34.2.  Common types of legal serials

Primary sources contain the official statements of law enforced by a state and judicial decisions of governmental institutions.  They are published as session laws, codes, constitutions, executive orders and decrees, administrative regulations and court decisions.  They may be published officially or commercially.  Legal documents must cite from the official version, but the commercial version is often issued more quickly and may include annotations or other research aids.  The following types of publications are primary sources.

34.2.1.  Session laws

"Session laws" is a term often applied to the body of laws enacted by a state legislature at one of its annual or biennial sessions.  The United States as well as each of the states issues session laws.  The laws enacted within a session are generally arranged chronologically by date of enactment.

a.  Entry

Laws governing a single jurisdiction are entered under the heading for the jurisdiction governed.  In almost all cases, this heading is for the jurisdiction that has issued the laws.  For example, laws enacted by the California state legislature govern the state of California, and are entered under the heading for California.  (AACR2 21.31B1)

In Figure 34.1., note that the entry is under the United States, the jurisdiction governed by the laws enacted by the U.S. Congress.  These annual compilations of federal session laws–United States Statutes at Large–are arranged chronologically by the public law number.  Before they appear in the Statutes at Large, individual statutes are first issued in the form of "slip laws," so called because they were published on thin slips or sheets of paper.

b.  Uniform title laws, etc.

The uniform title "Laws, etc." is used for session laws.  "Laws, etc." always needs to be qualified.  If a collection of general laws is from a jurisdiction other than a state of the United States, the qualifier is generally the title proper.  Additional qualifiers may be used as necessary.  (AACR2 25.15A; LCRI 25.15A1 )

The uniform title in the record below is qualified by the title proper.

110 1# Canada.

240 10 Laws, etc. (Acts of the Parliament of Canada)

245 10 Acts of the Parliament of Canada.

246 13 Lois du Parliament du Canada $f 1968/1969

246 18 Statutes of Canada

260 ## Ottawa : $b Queen's Printer, $c 1952-

300 ## v. ; $c 26 cm.

310 ## Annual, $b 1984-

321 ## Sessional, $b 1951-1980/1983

362 0# 5th sess. 21st Parl. (1951)-

546 ## Text in English and French, 1968/1969-    .

580 ## French text issued separately 1951-1967/1968 under title: Lois du Parliament du Canada.  This ed. was absorbed with vol. for 1968/1969.

650 #0 Session laws $z Canada.

775 1# Canada. $s Laws, etc. (Acts of the Parliament of Canada).  French. $t Lois du Parliament du Canada $w (DLC)  90649803 $w (OCoLC)22689536

780 00 Canada. $s Laws, etc. (Acts of the Parliament of the Dominion of Canada). $t Acts of the Parliament of the Dominion of Canada $w (DLC)  90649800 $w (OCoLC)6349676

c.  Session laws of the states of the United States

c1. Earliest entry

Do not make successive entries for changes in titles of session laws of states of the United States.  Make title added entries from the varying forms of the title.  (LCRI 21.2C , 25.15A1 )

This exception to the principle of successive entries is based on the following phenomena:

frequent fluctuations and changes of title;

inconsistent publishing patterns by state legislatures that publish the public and private (or general and special) acts for some years as combined editions, for other years as separate editions, resulting in entries cyclically merging and dividing;

the material is requested in the majority of cases by, and sometimes cited as, the term "session laws" rather than by its exact title page title.  (LCRI 25.15A1, footnote 3)

While this "earliest" entry approach may have made life easier for the cataloger, it carries certain complexities for the user.  The following record for Ohio session laws illustrates "earliest" entry practice.  The original–the earliest–title remains in the 245 field.  Notice how long and complex the 246 added title fields and the corresponding notes have become.

110 1# Ohio.

240 10 Laws, etc. (Session laws : 1803-  )

245 10 Acts of the State of Ohio.

246 3# Acts of a general nature passed by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio

246 3# Acts passed at the session of the General Assembly of the State of Ohio

246 3# General and local acts passed and joint resolutions adopted by the General Assembly

246 3# General and local laws and joint resolutions passed by the General Assembly

246 3# Legislative acts, excepting appropriation acts, passed and joint resolutions adopted by the General Assembly of Ohio

246 3# Legislative acts, including appropriation acts passed and joint resolutions adopted by the ... General Assembly of Ohio at its regular session ...

