On Sun, 8 Nov 1998, Betsy Luce wrote:

> I was curious to know where other libraries put special editions of a
> journal--ones that have a separate name and specific authors--in their
> collection.

As with so much else in the serials world, it depends. There isn't one
policy that can work for all special issues. Each one must be evaluated on
the basis of:

The layout of the piece.

What is the relationship between the special issue and the main serial?
Can/should the piece stand alone bibliographically? Is it numbered in with
the rest of the serial or does it have unique (or no) numbering?

Is there really a distinct title, or just a subject line that might be
considered to be a title if you wish?

Is the subject of the piece different enough from the subject of the
serial to warrant its own subject headings, and is it a subject that your
users care enough about that they want to be able to find it with a
subject search?

How have other libraries in OCLC or the national utility that you use
treated the issue? How have CONSER libraries treated it?

Does your library have a long-standing practice of always treating things
with distinctive titles as separates? If so, why? Perhaps the answer lies
in patron needs or needs of your system.

There are undoubtedly other issues that I've missed, but you get the idea.
While it is indeed possible to come up with a cast-iron policy on how to
always treat special issues, it's not particularly advisable because each
one is a bit different.

Mary

******************************
Mary Grenci
Serials Catalog Librarian
Knight Library
1299 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-1299

mgrenci@darkwing.uoregon.edu
Phone: 541-346-5607
Fax:   541-346-3485