What is the difference between Edition, Volume, Issue, and Version?

Question

When it comes to publications what is the difference between all of these? I'm trying to organize a consumer information guide for work that we use and update often, but I can't seem to find clear grammar rules on how to correctly track each new amendment we make to it.

Since it's a basic manual document with many pages for the public to read, every time we update it do we call it a new edition, volume, issue, or version? What is the proper naming convention to adopt?

Thanks for any help.

Answer 1

A volume is the number of that book in a series. An issue is basically the same thing, but usually for magazines and other resources rather than book. The edition and the volume are identical, they both represent the how many edits a book has gone through to get to how it is, i.e. if a book has been released, edited, then released again with the edits, that would be the 2nd edition or version.

Answer 2

Edition:

1. a particular form or version of a published text.

2. the total number of copies of a book, newspaper, or other published material issued at one time.

3. a particular version or instance of a regular program or broadcast.



vol·ume/ˈ



1. a book forming part of a work or series.





Issue:

: the version of a newspaper, magazine, etc., that is published at a particular time



Simple Definition of version



*

Version:

: a story or description that is different in some way from another person's story or description

Answer 3

I see the problem. My best guess is that the way you should identify the changes will depend on the number of them that you make. If the entire guide is re-written, it would appear to be a new "edition," just as when a textbook originally published in 1981 gets totally revised and corrected for the "2016 edition." "Volume" refers to one book out of a set of books, so you might look at "Volume 8" of a ten volume encyclopedia set. That designation does not refer to changes or updates. "Issue" often refers to magazines or other periodicals. I can look for the "February Issue" of "Scientific American" for example. Again, this designation does not indicate changes or updates to previously published material. "Version" is similar to "edition," and is used to describe small differences between several forms of what is supposedly the same document. I might say, for example, "The King James version of the Bible says 'Thou shalt not kill,' but modern versions say, 'You are forbidden to kill other people.'" The meaning is essentially the same, but the two different "versions" use different wording. In order to figure out exactly what to do, you might consider visiting a research librarian at a public library or university library. That person can give you a definitive description of the right way to identify changes in your document.