[DCRB-L] Copyright dates in AACR2 and DCRB

[Laurence Creider]

This issue could belong with WG3 or W5 or possibly WG6:  

DCRB 4D3 says that when the date of publication or printing does not
appear in the publication but is known, supply it in brackets.  4D4 says
to give the date of copyright as a substitute for an unknown date of
publication or printing.  AACR2 4D says that when there is no date of
publication or manufacture in the item, the cataloger should give the
copyright date.  

It seems to me that there are cases where this could lead to different
dates being supplied for the same bibliographic item depending on the
rules followed and therefore different records for the same physical item.
Just this last week I had an instance where the date in my catalog record
on OCLC (following AACR2) is about 15-25 years before the date of issue I
would have estimated based on my limited knowledge of binding.

Now the AACR2 provision seems to be designed to follow the notion that
editions rather than issues or impressions are being cataloged, while the
DCRB provisions seem to prefer the reverse.  Is this something we want to
deal with in the rules?  Do we want to be explicit about the difference?

Have I completely misunderstood something in AACR2?  In some ways, I
almost wish I have.

	Larry

Laurence S. Creider
Head, General Cataloging Unit
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM  88003
Work: 505-646-4707
Fax: 505-646-7477
lcreider at lib.nmsu.edu