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ISDS manual: A review
ISDS Manual: A Review Lori Osmus ISDS International Centre. ISDS Manual. Paris: ISDS International Centre, 1983. ISDS, the International Serials Data System, is a worldwide network responsible for creating and maintaining a comprehensive register of serials. Forty-six national and regional centers are responsible for submitting records of serials published within their respective countries to the International Centre in Paris, for inclusion in the ISDS database. Due to differences in the cataloging practices of various countries, the need for standardization in reporting data to ISDS was recognized from the very beginning of this project. The original ISDS standards were published in 1973 as Guidelines .for ISDSJ The ISDS Manual, published in 1983, is intended to replace the Guidelines for ISDS, and takes into account developments in international bibliographic standards such as ISBD(S), as well as problems, suggestions, and proposed amendments submitted to the International Centre during the intervening years. This paper will review the ISDS Manual, evaluating its content, usefulness, and the degree to which it has become more compatible with other international standards for serials, particularly ISBD(S). The purpose of the ISDS Manual is to provide the essential information an ISDS center needs in order to fulfill its responsibility of registering serials, which involves, in part, assigning key titles and ISSNs. The 250-page volume consists of two parts: part one, "Organizational Structure, Functions and Policies of ISDS"; and part two, "Operational Procedures." Although the manual contains primarily operational procedures, these are placed in context by the clearly written description of ISDS in part one. There one can find information on the history of ISDS; its Osmus is Assistant Professor and Head, Serials Cataloging Section, Iowa State University Library, Ames, Iowa 50011.
purpose and governance structure; the role and selection of ISDS centers; policies, such as what will be included in the ISDS database and how ISSNs are assigned; a description of data elements in the ISDS record; and a list of ISDS publications and services. Part two covers technical details such as rules for assigning ISSNs, the formulation of key titles and how they are to be made unique, how a title change is determined to be so important as to require a new ISSN and key title, and rules for abbreviating key titles. Part two also includes sections instructing the national and regional centers on how to submit data to the International Centre, on data transmittal sheets or exchange tapes. These sections are very technical and of primary interest only to the ISDS centers themselves, which submit data to the International Centre on a daily basis. In addition, the ISDS Manual has six appendixes, which contain the statutes of the International Centre, a glossary, a directory of ISDS centers, language codes, country codes, and a list of the standards used by ISDS. The glossary is the most generally useful of the appendixes. The definitions are clear and do not assume too much knowledge about serials or ISDS on the part of the user. The Manual is well-organized for quick reference, and is designed in such a way that it is easy to skim. The user is aided in finding information by a very functional, yet n o t overly detailed, index. Readers of this column may be interested in the standards used in ISDS. The standards listed in the appendix are mainly ISO standards relating to the transliteration and romanization of languages, codes used for data on magnetic tape, and rules for abbreviating titles. Another part of the Manual points out that "in developing rules and standards, care has been taken to ensure, as far as possible, compatibility with international standards, such as the International Standard Bibliographic Description for Serials (ISBD(S)), and the practices of other
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international systems. ''2 Steps were also taken to ensure compatibility with the UNISIST Reference Manual and the UNESCO Common Communication Format, 3 but the compatibility of ISDS and ISBD(S) generated the most discussion in the literature prior to the publication of the ISDS Manual. The reason for the great interest in the compatibility of ISDS and ISBD(S) is that many of the national ISDS centers have been established within national libraries or agencies that are also responsible for producing national bibliographic records for serials, using cataloging rules based on ISBD(S). Although the purpose of ISDS records is to identify serials, while ISBD(S) records describe serials, the two kinds of records have many elements in common. However, differences between standards for ISDS and ISBD(S) resulted in two separate cataloging operations for some national centers. With the publication of the ISDSManual, identical standards will now be followed where the elements of ISBD(S) and ISDS records are the same. For the first time, ISDS records will carry a mandatory field for the title proper according to ISBD(S), in addition to the field for the ISDS-assigned key title. The choice and form of entries, and access points other than the title, are still not concerns of ISDS. However, when the name of a corporate body is added to a generic term to create a key title, CONSER libraries now have the option of recording the name in its catalog entry form, rather than in the sequence and form in which it appears on the piece. To make it clear that the key title and title proper serve different functions, the ISBD(S) review group and the ISDS directors decided not to change the punctuation of key titles to that used for the title proper. Other changes made in ISDS to increase its compatibility with ISBD(S) are described in articles by Dorothy Anderson 4 and Judith Szilvassy. s The goal of the changes was to make it possible for ISDS and ISBD(S) records to be produced in a single cataloging operation; only the ISDS centers themselves can judge whether the ISDS Manual has achieved this. Since the ISDS Manual is intended mainly for the use of ISDS centers, and there are only 46 of them in the world, one might ask why the Manual is important, and in what ways it can be used by the average librarian. It is important not only because ISSNs are used by publishers worldwide to identify
their serial publications, but because key titles and abbreviated key titles are often used in the citations that patrons bring to a library's catalog. Helping patrons may require an awareness of the ISDS rules for identifying serials, and of how these differ from national cataloging rules, which may indicate that serials should be entered under something other than title. Great efforts have been made to bring ISDS and ISBD(S) together, but in order to benefit from those efforts, libraries must provide access to a serial under both its ISBD(S) title proper, and where different, its ISDS key title. In the United States, libraries that follow the decisions of the Library of Congress are faced with a third type of access by title, a serial uniform title created by qualifying a title proper that is not unique. The standards for serial uniform titles are not exactly the same as those for key titles; therefore, there are now two standards for creating unique serial titles, which someday may need to be reconciled. The ISDS Manual seems to serve its purpose for ISDS centers; it is clearly written, well-organized, and easy to use. Nevertheless, due to the ever-changing cataloging rules with which it strives to be compatible, the Manual is without a doubt not the last replacement/revision that will be published.
