BibFormats

260  Publication, Distribution, Etc. (Imprint) (R)

Record Type

BIB

Input Standards

Field (Full/Minimal)
Required if applicable/Required if applicable
1st Indicator  Sequence of publishing statements
blank character Not applicable/no information provided/earliest available publisher
2 Intervening publisher
3 Current/latest publisher
2nd Indicator  Undefined
blank character Undefined
Subfields (R=Repeatable  NR=Nonrepeatable) Input Standards (Full/Minimal)
ǂa Place of publication, distribution, etc. (R) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂb Name of publisher, distributor, etc. (R) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂc Date of publication, distribution, etc. (R) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂe Place of manufacture (R) Optional/Optional
ǂf Manufacturer (R) Optional/Optional
ǂg Date of manufacture (R) Optional/Optional
ǂ3 Materials specified (NR) Optional/Optional
ǂ6 Linkage (NR) System supplied/System supplied
ǂ8 Field link and sequence number (R) Optional/Optional

Definition

Information relating to the publication, printing, distribution, issue, release, or production of a work. Use field 264 for RDA cataloging, and prefer use of field 264 for all new cataloging.

For unpublished items or materials that are collectively controlled, field 260 may not be included in a record or may contain only subfield ǂc.

Information in field 260 is similar to information in field 264. Field 260 is useful for cases where the content standard does not make a distinction between functions.

For information on punctuation, see the Punctuation section below.

Guidelines

Use the following guidelines for entering data in field 260:

All
  • Enter multiple place names or publisher names in separate subfields.
  • Enter the qualification of a place in the same subfield as the place name.
  • Enter the statement of the function of a publisher in the same subfield as the publisher's name.
  • Enter multiple occurrences of other components, such as dates, in separate subfields only if a different type of component intervenes.
  • Enter components of "real" imprints (carried in brackets and identified by the phrase i.e.) in separate subfields only if a different type of component intervenes.

Follow the PCC RDA hybrid bibliographic records guidelines when editing field 260.

For changes in publisher, see the Library of Congress/Program for Cooperative Cataloging guidelines, Implementing the Repeatability of the MARC 21 260. Enter any necessary access points in field 700, field 710, or field 711.

Archival material

Use field 260 for the date or inclusive dates for a single manuscript or a collection, unless the date is part of the title.

COM

Use subfields ǂa, ǂb, and ǂc for producer and distributor data. Use subfields ǂe, ǂf, and ǂg for generator data.

The producer is the person or corporate body with the financial and/or administrative responsibility for the physical processes whereby the file is brought into existence. The producer may also be responsible for the collection of data and their conversion into machine-readable form.

A distributor is a person or organization designated by the author or producer to reproduce copies of the file.

A generator is a person or corporate body with responsibility for the physical process by which a file is converted into machine-readable form (e.g., keypunching), but whose responsibility does not extend beyond data conversion.

VIS

If you are cataloging locally produced audiovisual items and off-air videorecordings that are not released, published, or similarly issued in multiple copies as an edition, you may enter only a date in field 260. Or, if you enter the date elsewhere in the record, you do not have to enter any information in field 260. See section 3.7, "Locally Made Videorecordings," for more information.

If you are cataloging two-dimensional nonprojected graphic materials, use field 260 for publication data for both pre-AACR2 and AACR2 records.

1st Indicator

Sequence of publishing statements.

 
blank character

Not applicable/no information provided/earliest available publisher. Used when a resource is first cataloged. Information given in 1st indicator value blank is not changed (unless incorrect or earlier issues of a serial are later available with differing publishing information). Defined as "No information provided" for monographic works that are complete as first issued. Only one publishing statement may contain 1st indicator value blank in a record.

260     Paris : ǂb Gauthier-Villars ; ǂa Chicago : ǂb University of Chicago Press, ǂc 1955
 
2

Intervening publisher. Used when the publisher or place of publication changes. Additional publishing statements between the earliest and latest may also be recorded with 1st indicator value 2.

260 2   ǂ3 1980-May 1993: ǂa London : ǂb Vogue
 
3

Current/latest publisher. Used when the publisher changes or when the place of publication associated with the earliest publisher changes. The current publishing statement may be added with 1st indicator value 3. Use 1st indicator value 3 only when multiple 260 fields are retained in the record.

260 3   ǂ3 1998- : ǂa Washington, D.C. : ǂb National Agriculture Library : ǂb For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O.

2nd Indicator

Undefined. The 2nd indicator position is undefined and contains a blank.

blank character

Undefined

Subfields

 
ǂa Place of publication, distribution, etc.

