ISSUE vs. NON-ISSUE sorting

• Article Type: General
• Product: Aleph
• Product Version: 16.02

Description:
I am trying to understand how ISSUE and ISSBD materials types are intended to be used by Aleph. The only thing I can find is a couple of cryptic notes in the web guides for v.14 and v. 16.

"Note that the sort order of the Item List can be different for items with material type "ISSUE" (as well as "ISSBD" for bound issues) than for other items." (v.16).
"ISSBD is a special material type assigned to bound volumes allowing them to be sorted as serials issue items..

My questions:

What type of sorting does the use of ISSUE and ISSBD allow? How do serials issue items sort differently from other issue items..

Should ISSUE and ISSBD only be used for serials? Could/Should it be used for monographic sets issued in fascicles? If it is used by mono sets what are the ramifications of doing so?

Resolution:
If you have a title that has some items as NON-issues, and other items that are issues, your sorting will not work correctly, because the sort routines do not match up (for example sort routine 00 for ISSUES is different than sort routine 00 for NON-issues).

So, if you have a loose-leaf set and your volumes are material type BOOK (non-issues), and you are predicting the looseleaf supplements (Aleph defaults to creating these items as ISSUES), then it is an interesting sort indeed.

I suggest taking some multiple volume monograph sets and some serial sets and trying out all of the sort routines available to you in the table. You can then get a feel for the best default sort for your library.

We code our serial items as ISSUES or ISSBD, but not just because of sorting, but because of other features that Aleph gives you when you have your items set up with this material type..

1. Aleph defaults to creating items with a material type of ISSUE when you predict. If you wish the items to be a different material type, you will need to change them one at a time. The Global Change function that is part of the Items and Serials Modules (Version 15)/Items Tab and Serials Tab (Version 16) does not include the ability to perform global changes on Material Type at this time. I should mention here that, in Version 16.02, you can also indicate in the 853X field if you wish the system to create a set of predicted items for you with a material type other than ISSUE, but it has to be a serial material type (i.e., beginning with ISS). So, if I wanted to create a prediction for a bound annual, or for bound volumes like the West Law Reporter, I can add a $o to the 853X with the ISSBD material type, and Aleph will create the set of items with that Material Type. Again, it has to be a serial material type in order for this to work; you cannot use BOOK..

2. If you display your holdings and items separately, you can display issues that are checked in virtually in the holdings record when they have a material type of ISSUE. This will not work for any other kind of material type..

3. In Versions 15 and higher, if you are checking in items one at a time, and not using Aleph prediction, you can link your item to the holdings record and the 853 pattern. Then, once you fill in the enum and chron fields, you can click the Refresh button and the Description field will be populated with the appropriate enum and chron captions from the holdings record, as well as the data from the enum and chron fields found on tab 4 or 5, depending on whether you are using Version 15 or 16 respectively..