Date:         Thu, 19 Dec 1991 16:37:44 HST
From:         Carol Schaafsma <CAROLS@UHUNIX>
Subject:      Seasons in the South

Please pull all the Serials Librarians in off the window ledges.  There's no
need to jump.  Presumably we have all coped with the fact that Winter can be
designated at either 21 or 25 depending on the publisher's preference for
either starting a volume or ending it with the Winter edition.  When we first
encountered this problem a year or more ago, we simply extended the seqence
of numbers as follows:
        21  Winter
        22  Spring
        23  Summer

        24  Fall
        25  Winter
        26  Spring
        27  Summer

and voila! the Southern Hemisphere can start a volume year in the summer or
end it that way.  Yes, our automation vendor (CARL) had to validate the code
for us, but they did with no problem.

Granted I haven't seen a dual numbering, but I would opt for the seasons in
the Northern Hemisphere if they were there, much as we try to opt for English
when we have a choice.  If, however, the Southern Hemisphere publisher put
seasons to match his hemisphere only, I'd adapt as above.

Carol Schaafsma
Serials Department
University of Hawaii Library