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The beginning and ending dates of publication contain the complete or partial chronological dates of the serial. Dates used are based on the chronological designation from field 362 (formatted or unformatted) or, when no chronological designation is given in field 362, from the date of publication in field 260. I
Beginning date. Always input four characters, whether or not the exact beginning date is known. Ending date and the publication status. The ending date contains four digits which depend on the publication status of the serial. When the status is current (code "c"), the ending data need not be input on OCLC because it defaults to "9999". When the status is dead (code "d"), input a complete or incomplete date (as explained below). When the status is unknown (code "u"), input "uuuu." (CEGLeader/06/08pg9)
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