The place of publication and any additions to the name of a place, including an address, bracketed correction to erroneous information, or bracketed clarification of a fictitious place.

260     Stony Brook, N.Y.
260     Toronto
260     New York
260     [Hamburg?]
260     Rio [de Janeiro]
260     Belfast [i.e. Dublin]
260     London [Ont.]
260     London (35 Notting Hill Gate, London, W.11)

If two places are recorded, enter each place name in a separate subfield ǂa.

260     Philadelphia : ǂb Independent Productions ; ǂa London
260     London ; ǂa New York
260     München ; ǂa Hannover
260     New York : ǂb Wiley ; ǂa Oxford
260     Paris : ǂb Gauthier-Villars ; ǂa Chicago

If the probable place of publication cannot be determined, use the phrase [Place of publication not identified].

260     [Place of publication not identified]
ǂb Name of publisher, distributor, etc.

The name of the publisher or distributor and any qualifying terms, such as an indication of function (other than solely publishing) performed by the person or body.

260     [Chicago, Ill.] : ǂb Produced by National Opinion Research Center as part of the National Data Program for the Social Sciences
260     [London] : ǂb Warner
260     New York : ǂb RCA Victor
260     New York : ǂb Audio-Visual Division, Popular Science Pub. Co.
260     London (25 Notting-Hill Gate, London, W. 11) : ǂb Sussex Tapes
260     New York : ǂb Released by Beaux Arts
260     Montréal : ǂb National Film Board of Canada [production company]
260     Manchester : ǂb University of Manchester, Dept. of Medical Biochemistry [distributor]
260     New York ; ǂa London : ǂb McGraw-Hill
260     London : ǂb On Target Publications
260     [London] : ǂb Royal Geographical Society
260     Edinburgh : ǂb Palingenesis Press
260     New York : ǂb Distributed by New York Graphic Society

If two publishers, distributors, etc., are named, enter each name in a separate subfield ǂb.

260     New York : ǂb American Broadcasting Co. [production company] : ǂb Released by Xerox Films
260     Montréal : ǂb National Film Board of Canada [production company] ; ǂa London : ǂb Guild Sound and Vision [distributor]
260     San Francisco : ǂb Davidson Films [production company] ; ǂa Morristown, N.J. : ǂb Silver Burdett [publisher]
260     London : ǂb Iron and Steel Board : ǂb British Iron and Steel Federation
260     New York : ǂb Wiley ; ǂa Oxford : ǂb Pergamon [distributor]
260     London : ǂb Shepherd-Walwyn ; ǂa New York : ǂb Distributed by International Publications Service

If the probable publisher, distributor, etc., is unknown, use the phrase [publisher not identified].

260     London : ǂb [publisher not identified]
260     [Place of publication not identified] : ǂb [publisher not identified]
ǂc Date of publication, distribution, etc.

The date of publication.

If the date of manufacture is substituted for the date of publication, use subfield ǂc. If there is a date of publication and a date of manufacture, use subfield ǂg for the date of manufacture.

The date represents the date of publication of the edition specified in field 250, not the date of a subsequent printing.

Summary of Field 260 ǂc, Date of Publication for pre-RDA cataloging
Book Publication Date Copyright Date Printing Date Field 260 ǂc DtSt / Date1,Date2
Publication date only 2001     2001 s / 2001
Copyright date only   ©2000   ©2000 s / 2000
Printing date only     2001 printing [2001] s / 2001
Printing date only (not 1st impression)     15th impression, 2001 [2001] s / 2001
Publication date = copyright date 2001 ©2001   2001 s / 2001
Publication date > copyright date 2001 ©2000   2001, ©2000 t / 2001,2000
Publication date < copyright date 2000 ©2001   2000, ©2001 t / 2000,2001
Publication date < 1st impression date 2000   1st printing, 2001 2000 [i.e. 2001] s / 2001
Publication date < other impression date (not 1st) 2000   15th impression, 2001 2000 s / 2000
Copyright date = year of manufacture   ©2000 2000 printing ©2000 s / 2000
Copyright date does not = year of manufacture   ©2000 2001 printing ©2000 s / 2000
Explicit copyright renewal dates ignored for works copyrighted before 1978   ©1925, copyright renewed 1953   ©1925 s / 1925
Multiple copyright dates with first date after 1977   ©1978,...

