Technical Services Manual
Spanish Publishers

Spanish Language Books Published in Spain or Latin Ammerica

US publishers use the word "edition" to denote an altered version of a work - a version that has been changed from previous versions. Spanish publishers use the term "edici'on", but the term refers to a printing rather than a new version. (See OCLC Bibliographic Standards.) Ideally, new records should not be added for printings. Unfortunately the OCLC community does not always follow that rule for Spanish Language Publishers. To accommodate this idiosyncracy, the following procedures should be followed when cataloging books issued by Spanish publishers.

Preference for Selecting Records for Books by Spanish Publishers

1. Record for original edition or printing of a title by the same publishing body. Note that small variations in physical size or pagination do not justify the creation of a new record.
2. Record for the current printing.
3. Record for any previous printing. As with the original edition, small variations in physical size or pagination nor the absence or presence of series information do not justify the creation of a new record. Information in the edition statement and date of publication should be revised to reflect the current printing.
4. Only if there are no records for any printing of a title by the same publishing body should original cataloging be performed.

Notating Title Pages

The title page or title page verso of most Spanish language titles includes date of publication information for the original and the current printing. In these cases, the cataloger should insert a pencil notation near the edici’on statement clarifying that this is a printing and not an edition statement.

Example:

Title page verso includes statement: “6a edici’on.”:
Enter a pencil notation in square brackets: [i.e. 6th printing].

Some publishers do not include the date of the original printing in the title page information. In these cases, the cataloger should locate a bibliographic record for the original printing and insert a pencil notation near the edici’on statement indicating the original date of publication.

Example:

Title page verso contains only the statement: “6a edici’on, ©1995.”
Enter a pencil notation in square brackets: [i.e. 1995 printing of 1974 ed.]