246 3# Legislative acts passed and joint resolutions adopted by the General Assembly

246 3# Legislative acts passed, excepting appropriation acts, and joint resolutions adopted by the General Assembly of Ohio

246 18 Laws of Ohio $f 1803-1818, 1906-<1986>

247 18 Ohio laws $f 1856-1904

260 ## Chillicothe : $b Printed by N. Willis, printer to the state, $c 1803-

300 ## v. ; $c 20-25 cm.

310 ## Biennial, $b 1925-<1986>

321 ## Annual, $b 1803-1923

362 0# Vol. 1 (1803)-

500 ## Vols. for 1806-1818 have title: Acts passed at the session of the General Assembly of the State of Ohio; 1819-1854: Acts of a general nature passed by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio; 1856-1862: Acts of a general nature and local laws and joint resolutions passed by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio; 1863-1885: General and local laws and joint resolutions passed by the General Assembly; 1886-1908: General and local acts passed and joint resolutions adopted by the General Assembly.

500 ## Vols. for 1909-1923 have title: Legislative acts passed and joint resolutions adopted by the General Assembly; 1925-1957: Legislative acts passed, excepting appropriation acts, and joint resolutions adopted by the General Assembly of Ohio; 1959-<1973>: Legislative acts, excepting appropriation acts, passed and joint resolutions adopted by the General Assembly of Ohio; 1981-82-1983-84: Legislative acts passed and joint resolutions adopted by the ... General Assembly of Ohio at its regular session ...; 1985-86-      : Legislative acts, including appropriation acts passed and joint resolutions adopted by the ... General Assembly of Ohio at its regular session ...

580 ## Continued in part from 1819-1854 and in 1856 absorbed: Ohio.  Laws, etc.  Acts of a local nature passed at the session of the General Assembly of the State of Ohio.

650 #0 Session laws $z Ohio.

780 15 Ohio. $s Laws, etc. $t Acts of a local nature passed at the session of the General Assembly of the State of Ohio $g 1856 $w (DLC)  80640365 $w (OCoLC)5901538

785 11 Ohio. $s Laws, etc. $t Acts of a local nature passed at the session of the General Assembly of the State of Ohio $w (DLC)  80640365 $w (OCoLC)5901538

c2. Uniform title

When creating a uniform title for session laws of the states of the United States, “add to ‘Laws, etc.’ the phrase ‘Session laws’ followed by the dates covered.”  Generally, the dates covered are the dates of enactment of the session laws. Enclose the qualifiers within a single set of parentheses and separate each qualifier with a space-colon-space. If the set is still ongoing, use an open date.  (LCRI 25.15A1 )

110 1# Idaho.

240 10 Laws, etc. Session laws : 1890- )

245 10 General laws of the state of Idaho ...

246 3# General and special laws of the state of Idaho ...

246 17 Idaho session laws $f <1986- >

246 18 Session laws, Idaho $f <1986- >

310 ## Annual

362 0# 1st session (Dec. 8, 1890-Mar. 14, 1891)-

500 ## Issues for 1971-<1981> called: General and special laws of the state of Idaho.

650 #0 Session laws $z Idaho.

d.  Subject cataloging

34.2.2.  Codes, revised statutes, and compiles statutes

The following guidelines apply to various forms of compilation of the laws in force in a jurisdiction as described in the glossary under "Compiled statutes".

For many years the Library of Congress cataloged codes exclusively as monographs.  New catalog records were created every time new codes were issued–even codes issued annually or biennially.  Now according to LCRI 12.0A and its guidelines for special types of publications, if frequently issued editions, such as annual or biennial publications, carry date or numeric designations and the title is the same, catalog them as serials.

a.  Codes of states of the United States

a1. Entry

Laws governing a single jurisdiction are entered under the heading for the jurisdiction governed by them.  (AACR2 21.31B1)

a2. Uniform title

Use the uniform title "Laws, etc." for a collection of codified legislation from a state of the United States.  Add the phrase "Compiled statutes" followed by the date of codification, reenactment, revision, etc. (Figure 34.6.).  If a collection does not have a date of enactment, use the date (year) of currency of content of the earliest volume in the form of an open date (Figure 34.5.).  Enclose the qualifiers within a single set of parentheses and separate each qualifier with a space-colon-space.  (AACR2 25.15A)

In the Minnesota example (Figure 34.5.), the collection is entered under the jurisdiction.  The uniform title "Laws, etc." qualified by "Compiled statutes" followed by the earliest date of currency, has been assigned.

a3. Legislative services as component parts

Component parts are separately issued parts or pieces of a work that together form the work as a whole.  A common component part of a code or revised statutes is a loose-leaf service, often called a legislative service or an annotation service.  A cataloger can describe these legislative services in a note on the record for the main work, or may choose to catalog them separately.

