A supplement may be cataloged separately or may be mentioned in a note on the record for the main work, depending on the nature of the supplement and its numbering.

a. Updating supplements:

A supplement that updates another serial and can be used only in conjunction with that serial is described in a note on the bibliographic record for the main work (LCRI 21.28B, LCRI 12.7B7j, and LCRI 1.5E1).

Titles are the same. Example:

Titles are different. Example:

b. Other supplements:

The types and characteristics of other supplements are so diverse that one must consider the best possible way to handle the supplement on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the following criteria:

Designation system - does the supplement carry its own designation or does it merely carry the designation of the main work?

Title - does the supplement have a distinctive title, or is it just called "Supplement"?

The instructions and examples given below are guidelines only:

1) Supplements to one issue or volume of a serial (rather than to the whole serial):

A supplement to an individual issue or volume may be cataloged as a monograph or mentioned in a note on the record for the serial. The supplement may be cataloged as a monograph if the contents warrant it and the supplement carries its own distinctive title. If the supplement is merely called "Supplement" and the contents are not unique from those of the serial or worth analyzing, add a note to the serial bibliographic record. It is best to keep the note general, in case other supplements to individual issues are published in the future. Example:

2) Ongoing supplements to the whole serial:

(a) Supplement has its own designation:

Create a separate record for the supplement. Example:

(b) Supplement is not numbered:

If a supplement is issued on a regular basis but does not carry numbering other than that of the main serial, it is mentioned as a note on the record for the main work. It may or may not have its own title. Do not create a separate record using the designation of the main work as the designation of the supplement. Example:

(c) Supplement is numbered with the main serial:

If, for example, a supplement is issued annually as No. 4 of a quarterly, it is not usually cataloged separately because the numbering cannot stand alone on a separate serial record. If the title of the supplement and its contents are important enough to warrant separate cataloging, however, and the supplement also has a chronological designation of its own, it could be analyzed by giving the title of the main work in a link (772) with a note and an added entry. This form of treatment may also be applied to special issues (CCM 17.6.).

Supplement cataloged with the main work. Example:

Supplement cataloged separately. Example:

(Note: This is a hypothetical example to show how this situation could be handled. If the supplement has its own title, and is available separately, it is possible that a library might acquire only the supplement and wish to catalog it on its own. In practice, LC catalogers prefer to create a single record with the supplement notes.)

See also:

17.4. Serial supplements