NOTES 1. International Centre for the Registration of Serials Publications, Guidelines for ISDS (Paris: Unesco, 1973). 2. ISDS International Centre, ISDS Manual (Paris: ISDS International Centre, 1983), 12. 3. Ibid., 25. 4. Dorothy Anderson, "Compatibility of ISDS and ISBD(S) Records in International Exchange: The Background," International Cataloguing 12 (April/June 1983): 14-17. 5. Judith Szilvassy, "ISDS and ISBD(S) Records in International Exchange: Compatibility Issues," International Cataloguing 12 (October/December 1983): 38-41.
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purpose and governance structure; the role and selection of ISDS centers; policies, such as what will be included in the ISDS database and how ISSNs are assigned; a description of data elements in the ISDS record; and a list of ISDS publications and services. Part two covers technical details such as rules for assigning ISSNs, the formulation of key titles and how they are to be made unique, how a title change is determined to be so important as to require a new ISSN and key title, and rules for abbreviating key titles. Part two also includes sections instructing the national and regional centers on how to submit data to the International Centre, on data transmittal sheets or exchange tapes. These sections are very technical and of primary interest only to the ISDS centers themselves, which submit data to the International Centre on a daily basis. In addition, the ISDS Manual has six appendixes, which contain the statutes of the International Centre, a glossary, a directory of ISDS centers, language codes, country codes, and a list of the standards used by ISDS. The glossary is the most generally useful of the appendixes. The definitions are clear and do not assume too much knowledge about serials or ISDS on the part of the user. The Manual is well-organized for quick reference, and is designed in such a way that it is easy to skim. The user is aided in finding information by a very functional, yet n o t overly detailed, index. Readers of this column may be interested in the standards used in ISDS. The standards listed in the appendix are mainly ISO standards relating to the transliteration and romanization of languages, codes used for data on magnetic tape, and rules for abbreviating titles. Another part of the Manual points out that "in developing rules and standards, care has been taken to ensure, as far as possible, compatibility with international standards, such as the International Standard Bibliographic Description for Serials (ISBD(S)), and the practices of other
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international systems. ''2 Steps were also taken to ensure compatibility with the UNISIST Reference Manual and the UNESCO Common Communication Format, 3 but the compatibility of ISDS and ISBD(S) generated the most discussion in the literature prior to the publication of the ISDS Manual. The reason for the great interest in the compatibility of ISDS and ISBD(S) is that many of the national ISDS centers have been established within national libraries or agencies that are also responsible for producing national bibliographic records for serials, using cataloging rules based on ISBD(S). Although the purpose of ISDS records is to identify serials, while ISBD(S) records describe serials, the two kinds of records have many elements in common. However, differences between standards for ISDS and ISBD(S) resulted in two separate cataloging operations for some national centers. With the publication of the ISDSManual, identical standards will now be followed where the elements of ISBD(S) and ISDS records are the same. For the first time, ISDS records will carry a mandatory field for the title proper according to ISBD(S), in addition to the field for the ISDS-assigned key title. The choice and form of entries, and access points other than the title, are still not concerns of ISDS. However, when the name of a corporate body is added to a generic term to create a key title, CONSER libraries now have the option of recording the name in its catalog entry form, rather than in the sequence and form in which it appears on the piece. To make it clear that the key title and title proper serve different functions, the ISBD(S) review group and the ISDS directors decided not to change the punctuation of key titles to that used for the title proper. Other changes made in ISDS to increase its compatibility with ISBD(S) are described in articles by Dorothy Anderson 4 and Judith Szilvassy. s The goal of the changes was to make it possible for ISDS and ISBD(S) records to be produced in a single cataloging operation; only the ISDS centers themselves can judge whether the ISDS Manual has achieved this. Since the ISDS Manual is intended mainly for the use of ISDS centers, and there are only 46 of them in the world, one might ask why the Manual is important, and in what ways it can be used by the average librarian. It is important not only because ISSNs are used by publishers worldwide to identify
their serial publications, but because key titles and abbreviated key titles are often used in the citations that patrons bring to a library's catalog. Helping patrons may require an awareness of the ISDS rules for identifying serials, and of how these differ from national cataloging rules, which may indicate that serials should be entered under something other than title. Great efforts have been made to bring ISDS and ISBD(S) together, but in order to benefit from those efforts, libraries must provide access to a serial under both its ISBD(S) title proper, and where different, its ISDS key title. In the United States, libraries that follow the decisions of the Library of Congress are faced with a third type of access by title, a serial uniform title created by qualifying a title proper that is not unique. The standards for serial uniform titles are not exactly the same as those for key titles; therefore, there are now two standards for creating unique serial titles, which someday may need to be reconciled. The ISDS Manual seems to serve its purpose for ISDS centers; it is clearly written, well-organized, and easy to use. Nevertheless, due to the ever-changing cataloging rules with which it strives to be compatible, the Manual is without a doubt not the last replacement/revision that will be published.
NOTES 1. International Centre for the Registration of Serials Publications, Guidelines for ISDS (Paris: Unesco, 1973). 2. ISDS International Centre, ISDS Manual (Paris: ISDS International Centre, 1983), 12. 3. Ibid., 25. 4. Dorothy Anderson, "Compatibility of ISDS and ISBD(S) Records in International Exchange: The Background," International Cataloguing 12 (April/June 1983): 14-17. 5. Judith Szilvassy, "ISDS and ISBD(S) Records in International Exchange: Compatibility Issues," International Cataloguing 12 (October/December 1983): 38-41.
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