Notice the supplementation note (field 525) in the record for the Arizona revised statutes (Figure 34.6.).  Most codes issued by private publishers are kept up to date between editions by a variety of separately issued parts, including pamphlets, pocket parts, and annotation services.  An added entry for a component part is made if no separate record is made for the part and it is of a type that is not normally associated with the comprehensive entry or if the component part has numbering separate from the comprehensive entry.  If there are four or more component parts mentioned, usually no added entry is made.  Added entries are not made for pocket supplements, separately issued supplements, replacement volumes, indexes, etc.  (LCRI 25.15A1 )

Make the added entry in the form the component part would be entered in the catalog if cataloged separately.  An additional added entry may be made for the title proper of the part.  (LCRI 21.30G , 25.15A1)

If the cataloger decides to make a separate record for the component part, however, then an added entry is not made in the record for the comprehensive entry.  A note about the component part should still be made in the record for the comprehensive entry.

"On the entry for the component part, make a note showing the relationship to the comprehensive entry; in addition, make an added entry for the comprehensive work."  Notice the 710 field in the example below linking the component part to the record for Arizona revised statutes.  (LCRI 25.15A1)

Component Part Cataloged Separately

245 00 Arizona annotation service.

260 ## Charlottesville, Va. : $b Michie Co., $c c1992-

300 ## v. ; $c 26 cm.

362 0# No. 1 (1992)-

580 ## Supplement to: Arizona revised statutes.

650 #0 Law $z Arizona $v Cases.

710 2# Michie Company.

710 1# Arizona. $t Laws, etc. (Compiled statutes : 1955)

For annotation services to compiled statutes, the added entry for the main work is given in the form of a jurisdiction/uniform title heading.  Notice the authority record contains a reference from the title proper of the comprehensive work.

a4. Subject cataloging

For general collections of compiled laws or codes, the only subject heading usually assigned is "Law," subdivided by the geographic heading for the jurisdiction governed.  For more information on subject headings for legislation see Subject Headings Manual H 1715.

b.  Subject collections of laws

b1. Uniform title

110 1# California.

240 10 Penal Code of California

245 10 Penal Code : $b including penal provisions of other codes : including enactments through the end of the ... regular session of the legislature.

260 ## San Francisco : $b Bancroft-Whitney, $c1994-

300 ## v. ; $c 25 cm.

310 ## Annual

362 0# 1995-

490 1# 1995: Deering’s California practice code series

490 1# 1996-    : Deering’s California desktop code series

525 ## Kept up to date by pocket supplements.

650 #0 Criminal law $z California.

650 #0 Criminal procedure $z California.

710 2# Bancroft-Whitney Company.

780 00 California. $s Penal Code of California. $t Deering's Penal Code $w (DLC)  86657531 $w (OCoLC)14277536

830 #0 Deering’s California practice code series.

830 #0 Deering’s California desktop code series.

A subject collection which is not a code may have no citation title and so no uniform title is required, as in the next example.

b2. Subject cataloging

See discussion on subject headings for legislation in Subject Headings Manual H 1715.

34.2.3.  Administrative regulations and decisions

Administrative regulations are rules and orders promulgated by an agency under statutory authority.  In some jurisdictions, for example, the United States and states of the U.S., they are not actual laws, but have the force of law.  In others, they are laws.  Research may be needed to make this distinction.  The distinction is very important when cataloging these materials, because it determines how the material is entered.  (See "Definitions of terms used in this module" for more information.)

a.  Administrative regulations that are not laws (delegated legislation)

a1. Entry

The first descriptive question that arises in cataloging administrative regulations is whether the regulations are laws in the jurisdiction that issued the regulations.  In the United States, the states of the United States, and many other countries, the regulations themselves are not laws.  Instead, government agencies have been granted authority by one or more laws to promulgate and to issue regulations.  Therefore, according to AACR2 21.32A1, entry is under the promulgating body–the agency–not the jurisdiction.

110 1# Illinois. $b Environmental Protection Agency.

245 10 Title 35, environmental protection. $n Subtitle C, $p Water pollution, $n Chapter I, $p Pollution Control Board.

