SUCCESSIVE ENTRIES                                                                                            Revised: February 1996

I. IDENTIFYING TITLE CHANGES

It is the responsibility of the receiving unit to identify title changes and to refer them to the Serials Cataloging Division.  Current national cataloging standards require successive entry cataloging in which separate records are created for each title with link notes between the records.  (Prior to 1973 title changes were handled by adding "Title varies" notes and added entries to the existing record.  You may sometimes still see this treatment on older records for retrospective conversion).

When determining whether a title change has occurred and how to cite the new entry/title, be sure you are looking at the title page.  If the item lacks a title page, use the cover title.

A new entry for a serial is required:

1. When the title proper changes.
2. If the heading for a corporate body under which a serial is entered changes.
3. If the main entry for a serial is under a corporate heading and the body named in that heading is no longer responsible for the serial.

IN CASE OF DOUBT, consider the title proper to have changed and submit title according to the following procedures.  If the catalogers subsequently decide a title change has not occurred, they will add a note and make added entries for any variant form considered necessary for access.

See the following for more detailed guidelines regarding what constitutes a title change:

DO NOT consider a title proper to have changed if:

1. the change is in the representation of a word or words (e.g., abbreviated word or symbol vs. spelled out form, singular vs. plural form, one spelling vs. another)

2. the addition, deletion, or change comes after the first five words (the first six words if the title begins with an article) and does not change the meaning of the title or indicate a different subject matter

3. the only change is the addition or deletion of the name the issuing body (and any grammatical connection) at the end of the title

4. the only change is in the addition, deletion, or change of punctuation

• Arabic number(s) vs. roman numeral(s)
  
• Hyphenated words vs. unhyphenated words
  
• Initialisms and letters with separating punctuation vs. those without separating punctuation
  
• Numbers or dates vs. spelled-out forms
  
• One spelling vs. another spelling (includes orthographic changes)
  
• One-word compounds vs. two-word compounds, whether hyphenated or not
  
• Signs and symbols (e.g., "&") vs. spelled-out forms

1. later issues of the serial give titles in more than one language (or script) in a different order from the earliest issue

2. later issues have a parallel title that did not appear on the earliest issue unless there is evidence in the publication (e.g., a statement by the publisher) that the publisher intentionally changed the title.

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