The Serial Record Division

The Serial Record Division handles serial titles in all languages and has responsibility for:

• recording receipts of serial holdings
• routing receipts to appropriate custodial areas
• providing initial bibliographic control for all new titles received via Copyright
• cataloging titles new to the Library
• contributing to the national database for serials through the Cooperative ONline SERials Program (CONSER),
• assigning International Standard Serial Numbers ( ISSN) to serials published in the United States

Processing and Reference Section

The Processing and Reference Section is the largest processing section at the Library, handling more than 1.2 million serial receipts per year. The Library maintains information for about 900,000 serial entries including:

• permanent and temporary location of bound and unbound serials
• sources of acquisition
• retention or disposal decisions

For further information on Serials Holdings please contact the appropriate Reading Room.

The CONSER Program

The CONSER Program is a cooperative program for the cataloging of serials. CONSER participants include national and research libraries and members of the publishing/information science community in the United States and Canada.

Cataloging Sections

National Serials Data Program Section (NSDP)

NSDP is the United States center of the ISSN Network. NSDP responds to publisher requests to register serials published in the United States. NSDP assigns:

• ISSN, unique 8-digit identification numbers
• key title
• an abbreviated title
• a decimal classification number
• other descriptive data

Serial Record Division Publications

Library of Congress