246 30 Environmental protection

246 30 Water pollution

246 13 Rules and regulations

260 ## Springfield, Ill. : $b Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, $c 1982-

300 ## v. ; $c 28 cm.

362 0# Aug. 1, 1982-

650 #0 Water $x Pollution $x Law and legislation $z Illinois $v Periodicals.

a2. Collections of administrative regulations that are not laws

"Enter a collection of regulations that are not laws as a collection."  Generally this will mean that entry is under title.  (AACR2 21.32C1)

Often a collection of regulations will be promulgated by several agencies, in which case the entry will be under title.  Certainly one of the best known collections of administrative regulations is the Federal Register.  Because these regulations are promulgated by many different federal agencies, there is no single agency responsible.  Therefore this work is entered under title.

Collections of regulations can also be issued by state regulatory agencies.  In Figure 34.11., we see the title page representation of the serial which contains regulations issued by various California state agencies.  Therefore, the work is entered under title.

245 00 California regulatory notice register.

246 30 Regulatory notice register

246 13 Z register

260 ## Sacramento, CA : $b Office of Administrative Law, $c 1988-

300 ## v. ; $c 28 cm.

310 ## Weekly

362 0# Register 88, no. 1-Z (1-1-88)-

500 ## Title from cover.

580 ## A weekly publication which supplements the California code of regulations by reporting all proposed regulatory changes within state agencies.

650 #0 Delegated legislation $z California $v Periodicals.

710 1# California. $b Office of Administrative Law.

730 0# California code of regulations.

780 00 $t California administrative notice register $w (DLC)  88644929 $w (OCoLC)16661087

b.  Administrative regulations that are laws

Regulations from jurisdictions in which such regulations are laws (e.g. Great Britain and Canada) are entered according to the rules for other laws, i.e. AACR2 21.31.

110 1# Great Britain.

240 10 Laws, etc. (Statutory instruments)

245 10 Statutory instruments.

260 ## London : $b H.M.S.O., $c 1953-

300 ## v. ; $c 24-31 cm.

362 0# 1952-

500 ## Individual instruments published in slip form at time of issuance.

650 0# Delegated legislation $z Great Britain $v Periodicals.

650 0# Law $z Great Britain $v Periodicals.

c.  Administrative codes

According to AACR2 21.32C1, a collection of regulations that are not laws is entered as a collection.  Administrative codes are comprehensive collections of administrative regulations arranged by subject.  Generally, administrative codes do not meet the criteria for serials, and it is unusual to find serial records for them.  The Washington Administrative Code is issued frequently enough to be considered a serial, however.  As in the case of periodic collections of regulations such as the Federal Register, administrative codes from U.S. jurisdictions are generally entered under title, since the regulations emanate from various government agencies.

245 00 Washington administrative code.

246 18 WAC $f <1995->

260 ## [Olympia, Wash.] : $b Statute Law Committee, $c [1978?]-

300 ## v. ; $c 30 cm.

310 ## Irregular

362 0# 1977-

525 ## Annual cumulative supplements are issued between each new edition.

580 ## Earlier editions of the code have been treated as monographs.

580 ## Additional information about the rules and rule-making activities of Washington State agencies is contained in the related publication: Washington State register.

650 #0 Delegated legislation $z Washington (State)

710 1# Washington (State). $b Statute Law Committee.

787 1# $t Washington State register $x 0164-6389 $w (DLC)  92658560 $w (OCoLC)4412911

d.  Subject cataloging

e.  Administrative decisions

AACR2 21.32A applies to more than just regulations.  Among the other publications included in the scope of this rule are advisory opinions and decisions.  These decisions are "statements adjudicating controversies that arise from the violation or interpretation of statutes and administrative regulations or rules.  Such a function is performed by special boards of review, administrative law judges, hearing examiners, and other officers through administrative decisions".  (LCRI 21.32A )

e1. Entry

As the umbrella agency for the various boards of review, the Department of Justice is the body which issues administrative decisions on immigration status.  Therefore, Administrative Decisions under Immigration & Nationality Laws is entered under the heading for the U.S. Department of Justice.

110 1# United States. $b Dept. of Justice.

245 10 Administrative decisions under immigration & nationality laws / $c Department of Justice ; [decisions of] the Attorney General, Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization, [and] Board of Immigration Appeals.

246 18 Administrative decisions under immigration and nationality laws of the United States

260 ## Washington : $b U.S. G.P.O., $c 1947-

300 ## v. ; $c 24 cm.

