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OCLC Support

View and use serial item records

Learn how to add, receive, delete, and edit serial items.

A serial is a publication issued in successive parts and continued indefinitely. A subscription is composed of parts called items. Example: periodicals.

Use Discover Items to search for the serial title and click the title link to view details.

Receive serial item

  1. On the Copies screen, in the Copies section, find the subscription and click Receive Item.
  2. On the Add New Serial Item screen, fill in the fields. One of these fields is required: Barcode, Enumeration and Chronology, or Description.
Some fields need explanation:
Field Definition
Audience Level Determine the Audience Level for the item. Refer to WorldCat Holdings Audience Levels.
Category A discrete bibliographic entity that constitutes either the whole or a part of the bibliographic item. A bibliographic unit may be a basic bibliographic unit, supplementary material, or Index. Examples of bibliographic units are: a single volume, a multi-volume monograph, an accompanying pamphlet, a set of serially-issued updates.
Chronology

The date(s) used by the publisher on a serially-issued bibliographic unit to help identify it or indicate when it was issued. The chronology may reflect the dates of coverage, publication, or printing.

When entering months, type them as numbers (1, 2, etc.). Do not spell them out (January, Feb., etc.).

Copy Number The number assigned by the library that distinguishes one copy of the title from another identical copy.
Description The statement of coverage for the library's holdings of a serial or multi-part title, whether formatted (Vol. 7 No. 1 – Vol. 22 No. 12) or textual (Library holds 1992 – present).
Enumeration The designation reflecting the alphabetic or numeric scheme used by the publisher on an item or assigned when the holdings statement is created to identify the individual bibliographic or physical parts and to show the relationship of each unit to the item as a whole.
Branch Library branch that owns the item described by the item record.
Note(s)

Note about the item.

(Optional). To make a note display upon check in or check out, type an exclamation point as its first character (!).

Receipt Status Whether newly published parts of a multipart or serial item are being received.
Shelving Locations

Location of the item within the branch.

To remove a shelving location, either click the X next to the down arrow (if available), or click the shelving location in the list to uncheck it.

Use Restrictions Any restrictions on the use of the item. It is used when it is necessary to include information that is too item specific to be handled by field 506 (Restrictions on Access Note) in the bibliographic record.
  1. Click Add Serial Item: the screen displays with the information you entered. On the Copies screen, click Refresh to see the new item.