SWAN and Cataloging Advisory have made the decision to discontinue the practice of using date ranges in Serials call numbers, starting with the issues dated January 1, 2021 and beyond. Instead, only transcribe the first date in the range.

We made this decision in an effort to simplify call number construction for serials and increase consistency throughout the consortium, which affects placement of holds and how items display in Enteprise. We hope this will also simplify Serial Control configuration and check-in for these issues.

Date ranges are rare. This will mainly affect The Economist and New York magazines, but if you encounter other titles that previously had a date range in the call number, please keep this in mind. Procedures for bimonthly titles and double issues remain unchanged.

For more information and examples, see the “Date ranges” section at the end of the Serial Call Numbers & Policies documentation.

If you notice inconsistencies or have any questions, please submit a ticket to help@swanlibraries.net.