362 0# Vol. 1 (Aug. 1940 through Dec. 1943)-

550 ## Most decisions issued by the Board of Immigration Appeals.

580 ## Cumulates looseleaf service: United States. Board of Immigration Appeals.  Interim decision.

580 ## Decisions not appearing in current bound v. are listed in: Listing of precedent decisions that have not been published in bound volumes as of ...

650 #0 Emigration and immigration law $z United States $v Cases.

650 #0 Aliens $z United States $v Cases.

710 1# United States. $b Immigration and Naturalization Service.

710 1# United States. $b Board of Immigration Appeals.

787 1# United States. Board of Immigration Appeals. $t Interim decision $w (DLC)sc 77000645 $w (OCoLC)2652285

787 1# $t Listing of precedent decisions that have not been published in bound volumes as of ... $w (DLC)  90644827 $w (OCoLC)9911939

The FCC Record is a collection of cases, dockets, rules, reports, memorandum opinions and orders of the Federal Communications Commission.  The collection should be entered under the issuing agency, which in this case is the FCC.

e2. Subject cataloging

Do not assign as a subject heading the heading or headings for the names of courts or administrative agencies which issue the decisions.

Assign the free-floating subdivision "Cases" to legal subject headings that describe topical collections containing the full text of court decisions or administrative decisions.  It may be assigned to those legal headings controlled by the pattern heading for legal topics, "Labor laws and legislation."  The Library of Congress does not further subdivide "Cases" by the form subdivision "Periodicals."  (Subject Headings Manual H 1154.5, H 1927)

f.  Executive orders

According to Black’s, an executive order is defined as "an order or regulation issued by the President or some administrative authority under his direction.…"  A chief executive may either be delegated the power to issue executive orders, or in some jurisdictions the chief executive may have the power to issue laws by decree.

f1.  Entry

In the United States, executive orders have the force of law, but they are not laws.  "Enter a collection of official communications and other works by more than one holder of an office as a collection."  (AACR2 21.4D1)  The cataloger is referred to AACR2 21.7 for collected works.  Therefore, entry for these serial compilations will be under title in most instances.

The catalog record for Figure 34.15. describes a comprehensive work that each week compiles presidential statements, messages, nominations, executive orders, transcripts of press conferences, proclamations and other documents into a single work.  Many parts of this work are published in other sources, such as the Federal Register.

34.2.4.  Court rules

Court rules govern the practice and proceedings in a court.  The rules may be promulgated by a single court, several courts, or by a legislative body.  Depending on the jurisdiction, the court rules may be officially regarded as laws or as administrative regulations.  Information may be available in the preface, or additional research may be needed to make this distinction.  The United States Supreme Court, under the authority of Congress, promulgates civil and criminal procedural rules for federal courts.  In some states of the United States, the state legislature promulgates the court rules.  Court rules enacted by a legislature are considered to be laws.

Most collections of court rules are issued annually, regardless of whether they are published as an independent title, or as a volume in a code set.  The Library of Congress does not make separate records for court rules, however, if they are published as component parts of state codes.  "Do not catalog as a separate entity a publication that forms an integral part of another publication.  ...  Examples include court rules of a U.S. state published as a volume of the state’s code."  (LCRI 1.0 )

a.  Monograph treatment

In the monograph record for the West Virginia Code Annotated illustrated in Figure 34.16., notice the first 500 note field.  According to the preface in the 1997 edition, the court rules will be replaced annually.  Because the court rules volume is published as part of the West Virginia code set, LC does not make a separate serial record for it.  Instead, LC practice is to make a note about the court rules volume in the record for the comprehensive entry.  No added entry is made for this component part, nor for the other component parts listed in the second 500 note field.

b.  Serial treatment

b1. Single court

Enter court rules governing a single court under the heading for that court, regardless of whether the court rules are considered laws or administrative regulations.  If the rules are regarded as laws, an added entry should be made under the heading for the jurisdiction that has enacted them.  In the example below, the court rules were not published as an integral part of a state code, so a separate serial record was created for this biennially issued work.  (AACR2 21.34A)

b2. More than one court within the same jurisdiction

Whether the rules are laws or regulations, make added entries under the headings for the courts if the rules govern two or three courts.  If the rules govern four or more courts, make an added entry under the heading for the court that is named first in the chief source of information.  (AACR2 21.34B)

Collections of Rules That Are Laws

If a collection contains rules governing more than one court of a single jurisdiction, but they are enacted as laws of that jurisdiction, enter the collection under the heading for the jurisdiction.  This is the same treatment that laws from a single jurisdiction are accorded, as described in AACR2 21.31.

