.4. Transcribing information from later issues (AACR2 12.0B1)

Over the life of a serial, changes are sure to occur and the catalog record will need to be amended in different ways. AACR2 provides rules for accommodating changes to each area of the description.
3.4.1. Changes to the description
The title and edition statement (areas 1 and 2) are described from the first or earliest available issue alone, and are changed only when “backing up” the description to the first issue (but not from later issues). Variant information found on a later issue can be included by transcribing the information in a note (e.g., in the case of title variations, field 246 is used). The designation and imprint (areas 3 and 4) may reflect the first issue, and once the serial is complete, the last issue. Changes relating to areas 5-6 of the description (physical description, series statement) can be noted in the body of the description itself and in notes.
If the serial ceases publication, or a change (e.g. change in title, corporate body main entry, physical format, etc.) necessitates a new cataloging record and the last issue is in hand, certain areas in the body of the description are completed in the process of "closing off" the record (see Module 21).
For information regarding the addition or deletion of a title page that may result in a title change, see Module 16.