Works, editions, copies

A work is reproducible intellectual or artistic content. An edition specifies a publication or production version. A copy is a particular material instance. Staff use separate references when these distinctions affect an account.

Two participants can read the same work in different editions. Two copies of the same edition can contain different annotations, damage, inserted photographs, ownership histories. Staff record the copy-level encounter while linking it to the broader text. A reader's reference to a passage can then be understood at both levels.

The same distinction applies to a photographic file and physical prints. An author can reproduce an image while each print develops a separate route through custody. Staff inspect parts and contained material, record reproduction permission, preserve changes in material identity. Shared content can support a relation among people without implying identical experience of the material instances.