The statement of responsibility contains the name of a corporate body or person that is in some way responsible for the serial when the name appears on the chief source or prominently in the item.  Both function and appearance are important factors to keep in mind, as well as the idea that the statement of responsibility is really a creation of the publisher and not of the cataloger.

6.5.1.  Definition and sources

AACR2 defines a statement of responsibility as:

A statement, transcribed from the item being described, relating to persons responsible for the intellectual or artistic content of the item, to corporate bodies from which the content emanates, or to persons or corporate bodies responsible for the performance of the content of the item.

In order for a phrase to be considered a statement of responsibility, it must:

1)   appear "formally"--i.e., it appears in isolation, as opposed to appearing embedded in text, and

2)   appear on the chief source or another "prominent" location--i.e., the prescribed sources for areas 1 and 2.

In Figure 6.36., the statement "by the Garden Department of Southern Living Magazine" is formally presented directly below the title and appears on a prominent source, the chief source.

 

When recording the statement of responsibility from a prominent source other than the chief source, give it in brackets.  Give a statement of responsibility only when one appears on the piece.  When there is none, do not make one up!  (AACR2 1.1F2.)

Note: In most cases, the main entry and statement of responsibility are not dependent on each other.  A corporate body may be given in a statement of responsibility without being chosen as the main entry.  Likewise, the corporate body given as main entry does not have to appear in the statement of responsibility or elsewhere in the record (see Module 4).

110 1# $a Malawi.

245 10 $a Budget statement / $c Dept. of the Treasury of Malawi.

 

6.5.2.  Background

Under pre-AACR2 rules, a statement of responsibility (though not called that) was sometimes, but not usually, recorded.  The term "statement of responsibility" was introduced for monographs in the revised chapter 6 of AACR; however, its use was not adopted for serials until AACR2.

6.5.3.  Corporate bodies

Serials are often the work of one or more corporate bodies.  When a corporate body is responsible for the intellectual content of the item it is called an " issuing body."  The issuing body may also be the publisher.  A corporate body whose primary business is publishing is called a "commercial publisher" and is not given in a statement of responsibility (see also CCM 10.2).

The corporate body may appear with prefatory words, such as "issued by," "prepared by," etc., or it may appear alone without any such words.

When prefatory words appear with the body on the chief source or in another prominent location, give the body as a statement of responsibility, regardless of its placement on the page.

When the body appears without prefatory words on the chief source, the practice is to give the body as a statement of responsibility only when it appears in conjunction with the title.  Apply this to mean at head of title, or below the title, but not at the foot of the page (in which case it may be transcribed as the publisher).

 

In Figure 6.37., the statement "prepared by ..." is recorded as a statement of responsibility because there are prefatory words, even though it appears at the foot of the page.

 

245 00 $a Total compensation survey / $c prepared by the Colorado Department of Personnel.

 

In Figure 6.38., the corporate body appears above the title with no prefatory words.  The body also appears in two different languages.  The English form is chosen as the statement of responsibility because this is the language of the title proper (AACR2 1.1F11).

245 00 $a Quarterly journal / $c Canadian General Standards Board.

 

A corporate body that is known to be the issuing body and that appears without prefatory words in a prominent location that is not the chief source, may be recorded as the statement of responsibility, at the discretion of the cataloger; such a statement is given within brackets since the body is not on the chief source.

When recording a statement of responsibility, do not piece together parts of a corporate hierarchy from different locations on the chief source.  Give as the statement of responsibility the body most closely associated with the title.  The remaining elements of the hierarchy may be recorded as the publisher, if appropriate.

 

In Figure 6.39., part of the corporate hierarchy appears above the title and part appears at the foot of the page.  Given the position of the different bodies, the cataloger has chosen to record the body above the title as the statement of responsibility and the body at the foot of the page as the publisher.

 

245 00 $a Almanaque hondureño / $c Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Obras Publicas, Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil.

260 ## $a Tegucigalpa, Honduras : $b Servicio Meteorológico Nacional

 

6.5.4.  Jurisdiction

If a government agency is given at the head of the title and the name of the jurisdiction appears with it, the jurisdiction may be included in the statement of responsibility.  If the jurisdiction appears in a logo or is otherwise separate from the body, or if it appears at the head of the title without the name of an agency, it may be omitted when there is a subordinate body that is responsible for the serial.  If however, the serial is entered under the jurisdiction, such as a budget or municipal employee directory, the jurisdiction alone may be given as the statement of responsibility when it appears with the title.

In Figure 6.40., the "City of Claremont" is recorded as the statement of responsibility because the report is about the city.

 

110 1# $a Claremont (Calif.)

245 10 $a Comprehensive annual financial report for the year ended ... / $c City of Claremont.

 

In Figure 6.41., "Republic of the Philippines" is recorded as part of the statement of responsibility because it appears with the responsible body.  A subsequent statement of responsibility is also given (see CCM 6.5.7.).

 

110 1# $a Philippines. $b Congress. $b Senate.

245 10 $a Journal of the Senate / $c Republic of the Philippines, Congress of the Philippines, Senate ; prepared by the Journal Division and Publication and Editorial Division.

 

 

In Figure 6.42., "State of South Dakota" is not recorded as a statement of responsibility because it appears alone at the top of the page and the responsible body appears elsewhere (in the title).

 

110 1# $a South Dakota. $b State Weed Board.

245 10 $a Report of the State Weed Board for the period ...

 

 

6.5.5.  Personal names

In practice, a person is not given as a statement of responsibility unless that person is also the main entry (see CCM 4.6.).  Consider most persons given on serials to be editors or compilers and omit them from the description, according to AACR2 12.1F3.  A person may be an editor or compiler even when the name is preceded by words such as "by" or "prepared by."  Give a personal name in a statement of responsibility only when it is clear that the person is the author of the text, there is no corporate body that is responsible for issuing the serial, and the author is recorded as the main entry.

In Figure 6.43., Alison Cooper is assumed to be an editor and the name is not recorded (AACR2 12.1F3).

 

245 00 $a U.S. business in South Africa.

 

If desired, an added entry can be provided for a person who has not been recorded as the statement of responsibility.

6.5.6.  Titles of other serials

The title of a serial cannot be a statement of responsibility for another serial because the title of a publication does not fit the definition of a statement of responsibility.  If it is likely that someone might construe the title proper to begin with the title of the other serial, give the title of the other serial in an "at head of title" note (field 500 ) and combine it with the title proper in field 246 to provide an added entry beginning with the name of the other serial (LCRI 21.30J ).

245 00 $a Christmas crafts.

246 3# $a Better Homes and Gardens Christmas crafts

500 ## $a At head of title: Better Homes and Gardens.

 

 

6.5.7.  Subsequent statements of responsibility

Some serials carry more than one statement that may be considered to be a statement of responsibility.  Often a corporate body will appear at head of the title and a statement concerning the preparation of the serial will appear elsewhere on the chief source.  In such cases, both statements may be recorded, separated by a space-semicolon-space.  The statements are recorded in the order in which they are presented on the piece (AACR2 1.1F6).  (See Figure 6.41.)

245 10 $a Journal of the Senate / $c Republic of the Philippines, Congress of the Philippines, Senate ; prepared by the Journal Division and Publication and Editorial Division.

See also:

Module 6.  Title Statement (Field 245)