Can nonfiction multi-volume works be grouped as a series?

[Lauren]

I've made requests for several series to be created out of multi-volume works of nonfiction, like this one, but I keep getting told that these are not legitimate series because they don't have "characters and/or universes in common" per per the Manual. They're nonfiction: they don't have characters or a universe at all, much less in common.

Yet, clearly GR does allow some series that don't meet that incredibly narrow definition (which I don't read as being a comprehensive definition at all anyway), such as Livy's "History of Rome" and Andrew Lang's Fairy books. These works were obviously written with the intent to be part of a series, or to be a multi-volume work, and so grouping them as a series seems appropriate; they also fulfill what is in my mind the greater criteria, that "a book is only part of a series if that designation would apply to all editions of a work." That they don't share "characters" or a "universe" is obviously irrelevant and misses the point (unless we count, for example, various ancient Romans to be "characters," in which case someone's going to have to add a lot more Roman history books to Livy's series).

Could we please get some official clarification on when nonfiction books can be combined in series?

[Renske]

Non-fiction series are difficult and I don't have the answers. But one questions that comes into my mind when trying to create a definition of a non-fiction series is if it matters in which order you read the books. The history of a certain subject divided in books that cover each a different time period for example.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Renske wrote: "Non-fiction series are difficult and I don't have the answers. But one questions that comes into my mind when trying to create a definition of a non-fiction series is if it matters in which order y..."

Thanks Renske. I don't want to get into non-fiction series. When I have removed some I have needed a lot of hand holding!

But I have talked to another experienced Super & in her opinion, the Lang books are not a series.

I'll add removing them to my to do list.

[Lauren]

Renske wrote: "But one questions that comes into my mind when trying to create a definition of a non-fiction series is if it matters in which order you read the books. ..."

This makes sense; I would also add that another question is whether if the books can be read separately or are designed to be part of a larger whole.

The issue is that none of that is in the "official" definition....