110 1# United States.

245 10 Federal rules of evidence.

260 ## Washington : $b U.S. G.P.O. : $b For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O.

300 ## v. ; $c 24 cm.

650 #0 Evidence (Law) $z United States.

650 #0 Court rules $z United States.

Collections of Rules That Are Regulations

If a collection contains rules governing more than one court of a single jurisdiction and they are not laws, but administrative regulations, enter the collection under the heading for the agency that promulgated the rules.

b3. Collections of more than one jurisdiction

If a collection consists of court rules which are laws of more than one jurisdiction, or if the court rules have been promulgated by more than one agency, the work should be entered as a collection.  Generally this means that the collection will be entered under title.  (AACR2 21.34C)

245 00 McKinney's New York rules of court : $b state and federal.

246 30 New York rules of court

260 ## St. Paul, Minn. : $b West Pub. Co., $c c1982-

300 ## v. : $b forms ; $c 25 cm.

310 ## Annual

362 0# 1982-

525 ## Has an annual supplement each year called: Supplement to ...

650 #0 Court rules $z New York (State)

650 #0 Court rules $z United States.

710 2# United States. $b Office of the Federal Register.

780 00 $t New York court rules $x 0747-8429 $w (OCoLC)4762293 $w (DLC)    84643243

c.  Subject cataloging

Add the subject heading "Court rules" to collections of court rules.  Subdivide by the heading for the jurisdiction(s) governed by the court rules.  Also make a subject entry for the heading of the court(s), if there are three or fewer, subdivided by the free-floating form subdivision "Rules and practice."  Notice in the record for the California Rules of Court that the subject heading "Court rules" has been given twice, with California and the United States as geographic subdivisions.  Because this collection of court rules contains rules for California state courts as well as U.S. federal courts, both geographic subdivisions are needed.

245 00 California rules of court.

260 ## St. Paul, Minn. : $b West Pub. Co., $c c1987-

300 ## v. : $b forms ; $c 25 cm.

310 ## Annual

362 0# 1987 rev., updated ed.-

515 ## Each annual vol. is issued in two sequential editions (the first ed. of each year is simply called "... edition", the later ed. of each year is called "... revised edition"); e.g., v. for 1988 made up of the "1988 edition", which includes all amendments to the law up through the end of 1987; and the later "1988 revised edition", which includes all amendments to the law up through July 1, 1987.

515 ## Rules for 1987-<1993 rev. updated ed.-> published in 2 v.: California rules of court.  State, and: California rules of court.  Federal.

525 ## Supplements accompany some vols.

650 #0 Court rules $z California.

650 #0 Court rules $z United States.

710 2# West Publishing Company.

780 00 $t West's California rules of court: State and Federal $x 0147-1317 $w (DLC)  75330972 $w (OCoLC)3124728

34.2.5.  Treaties

A treaty is a compact, formal agreement or contract between two or more nations or sovereigns, formally signed and ratified.  It is both a law and a contract. (Black’s)  In terms of AACR2, a treaty is an intergovernmental agreement between two or more national governments, or between intergovernmental bodies and national governments, or between national governments and governments below the national level.

a.  Entry

The descriptive rules of entry for treaties in AACR2 are complex and dependent upon the answers to several questions.  How many governments are involved?  How many governments are involved on how many sides?  Are they national, international, or below the national level?  Of the governments involved, which heading comes first in English alphabetical order?  Fortunately, the serials cataloger of legal materials will not encounter a large number of new treaty collections needing serial records.  To help understand the serial records that do exist, we will examine some common examples.

If a collection consists of treaties between one party on one side and two or more other parties on the other side, enter the work under the heading for the single party.  Figure 34.18. represents one of the best-known treaty series.  This work is an ongoing collection of treaties between the United States as one party and other foreign jurisdictions on the other side.  Therefore entry is under the heading for the United States.

b.  Uniform title for collections

110 1# Australia.

240 10 Treaties, etc. (Australian treaty series)

245 10 Australian treaty series / $c Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

260 ## Canberra : $b Australlian Govt. Pub. Service

300 ## v. ; $c 25 cm.

500 ## Description based on: 1989, no. 1.

651 #0 Australia $x Foreign relations $v Treaties.

