Re: ISSNs for Electronic Versions of Serials (2 messages) Birdie MacLennan 29 Sep 1997 19:28 UTC
2 messages, 112 lines: (1)-------------------------- Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 14:11:12 -0400 From: Regina Reynolds <rrey@LOC.GOV> Subject: Re: ISSNs for Electronic Versions of Serials Jill Yaples in her posting below did infer correctly that JSTOR serials carry the same ISSN as their print versions because they are exact reproductions. The ISSN assignment policy for serials issued in different physical formats was reaffirmed at the ISSN directors meeting held this past May in Budapest: serials issued in different physical formats are assigned different ISSN with the exception of reproductions by a secondary publisher such as JSTOR. This exception has been true for microforms for quite a few years. However, for a variety of reasons, you will see electronic serials that do not conform to this policy: some publishers are unaware that they need a new ISSN for the electronic version and are using the ISSN of the print version even though the electronic version is not a reproduction. We at the U.S. ISSN center are trying to spread the word about the ISSN policy but given the rapidly evolving state of online publishing it will continue to be a challenge for us. Regina R. Reynolds Head, National Serials Data Program Library of Congress rrey@loc.gov ISSN Web page: http://lcweb.loc.gov/issn/ On Mon, 29 Sep 1997, Jill D. Yaples wrote: > Is it common for serials that come in both print and electronic versions to > have 2 different ISSNs, or do they only have different ISSNs if the electronic > version doesn't exactly duplicate the information in the print version? One > of the Reference librarians at my institution asked me about this and when I > checked a couple of journal Web databases we subscribe to, I got an ambiguous > answer. The ISSNs in the JSTOR database matched the print version ISSNs and > the ISSNs in the Project Muse database were different from the print version. > JSTOR journals are suppose to be duplicates of the print versions, but Project > Muse includes a subject index after each article in the Table of Contents and > enhanced illustrations. I thought the differences between the electronic and > print versions of serials found in the Project Muse database might explain the > different ISSNs. > > Thanks for your help. > > Jill D. Yaples > Electronic Cataloger > Cataloging Unit > Binghamton University Libraries > Binghamton, NY 13902 > E-mail: jyaples@bingvmb.cc.binghamton.edu (2)--------------------------- Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 20:23:02 +0100 From: Bernd-Christoph Kaemper <kaemper@UB.UNI-STUTTGART.DE> Organization: UB Stuttgart Subject: Re: ISSNs for Electronic Versions of Serials Comments: cc: "Jill D. Yaples" <JYAPLES@BINGVMB.CC.BINGHAMTON.EDU> I guess, the difference is that most of the journals in JSTOR are not electronic journals qua publisher but only through a retroconversion digitisation project. (But I may be wrong here.) Otherwise, it does not matter if content is different from print. Here is an excerpt from the document "ISSN for Electronic Serials" published by the National Serials Data Program, Library of Congress. It is available at URL http://lcweb.loc.gov/issn/e-serials.html ---------------- excerpt ----------------------------------------------- Criteria for Assigning ISSN The same criteria for determining if a serial is eligible for an ISSN apply to electronic and print publications: an intention to continue publishing indefinitely and being issued in designated parts. In the case of electronic serials--especially those available online, such as on the Internet--the most significant criterion is that the publication must be divided into parts or issues which carry unique, numerical designations by which the individual issues may be identified, checked in, etc. Electronic serials that are issued as individual articles meet this criterion as long as the articles carry a unique designation. Thus, a database issued quarterly on CD-ROM and carrying quarterly date designations would be eligible for an ISSN while the same database as an online service which was being continually and seamlessly updated would not be eligible. How Many ISSN? Another question that arises with serials in electronic form is how many ISSN are needed. Separate ISSN are needed for serials in different physical media (with the exception of reproduction microforms). Thus the print and electronic versions of a serial need separate ISSN. Also, a CD-ROM version and an online version of a serial require different ISSN since two different media are involved. However, the same ISSN can be used for different file formats (ASCII, PostScript, and hypertext) of the same online serial. (...) --------------- end of excerpt ----------------------------------------- Regards, Bernd-Christoph Kaemper Stuttgart University Library <kaemper@UB.UNI-STUTTGART.DE>