©2001
  ©2001 s / 2001
Received in [year]; publication date in year following 2002 [book received in 2001]     2002 s / 2002
Received in [year]; copyright date in year following   ©2002 [book received in 2001]   ©2002 s / 2002

Table adapted from an original reprinted by permission of The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

260     Stony Brook, N.Y. : ǂb Krell Software Corp., ǂc ©1982
260     [Chicago, Ill.] : ǂb Produced by National Opinion Research Center as part of the National Data Program for the Social Sciences ; ǂa Storrs [Conn.] : ǂb Data distributed by Roper Public Opinion Research Center, University of Connecticut, ǂc 1980
260     Santa Ana, Calif. : ǂb Doubleday Multimedia, ǂc 1973
260     New York : ǂb American Broadcasting Co. [production company] : ǂb Released by Xerox Films, ǂc 1973
260     London : ǂb Methuen, ǂc 1976-
260     London : ǂb Faber Music, ǂc 1697 [i.e. 1967]
260     Yerushalayim : ǂb E. Fisher, ǂc 744 [1983 or 1984]

If you are cataloging a single manuscript, map manuscript, music manuscript, or thesis according to manuscript rules, enter only the date.

260     ǂc 1981
260     ǂc 1813 Dec. 17
245 1 0 Letter, 1854 Dec. 22, Washington, D.C. [to] Abraham Lincoln, Springfield, Ill.
[No 260 field is used]

If the publication date differs from the date of distribution, add the date of distribution if it is considered to be significant by the cataloging agency.

260     London : ǂb Macmillan, ǂc 1971 [distributed 1973]
260     London : ǂb BBC-TV, ǂc 1972 ; ǂa New York : ǂb Released by Time-Life Films, ǂc 1975

Enter multiple dates in the same subfield ǂc unless a different type of component intervenes.

260     London : ǂb Macmillan, ǂc 1697 [i.e. 1967]
260     New York : ǂb McGraw-Hill, ǂc 1967, ©1965
260     Paris : ǂb Impr. Vincent, ǂc 1798 ǂa [i.e. Bruxelles : ǂb Moens, ǂc 1883]

If a date is unavailable, enter an approximate date. Use brackets around the date.

260     Big Spring, Tex. : ǂb Creative Visual, ǂc [197-?]
260     London : ǂb Macmillan, ǂc [1971 or 1972]
260     London : ǂb Macmillan, ǂc [1990?]
260     London : ǂb Macmillan, ǂc [199-?]
260     Paris : ǂb [publisher not identified], ǂc [approximately 1898]

If you are cataloging a reprint, enter the date of the reprint in field 260.

260     Ithaca, N.Y. : ǂb Press of Andrews & Church, ǂc 1970-
362 0   Vol. 1, no. 1 (June 1894)-

If you are cataloging unpublished items, enter only a date in field 260.

260     ǂc [198-]
Archival material guidelines for ǂc

Enter the date of production on an archival collection as a year or range of years. If you are cataloging a single manuscript, you may include the month and day in that order following the year, if appropriate.

245 1 0 Life of Romney
260     ǂc 1807
245 1 0 Exil / ǂc St.-J. Perse
260     ǂc 1941
245 1 0 Alice's adventures under ground : ǂb a Christmas gift to a dear child in memory of a summer day / ǂc [Lewis Carroll (Rev. C.L. Dodgson)]
260     ǂc 1864
245 1 0 Sonnet, To Genevra / ǂc [Lord Byron]
260     ǂc 1813 Dec. 17
245 0 0 Letter, 1854 Dec. 22, Washington, D.C. [to] Abraham Lincoln Springfield, Ill.
[No 260 field is used]
CNR guidelines for ǂc

Enter the date of publication of a continuing resource, even if it coincides with the date given in a formatted 362 field.

260     Mount Vernon, NY : ǂb Consumers Union of United States, ǂc 1942-
362     Vol. 7, no. 6 (June 1942)-

If no subfield ǂc is present (because the cataloging is not based on the first issue), do not use any final punctuation at the end of the data in subfield ǂb.

260     Des Moines, IA : ǂb Special Interest Publications
588 0   Fall 1981; title from cover
COM guidelines for ǂc

These are the dates of first availability of some of the major computer file media. Dates earlier than these cannot be a valid date of publication for that computer file medium. Earlier dates may represent such bibliographic events as release date in a different computer file medium, etc.

  • 3 1/2 inch floppy disk: 1982
  • 5 1/2 inch floppy disk: 1976
  • 8 inch floppy disk: 1971
  • CD-ROM: 1985
  • DVD-ROM: 1996
  • Electronic files remotely accessed via the World Wide Web: 1991
REC guidelines for ǂc

If the date of recording differs from the date of publication, enter the recording in coded form in field 033 and in textual form in field 518.