710 1# Australia. $b Dept. of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

780 00 Australia. $s Treaties, etc. (Treaty series). $t Treaty series $w (DLC)  59028126 $w (OCoLC)1518730

c.  Subject cataloging

For general collections of treaties, assign the appropriate subject heading, such as "Treaties–Collections" for treaties from various countries or "[Country]–Foreign relations–Treaties" for treaties of a particular country.  See Subject Headings Manual H 2227.

130 0# Treaty series (United Nations).

245 10 Treaty series / $c United Nations = Recueil des traités / Nations Unies.

246 31 Recueil des traités

246 13 United Nations treaty series

246 13 UNTS

246 13 U.N.T.S.

260 ## [New York?] : $b United Nations, $c [1947?]-

300 ## v. : $b fold. maps. ; $c 24 cm.

362 0# Vol. 1 (1946/1947)-

650 #0 Treaties $v Collections.

710 2# United Nations.

785 00 $t Treaty series (League of Nations) $w (DLC)  21017850 $w (OCoLC)1623788

34.2.6.  Law reports

Law reports are reported decisions or opinions of a single court or of several courts.  Also described as court reports, they are collected and arranged in published volumes, generally in chronological order.  They are not trial transcripts, which report the evidence, testimony or cross examination of a trial.  Instead, a law report generally describes the parties, the pleadings, the facts, the arguments of the lawyers, and the basis for the court’s decision.  Because of the importance of following precedents established by other courts in the same jurisdiction, law reports provide critical information necessary to practice law in the United States.

Two factors which affect choice of entry under AACR2 are whether the law reports are:  1) ascribed to a reporter, and 2) authorized by the court.  Ascribing a law report to a reporter can be traced to the historical role played by the person recording, or "reporting" the court’s decisions.  Until the middle of the nineteenth century, law reports were named after a particular publisher or the person recording the decisions.  These "nominative reports," which were identified by hundreds of personal names, caused great confusion.  The practice was abandoned, but many early law reports are still cited by the reporter’s name.

The second factor affecting choice of entry reflects the official nature of the material.  A court may authorize or designate a government or private publisher to issue the "official" version of the court’s decisions.  The catalog entry for the officially designated reports of a single court will be under the name of the court.  But, because the publication of the official version may lag so far behind the actual date the case was decided, private publishers began issuing "unofficial reports."  The catalog entry for unofficial reports of a single court is under title.

a.  Reports of one court

a1. Entry

Enter law reports of one court that are not ascribed to a reporter or reporters by name under the heading for the court, if the reports are issued by or under the authority of the court.  If the law reports are not the official reports issued by or under the authority of the court, enter under title.  In the record for Figure 34.20., notice that the choice of entry is the California Supreme Court, because these are the "official" reports authorized by the Court.  (AACR2 21.36A1)

The record for West’s Supreme Court Reporter in Figure 34.21. shows entry under title because it is not issued by or under the authority of the Supreme Court.  The official version of the Supreme Court reports, known as U.S. Reports, is published by the Government Printing Office, not by West.  Make an added entry for the court if it is not chosen as the main entry and for the publisher if its responsibility extends beyond that of publication.  West uses head notes and a key numbering system to help organize the cases, and provides annotations.

Determine the entry for reports that are ascribed to a reporter or reporters according to the accepted legal citation practice in the country where the court is located ( FN 17).  If that cannot be readily determined, enter under the heading for the court if the reports are issued by or under the authority of the court.  Otherwise, enter under the reporter or first-named reporter.

b.  Reports of more than one court

b1. Entry

If the reports of more than one court are compiled into a collection, and a reporter is responsible for the reports of all the cases reported, enter under the heading for the reporter.  If more than one reporter is responsible for all reports, follow the rules for   shared responsibility, AACR2 21.6.  If no reporter is responsible for all reports, or if no reporter is named, enter the reports under title.  (AACR2 21.36A2)

In Figure 34.22., West’s Federal Reporter contains decisions from U.S. Courts of Appeal, or circuit courts, throughout the United States.  Entry is under title for two reasons:  this title is an unofficial reporter, and contains only selected decisions.  Second, there is no specific court named the "United States Courts of Appeals."

c.  Designations

One of the characteristics of law reporters is that they often create what the CCM 8.6 calls "successive designation systems."  For example, a successive designation system occurs when the numeric designation begins over again with no. 1, but is linked to the old system with the word "new," or "second series."  The cataloger must first determine if the serial’s enumeration links the old to the new system before deciding whether to create a new serial record.  If the publisher does not link the old to the new, then a new serial record may need to be created.  (LCRI 12.3G1 )

