2F1.    Give the date or span dates of commercial publication, etc., as a year or years.  Optionally, include the month and day as found on the material.  Change roman numerals indicating the year to arabic numerals unless they are erroneous or misprinted (see 2F3 below).  Omit words and phrases such as "printed in the year" and "anno," without using the mark of omission.

Example 1

Optionally, if it is considered important to retain in the catalog record the exact wording of imprint information, transcribe the date of publication, including dates appearing as roman numerals, and any associated words or phrases as they appear in the source.  When the date transcribed is in roman numerals, give the date in arabic numerals in square brackets directly following the form in roman numerals.  When the date statement is very long, it may be abridged, using the mark of omission.

Example 2

2F2.    Date Appears Within the Place or Publisher Statement or Another Area

When the date is inseparably linked to the place or publisher statement or to information in another area according to one or more of the conditions enumerated in 1B1.1, record it with the element to which it is linked and repeat it in square brackets as the date element of the area.

Example

2F3.    Fictitious or Incorrect Date

When the year of publication or printing is known to be fictitious or incorrect, or has been misprinted, record it as given and follow it by the abbreviation "i.e." and the correction in square brackets.

Example

2F4.    Copyright Dates

2F4.1.  When the dates of publication, distribution, etc., are unknown, give the copyright date or, in its absence, the date of manufacture (indicated as such) in its place.  Use the abbreviation "c" for copyright and follow it by the year without spacing.

Examples

2F4.2.  When giving the copyright date, omit phrases such as "Entered according to Act of Congress in the year...," without using the mark of omission.

2F4.3.  Optional addition.  Add the date of copyright following the publication date if they differ.

1996 UPDATE:  Add the date of copyright following the publication date, even if the dates are the same year.

Examples

2F5.    Probable Date of Publication, etc.

2F5.1.  When no date of publication, distribution, etc., copyright date, or date of manufacture can be found for the material, give a probable date or span dates of publication according to one of the patterns in Appendix A.  Give any needed explanation in a note.

2F5.2.  As a last resort with single items, for which no date can be conjectured, use the abbreviation "s.d." ( sine datum) in square brackets.

1996 UPDATE:  Optionally, always provide a date.

2F6.    In describing a collection consisting of items published over a number of years, record the date of the first published item and the last published item and connect them by a hyphen.

Example 1

When the order of publication dates does not correspond to the order of the item numeration, record the date of each item in a note, if desirable.

Examples 2

2F7.    Open-ended Collections

1997 UPDATE:  Optionally, if additional materials are expected to be added to a collection and separate catalog records are not desirable, record inclusive publication dates based upon the date of the earliest published item and the date of the latest published item initially cataloged.  Or, record only the date of the earliest published material cataloged followed by a hyphen and three spaces.  Enclose dates in angle brackets to emphasize the temporary status of the information.  Make a note explaining that additional materials will be added to the collection.  Update the record as new materials are added.

<1956-1963>

<1956- >

Optionally, if a finite collection is being processed in stages, record inclusive publication dates for the collection.  Add dates reflecting the portion that is already processed or cataloged in angle brackets.  Make a note to explain how the collection is being processed and, if desirable, the frequency with which materials will be added to the collection.  Update the record as new materials are processed.

1937-1971, <1955-1962 processed>

See also:

2.  Publication, Distribution, etc., Area