033 0 0 1961----
260     [New York] : ǂb Music Guild, ǂc 1971
518     Recorded in 1961

These are the dates of first availability of some of the major audio media. Dates earlier than these cannot be a valid date of publication for that audio medium. Earlier dates may represent such bibliographic events as date of sound capture, release date in a different audio medium, etc.

  • Audio cassette: 1965
  • Audio CD: 1982
  • DVD-Audio: 2000
  • LP: 1948
  • MP3-CD: 2000
  • MP3 file: 1995
  • Playaway: 2005
  • Reel-to-reel tape: 1954
  • Streaming audio: 1999
VIS guidelines for ǂc

These are the dates of first availability of some of the major videorecording media. Dates earlier than these cannot be a valid date of publication for that videorecording medium. Earlier dates may represent such bibliographic events as release date in a different videorecording medium, etc.

  • Beta cassettes: 1975
  • Blu-ray disc: 2006
  • CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) standard play laser optical discs: 1978
  • CLV (Constant Linear Velocity) standard play laser optical discs: 1978
  • CED (Capacitance Electronic Disc) video discs: 1981
  • DVD-Video: 1996 (Japan); 1997 (USA)
  • Streaming video: 1999
  • U-matic/U-standard cassettes: 1971
  • VHS cassettes: 1976
ǂe Place of manufacture

Enter place of manufacture only if necessary to identify the item. Ordinarily, do not enter the information to represent different printings of the same edition.

260     [Place of publication not identified] : ǂb [publisher not identified], ǂc 1991 ǂe (London)
ǂf Manufacturer

Enter manufacturer only if necessary to identify the item. Ordinarily, do not enter the information to represent different printings of the same edition.

260     Paris : ǂb [publisher not identified], ǂc [approximately 1898] ǂe (Paris : ǂf LeBrun)
ǂg Date of manufacture

Enter date of manufacture only if necessary to identify the item. Ordinarily, do not enter the information to represent different printings of the same edition.

260     London : ǂb Laurie & Whittle, ǂc 1804 ǂg (1810 printing)
ǂ3 Materials specified

For information about subfield ǂ3, see Control Subfields.

260     Paris : ǂa New York : ǂb Vogue ǂc 1964-
260 2   ǂ3 1980-May 1993: ǂa London : ǂb Vogue
260 3   ǂ3 June 1993- : ǂa London : ǂb Elle
ǂ6 Linkage

Data that link fields when non-Latin script is entered. This subfield is system supplied and does not appear in OCLC online displays. Do not manually add subfield ǂ6. For more information about subfield ǂ6, see Control Subfields.

ǂ8 Field link and sequence number

For information about subfield ǂ8, see Control Subfields.

Punctuation

For records containing ISBD punctuation, follow these instructions:

  • Optionally, follow an initial subfield ǂ3 by a colon-space or a space-colon-space if following an open date
  • Precede second and subsequent occurrences of subfield ǂa by a space-semicolon-space
  • Precede each occurrence of subfield ǂb by a space-colon-space
  • Precede each occurrence of subfield ǂc by a comma-space
  • Enclose the text within any single or consecutive occurrences of subfields ǂe, ǂf, and/or ǂg within one set of parentheses
  • Precede any parallel statement within a subfield by a space-equals-space
  • Enclose any text within brackets as required by cataloging instructions
  • Include incidental punctuation needed within any subfields, e.g., commas, periods (following abbreviations or initials), etc.
  • Optionally, add a terminal period at the end of the field unless the last subfield ends with an ellipsis, exclamation point, hyphen, period (following an abbreviation or initial), question mark, closing bracket, or closing parenthesis
260     [South Africa] : ǂb [publisher not identified] ; ǂa Johannesburg : ǂb Thorold's Africana Books [distributor], ǂc [1989?] ǂe (Durban : ǂf Fishwick Printers)

For records containing non-ISBD punctuation, see the cataloging instructions used to create the record.

For records containing minimal or no punctuation, include brackets and incidental punctuation needed within any subfields. Otherwise, omit the punctuation outlined above.

260     [South Africa] ǂb [publisher not identified] ǂa Johannesburg ǂb Thorold's Africana Books [distributor] ǂc [1989?] ǂe Durban ǂf Fishwick Printers

For more information on punctuation, including OCLC policy, see section 2.8, Punctuation.

Indexing

For indexing and searching information, see Searching WorldCat Indexes, field 260.

MARC 21

For more information, including content designator history, see MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data, field 260.