In Figure 34.22. for the West’s Federal Reporter, we saw that a new serial record was created beginning with the "2nd ser., v. 831 F.2d-" when the title changed from Federal Reporter.  When the second series numbered 999 volumes, a successive designation system was made beginning with the third series–"3rd ser., v.1 F.3d- ."  Even though the volume numbering went back to number 1, the designation "3rd series" linked the new numbering to the old, and thus, following guidelines in LCRI 12.3G, no new record was created.

d.  Subject cataloging

Assign the subject heading "Law reports, digests, etc." to general compilations of court cases.  Add a geographical subdivision for the jurisdiction if appropriate.  Do not assign the subdivision "–Periodicals" to "Law reports, digests, etc."  Do not assign the heading to topical compilations of court decisions.  Instead, for topical collections use the subdivision "Cases" or "Digests" under legal subject headings.

34.2.7.  Attorney General's opinions

Opinions of attorneys general are usually written in response to inquiries from government officials regarding questions on statutory language.  While generally the opinions are advisory in nature and not binding, they can be persuasive legal authority ( FN 18).  Almost every state in the United States publishes the opinions of its attorney general.

a.  Entry

The same AACR2 rules apply to entry for attorneys general’s opinions as applies to entry of administrative decisions.  Advisory opinions are included in the scope of AACR2 21.32, which prescribes entry under the administrative agency that promulgates the rules, opinions, or decisions.  Therefore opinions of the attorney general are entered under the heading for the office.  (LCRI 21.32A )

Also notice in Figure 34.23. that the name of the office appears to be the New York State Attorney General.  Yet in the authority record the latest form of name is the New York State Dept. of Law.  Because states’ attorneys general serve as the head of the department of justice (or department of law), the form of the heading is usually that of the agency, not the position.  (AACR2 24.20E1)

b.  Subject cataloging

34.2.8.  Legislative records and journals

Most legislatures publish an ongoing record of their activities while the legislature is in session.  A record may include transcripts of debates, records of votes, calendars of actions taken, and legislative histories of bills and pending legislation.

Certainly the best-known legislative record in the United States is the Congressional Record.  Published in its present form since 1873, it is first issued in a daily edition and then reissued in a permanent edition.  The Congressional Record contains transcripts of legislative debates, histories of bills and resolutions, and laws signed by the president that day.

a.  Entry

Legislative records are works of an administrative nature dealing with the corporate body itself and are thus entered under the heading for the legislature.  In the record for Figure 34.24., the work is entered under the heading for Congress.  (AACR2 21.1B2)

b.  Subject cataloging

34.2.9.  Official gazettes

A government publication–often a newspaper–that publishes official notices, proclamations, regulations, and in some cases, may also publish new laws, is called an official gazette ( FN 19).  The United States federal and state governments do not publish an exact counterpart to gazettes.

a.  Entry

Entry for official gazettes is under the heading for the jurisdiction governed by the executive orders, etc.

110 1# Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

245 10 Government gazette / $c Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

260 ## [Kingstown : $b G.P.O., $c 1979]-

300 ## v. ; $c 35 cm.

310 ## Weekly

362 0# Vol. 112, no. 49 (Sat., 27 Oct. 1979)-

500 ## Title from caption.

650 #0 Gazettes $z Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

780 00 Saint Vincent. $t Saint Vincent government gazette $w (DLC)sn 89018505 $w (OCoLC)19844741

If a gazette consists chiefly of laws, use the uniform title "Laws, etc."

110 1# Germany.

240 10 Laws, etc. (Bundesgesetzblatt. Teil I)

245 10 Bundesgesetzblatt. $n Teil I.

260 ## Bonn : $b Bundesanzeiger Verlagsges., $c [1990]-

300 ## v. ; $c 30 cm.

362 0# 1990, Nr. 52 (10. Okt. 1990)-

520 ## Contains "Gesetze, Verordnungen und sonstige Veröffentlichungen von wesentlicher Bedeutung."

650 #0 Law $z Germany $v Periodicals.

650 #0 Gazettes $z Germany.

780 00 Germany (West). $s Laws, etc. (Bundesgesetzblatt. Teil I). $t Bundesgesetzblatt. Teil I

b.  Subject cataloging

See also:

Module 34.  Legal Serials