Cataloging & Serials: Monographs

Dates: Edition and Printing

Purpose: To establish the date to be used on a cataloging record for monographs that have been reprinted or have gone into multiple editions.

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• Edition vs. printing

  1. Definition of terms:

     • Edition - all copies printed from a single setting of type. An edition remains the same edition no matter how many times its reprinted until one or more of the following occurs:

       • reset (the printing history will say so)
       • changed (revised, abridged, enlarged, etc.)
       • issued by a new publisher
       French: edition
       Spanish: edicion, impression
       German: Auflage, Ausgabe
       

     • Printing - all copies of an edition printed at one time (same edition). One edition can have many successive printings. Publishers reprint an edition for as long as there is a demand for it.
       French: edition
       Spanish: edicion
       German: Auflage
       

     • Impression - means printing (same edition)
       French: impression
       Spanish: impresion
       German: Druck
       

     • Reprint - can mean printing (same edition) or republication by another publisher.French: reimpression
       Spanish: reimpresion
       German: Neuausgabe, Neudruck
       
     • Trade edition - an ordinary edition.
     • Limited edition - an edition limited to a fixed number of copies. It can also mean a limited number of copies from an edition printed on nicer paper, with a different binding, often numbered and signed by the author and/or illustator. The statement describing the number of copies and special features is called a notice of limitation.
     • Facsimile - a reproduction that exactly reproduces the appearance (but not necessarily the binding) of the original.

  2. The date of a book is the date of the first impression of its edition. Later printings of the edition belong on the same record. If there is a record that reflects the date of the edition, that is the preferred record. If the only available record reflects a printing date, use it and edit the fixed field and 260 to reflect the date of the edition. Do not make a note of printing dates or numbers. Exception: For Special Collections materials, make a 590 note to indicate printing number and/or date, if it's other than the first.

     For materials printed before 1800, each printing is an edition.

• A numbered statement means a new edition

  EXCEPTION: older (pre-1960) materials, private or small press items and some foreign publications will sometimes label successive printings as numbered editions.

  • If there are many records over a span of years and the only difference is the edition number, those editions are actually printings.

  • If the only record for the work in hand matches everything except year and edition number, its a printing called an edition. The record is a match.

  • When in doubt, look at the copyright date, number of pages, and printing history.

• A new date usually means a new edition

  EXCEPTIONS:

  1. Some publishers put the date of the latest printing on the title page or at the end of a printing history on the verso of the title page. This is especially ccommon with publishers of classics, which keep titles in print for a long time (e.g., Penguin and Oxford University Press).

     Copies of the same edition belong on the same record, even if they're printed 20 years apart. The date of the edition is the date of the latest (post-1978) copyright date. If there is no revision listed, consider the date of the edition to be the date of the first printing.

  2. In Spanish and French items, the legal deposit date ("deposito legal" or "d.l." in Spanish or "depot legal" in French) is a better indicator of edtion date than the copyright date.

  3. On any American work published before 1978, the first copyright date is the date of the edition, unless successive copyright dates are labelled "new" or "revised."

     Ignore any copyright labelled "renewal" when determining the date of the piece in hand.

     Before 1978, American publishers periodically renewed copyrights, whether the edition was changed or not.

     NOTE: Some OCLC members use both the printing date and the copyright date in their records if there are several years between the two. These records are not wrong (not to be reported as errors), but KSU only uses them when there is nothing else available. If you find an exact match for the printing, but none for the edition, use the record, but edit the 260 |c, fixed fields "Publication Status", "Date1" and "Date2", and assign a call number to reflect the date of the edition, not the printing.

• If the publisher has changed, a book is a new edition, even if it calls itself a printing or reprint.

  1. A reprint edition (new publisher) usually has fixed field "Publication Status" of r, a note explaining publication history, and dates in the 260 relating only to the reprint.

  2. When a publisher's name changes, especially if the change indicates that the publisher itself has changed (e.g., a merger), it is considered a change of publisher (i.e., a new edition).

     1. Minor variations in the publisher's name do not signal a change of publisher (e.g., John Wiley & Sons vs. Wiley)

        Some publishers will use varying forms of their name on title pages (e.g., St. Martin's Press will sometimes call itself just St. Martins). This is not a significant change.

        A new edition should be cataloged using the form of name the publisher uses on the item. Fixed field "Publication status" should be s.

     2. If the publisher changes between parts of a serial or multipart item, the parts belong on the same record.

• Any indication that materials has been added, removed, or changed signals a new edition.

  Look for words such as: new, revised, corrected, abridged or englarged .

  French: nouveau, nouvelle, revue, corrige, reduite, or mis a jour.

  Spanish: nuevo, revisada, refundido, mejorado, acortado, aumentado, or actualizado

  German: neu, bearbeitet, durchgesehen, verandert, uberarbeitet, berichte, verbesserte, korrigierte, erweitet, or vermehrt

  1. The number of pages usually changes with a new edition.

     EXCEPTIONS:

     1. The addition or deletion of unpaged material, such as a preface or appendix, qualifies as a new edition.

     2. If prefatory numbering is dropped, but the book remains otherwise the same (i.e., the material is still there, just unpaged), its just another printing of the same edition.

     3. Differences in pages of publisher's advertisements at the end of a volume don't count if they're paged separately. If the pages of advertising are included in the volume's pagination, a change does count.

• Physical size and binding style aren't significant differences, even if the publisher calls a group of books an edition on this basis.

  EXCEPTION: Miniature scores are considered separate editions from their full-sized counterparts and require a separate record, even if the only difference between the two is size.

  1. Paperbacks and hardbacks go on the same record, unless there's a difference in pagination, publishers, etc. No note is needed except for Special Collections materials.

  2. Limited editions are true editions unless there's a change in the content of the book (e.g., extra preface, special illustrations, etc.)

     1. If you have a limited edition in hand and find a record that matches it except it lacks a notice of limitation, use the record and make a note.

     2. If you have the trade edition in hand and find a record that matches it but includes a notice of limitation, its a match.

        Do not delete the notice of limitation. If a work has both a trade and limited edition, the notice of limitation will usually mention both.

     3. "Large paper editions" are not true editions and should be cataloged on the same record as the standard size. If you have a choice of records, use the one for the standard size. Make a local note for Special Collections materials.

     EXCEPTION:

  3. If the number of volumes changes (e.g., 2 volumes in 1, or 1 volume reissued in three), it is a new edition, even if the publisher calls it a printing.

     This only applies to works issued by the publisher. If a library or collector has bound multiple volumes together or split one apart, the change is not significant.

  If the above guidelines don't resolve doubts about the item in hand, refer it to the Copy Cataloging team leader.