Many electronic serials consist of existing print information that is being issued in a new medium, often with enhanced searching capabilities and perhaps with some content differences.  "CD-ROM edition" or some other form of edition statement may appear.

In other cases, several editions are issued in electronic format but for different platforms.  "MS-DOS edition", "Macintosh", and so forth may appear.  In such cases, the edition statement is input in field 250.  When the word "edition" is found on the item it is abbreviated to "ed.", as described in Module 9.  Do not add the word "ed." if it does not appear.  Give the source of the edition statement in a 500 note it if is different from the source of the title proper (AACR2 9.2B1, AACR2 9.7B7).

245 00 $a Science citation index $h [electronic resource].

250 ## $a Compact disc ed.

245 00 $a IBM imageplus collection $h [electronic resource].

250 ## $a Online library frame work ed.

500 ## $a Ed. statement from user's guide.

500 ## $a Description based on: 5th ed. (Mar. 1994); title from disc label.

Do not supply an edition statement if one does not appear on the piece.  The uniform title, general material designation (GMD) in the 245 field, and the specific material designation (SMD) in the 300 field distinguish the record from records for other editions.

The term "version" is the standard term used with software to indicate that there are differences, perhaps just the correction of bugs, between two manifestations of the same software.  This term often appears on direct access electronic serials, referring to the search software that is issued with the title, e.g., SilverPlatter 2.1.  This software-related version number changes over time (on an irregular basis as the software is debugged or enhanced) and thus, the only mention of it in serials cataloging records might be given in a system requirements note (see CCM 30.14.1).

However, to further confuse the issue, some statements using the term "version," as in "Macintosh version," may actually be edition statements.  Be careful not to confuse these two uses of the term "version."

245 00 $a American psychiatric electronic library $h [electronic resource].

250 ## $a Windows version.

500 ## $a Ed. statement from user's manual.

See also:

Module 30.  Direct Access Electronic Serials