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Organizing Volumes,
Issues and Numbers
I recently heard from someone who wanted to know what the rules were for
numbering a newspaper's individual issues. As far as I know, there
are no real rules. The idea behind numbering issues is simply to
make it easier to keep track of which issue is which.
The actual method you use for organizing a publication's issue is
totally up to you. Take a few minutes to think of how you will be able
to find a specific issue of the paper a year or two down the road.
Make such a task as simple as possible.
An easy way to see how the system works is to think of a
"volume" as a book, and the "issue" or "number" as a chapter. If you
happen to work in a library, and you are trying to organize the papers,
the system makes practical sense. The same rule applies to anyone
working for the publication, when trying to arrange and store previous
issues.
The frequency of publication may play a big part in how you break papers
or other publications into volumes.
Lots of publishers will organize each "volume" according to the year of
publication. The first year of publication will become "Volume 1." And
each year after that will become the next volume. A daily paper,
however, may also incorporate the months as part of the Volume.
The "Issue" or "Number" will then be each particular issue — again
starting from the first issue of the year. If a publisher begins the
fiscal or publishing year in January, the January issue will become
"Issue 1," or "Number 1," or even "Issue No.1." If the business year
begins in June or July, then the same logic may apply. In this way they
can easily track and find a particular issue.
For example, someone may start their newspaper in the middle of the
year (as I did, in July of 1994) yet keep January as the beginning of
each fiscal/publishing year. The "volume" of that first year will
contain only half the number of "issues" included in
annual volumes to follow. But in my case, I still began the paper in July with
Volume One, Issue One. The first issue in the following January then became Volume 2,
Issue #1.
It makes absolutely no difference how or when you begin your publication
or your system of
identifying each issue, so long as it works for you. Everyone else who keeps
(or refers to) previous issues will simply use whatever system you create or adopt.
The system simply needs to make it possible for everyone inside (and
outside) your office to easily identify a given issue.
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