250 - Edition Statement

According to BF&S: An edition statement is a word or phrase appearing in the resource that normally indicates a difference in either content or form between the resource and a related resource. An edition statement can often be identified by the use of words such as edition, issue, level, state, update, and version, or their equivalents in other languages. Numbers and/or statements of responsibility may also appear with an edition statement.

The 250 contains the edition statement in a simple tag--basically 2 subfields with both indicators undefined--and it is often the key to matching an item-in-hand to the correct bibliographic record.

Subfield a contains the edition statement and subfield b contains the remainder of the edition statement (often a parallel statement or a statement of responsibility).

 For example, Introduction to Library Technical Services for Library Technicians has been issued in numerous editions. The 250 tag tells you which edition the record is for.

The Dewey Decimal Classification and Relative Index is currently in its 23rd edition. The NHSL keeps all the past editions in our Library Science Collection. Without the edition statement this would be a very confusing batch of records! The 19th edition was edited under the direction of Benjamin A. Custer which is reflected in the 250 tag, subfield b.