Cataloging @Yale

7. 250: Edition Statement and Examples

If there is a 250 field, make sure it is accurately transcribed. If the CIP record has a 250 field but there is no corresponding edition statement on the item in hand, check with your supervisor; the 250 should be deleted if there is no edition statement on the item cataloged. If the edition statement is only in the CIP block on the verso of the title page, it is not recorded in 250. If there is no 250 field on the CIP record, check for an edition statement on the title page or verso of the title page. If an edition statement is present, update the record if other match points (such as the ISBN) are consistent with the item in hand. Convert any written out number to an Arabic number and use authorized abbreviations for edition and other terms.

EXAMPLES (AACR2):

250     ‡a 1st ed. Book has:"First edition"
250     ‡a 2nd ed. Book has: "Second edition"
250     ‡a 3rd ed. Book has: "Third edition"--and so forth
250     ‡a Ed. 4. Book has: "Edition 4"
250     ‡a Augm. ed. Book has: "Augmented edition"
250     ‡a Corr. ed. Book has: "Corrected edition"

If the edition statement begins with a word rather than a number, the word is capitalized (and sometimes abbreviated if an authorized abbreviation exists). Subsequent words may or may not be capitalized. See the 5th example below.

Include the entire phrase when transcribing, but use no other abbreviations without consulting an authorized list of  language abbreviations.

EXAMPLES (AACR2):

250     ‡a 1st American ed. Book has:"First American ed."
250     ‡a 2nd newly corr. ed. Book has: "Second newly corrected edition"
250     ‡a 3rd U.S. ed., rev. Book has: "Third U.S. edition, revised"
250     ‡a 4th ed., extensively augm. & rev. Book has: "Fourth edition, extensively augmented & revised"
250     ‡a Repr. Mar. 1989 with corr. Book has: "Reprinted March 1989 with corrections"

Note that in the 4th example, above, there is no authorized abbreviation for "extensively," so it is transcribed in full. Note that some of the months have abbreviations.

Authorized list of abbreviations is on the Cataloging at Yale/Tools and Resources page under Cataloging Tools/Abbreviations, or go directly to AACR2 Abbreviations (Roman Alphabet)

Authorized abbreviations for months are given on Abbreviations of the Names of the Months.

RDA greatly simplifies edition transcription. No cataloger supplied abbreviations. If the source uses abbreviations, transcribe the abbreviations. In AACR2, since the last term was often an abbreviation, you may not have noticed that 250 always ends with a period, even if the last word is not abbreviated. LCPS* 1.7.1. says to add a period to the end of 250 if there is no period at the end. It is likely that there may be differences between the publisher submitted CIP data and the published book, so verify carefully against the edition statement in the book.

*LCPS: Library of Congress Policy Statements are the guidelines for Library of Congress catalogers & most national level libraries for applying RDA.

EXAMPLES (RDA)

250     ‡a First edition. Book has:"First edition"
250     ‡a Second edition. Book has: "Second edition"
250     ‡a Third edition. Book has: "Third edition"--and so forth
250     ‡a Edition 4. Book has: "Edition 4"
250     ‡a Augmented edition. Book has: "Augmented edition"
250     ‡a Corrected edition. Book has: "Corrected edition"
250     ‡a First American ed. Book has:"First American ed."
250     ‡a 2nd newly corrected edition. Book has: "2nd newly corrected edition"
250     ‡a Third U.S. edition, revised. Book has: "Third U.S. edition, revised"
250     ‡a 4th ed., extensively augmented & revised. Book has: "4th edition, extensively augmented & revised"
250     ‡a Reprinted March 1989 with corrections. Book has: "Reprinted March 1989 with corrections"