@appstate.bitnet