Thanks, Peter, for providing a clarification about Serials Solutions
"neutral" records.  I'm sorry to add a wrinkle and a caveat about the
practice but I think it is important to point out that all
CONSER-authenticated records are for a specific medium version and that
the ISSN in subfield "a" of field 022 is medium specific. The ISSN is for
the specific medium version described in the record. I think it is
unfortunate that the cataloging community was not able to figure out a way
to create truly "neutral" records thus far.  Implementation of FRBR
displays and use of FRBR concepts by RDA is hoped to help in this regard
but right now, bibliographic records describe a manifestation and
manifestations always are medium-specific.

After implementation of the linking ISSN (ISSN-L), expected later in '08,
subfield "l" of field 022 will contain the linking ISSN, which is
a medium-neutral ISSN, but subfield "a" will still contain the ISSN that
represents the medium of the resource described in the record.  Under
CONSER's "single-record approach" information about the electronic version
is simply added to the print record. The record still describes the print
version and the ISSN is for the print version.  If libraries are using
Serials Solutions "neutral" records they should be aware that the ISSN in
field 022 subfield "a" will always be for a specific medium version.

Regina Reynolds

On Mon, 5 May 2008, McCracken, Peter wrote:

> I think it'd be useful at this point to clarify what we (ie, Serials
> Solutions) mean when we talk about "neutral" records. I apologize in
> advance for the length of this response.
>
> As Steve points out (and knows far better than me), when we say
> "neutral" we don't mean that in any CONSER-defined terms. However, I do
> want to correct the point about us 'neutralizing' the records. The
> CONSER records we provide remain full and complete and untouched by
> veterinarians. Here's why we use the term, and what it means.
>
> When we started building our MARC records service, we saw that
> librarians would want to choose the type of CONSER record they received
> from us. Many titles had a different record for each format. So we
> assigned a "mediatype" to each record -- some are clearly online,
> because they say so in the 245|h or in a qualifier to the 130 or 222.
> Others clearly indicate that they are describing a print version of the
> title, while others describe a microfilm or CD-ROM version.
>
> For example, "Journal of micromechanics and microengineering" has an
> online record (lccn sn 96036579; OCLC 35040244) and a CD-ROM record
> (lccn 00253424; OCLC 32733320). It doesn't have a record that says
> "(Print)" in the 130, but it does have a record that doesn't
> *explicitly* indicate the format (lccn 91642807; OCLC 23664365). You
> know that that record describes a print version, but some records are
> more explicit about it -- generally through the previously-mentioned
> qualifier -- and we felt a need to differentiate between the records
> that are explicitly print, and those that aren't. (This title also has
> an NLM record, which is also an option for clients, as are Serials
> Solutions-generated records, and a few others.)
>
> So we defined that undefined record as "neutral" -- it doesn't
> explicitly say that the resource is print, and it doesn't explicitly say
> that the resource is online. It just says that the resource *is*. Within
> our knowledgebase, we describe the vast majority of the records in the
> CONSER database as "neutral." But we don't modify (or "neutralize")
> other records to create this "neutral" record. It may not be a perfect
> solution, but it works well for providing a range of record options for
> our clients.
>
> A key point is that we almost never see both a "neutral" and a "print"
> record for the same resource. We use "neutral" and "print" to
> differentiate between two ways of describing a print resource. While I'm
> not certain, my guess would be that the presence of both a "neutral" and
> a "print" record for one title is the result of an error at some point
> -- if someone wanted to create a "print" record, they should have
> modified the "neutral" record, rather than creating a new "print" record
> when a "neutral" one already existed.
>
> Here's another example. The journal "American journal of philology" has
> the following records in multiple mediatypes to describe the same
> journal:
>  --	"Print CONSER": lccn 05031891; OCLC 1480174; ISSN 0002-9475
>  --	"Online CONSER": lccn sn 95006664; OCLC 33891035; ISSN 1086-3168
>  --	"Microform CONSER": lccn sf 89092851; OCLC 4284677; ISSN
> 0002-9475
>  --	"Neutral NLM": nlm 100966556
>
> Our work-level identifier for serials allows us to gather all of these
> records under one identifier, and then select the most appropriate
> record type for our clients. Specifically, we offer our clients the
> ability to choose the order of preference for these record types. This
> means that if a client wants online, then neutral, then print, then
> microfilm records, and only a neutral record is available, we'll send
> that neutral record -- until an online record becomes available, at
> which point we'll replace the neutral record with the online record,
> automatically.
>
> So, as Steve says, our use of the term "neutral" is not a CONSER term.
> It's how we differentiate among the multiple types of CONSER records
> available to describe a given serial, and how we provide our clients
> with multiple options to choose among those CONSER records. I hope this
> provides sufficient clarification; if not, I welcome the opportunity to
> describe it in even further excruciating detail.
>
> Peter Mc
>
>
>
> Peter McCracken, MLS
> Co-founder & Director of Research, Serials Solutions
> peter@serialssolutions.com
> (607) 262-0941 - cell
>
> Company Address:                                     Mailing Address:
> 501 N. 34th Street, Suite 400                      P.O. Box 466
> Seattle, WA  98103                                    Trumansburg, NY
> 14886
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum
> [mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Steven C Shadle
> Sent: Friday, May 02, 2008 1:12 PM
> To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
> Subject: Re: [SERIALST] Question about neutral records
>
> I think you'll have to contact Serials Solutions about the specifics of
> the "CONSER Neutral" record.  The provider-neutral record and the
> single-record approach have been standard conser-program practices for
> several years now, so I don't know how the 'neutral' record is different
> from what conser normally creates.  I think what SerSol is doing is
> taking whatever format record they have available and 'neutralizing' it.
> You won't find anything about it on the conser web site as this really
> isn't (at least in these terms) a conser activity.
>
> Steve Shadle/Serials Access Librarian  *****  shadle@u.washington.edu
> University of Washington Libraries      ***     Phone: (206) 685-3983
> Seattle, WA 98195-2900                   *        Fax: (206) 543-0854
>
> On Thu, 1 May 2008, Bellinger, Christina wrote:
>
> > Dear Colleagues,
> >
> > I am in the process of revising our Serials Solutions record profile.
> In
> > the profile document there is a reference to a  "Conser neutral"
> record
> > that is not the same as the vendor neutral records that are used for
> > electronic journals.  The text in the Serials Solutions customization
> > form says "These records do not explicitly state that they are for a
> > specific record format, though they generally describe the print
> > format."   I have looked at the Conser documentation and have not
> found
> > the any for these records.  Can anyone direct me to the correct
> > documents?
> >
> > Thanks in advance for your help.
> >
> > Christina
> >
> >
> >
> > Christina Bellinger
> >
> > Head, Technical Services
> >
> > University of New Hampshire LIbrary
> >
> > 18 Library Way
> >
> > Durham, NH 03824
> >
> > 603 862-0073 (phone)
> >
> > 603 862-0180 (fax)
> >
> > christina.bellinger@unh.edu
> >
> >
> >
>

Regina 	R. Reynolds                     email: rrey@loc.gov
Head, National Serials Data Program     voice: (202) 707-6379
Library of Congress                     fax    (202) 707-6333
101 Independence Avenue, S.E.           ISSN Web page: lcweb.loc.gov/issn/
Washington, D.C. 20540-4160