Multi-line column labels in a table

Question

In a table a long label for a column often needs to be split into two parts. I usually do this manually by putting each part in a row of its own but it feels wrong because it splits a semantic entity. Would it be better to use \shortstack? In the example below Nov '10 to Apr '11 is split in such a way.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\begin{document}
\begin{table}
    \let\mc\multicolumn
    \centering
    \begin{tabular}{@{}rrrrl@{}}
        \toprule
          \mc4c{Entry Period} \\
          \cmidrule{1-4}
          \mc2c{Nov 2010}     & \mc2c{Nov 2009} &  \\
          \mc2c{to Apr 2011}  & \mc2c{to Apr 2010} &  Age\\
          \cmidrule(r){1-2} \cmidrule(rl){3-4} \cmidrule(l){5-5}
          Published & Count & Published & Count   & \\
        \midrule
          2010  & 26133   & 2009   & 16688    &  recent         \\
          2009  & 68761   & 2008   & 55592    &  1 year         \\
          2008  & 18450   & 2007   &  9572    &  2 years        \\
          2007 & 43046    & 2006   & 15106    &  older          \\
            \bottomrule
    \end{tabular}        
\end{table}
\end{document}

Answer 1

You can combine \multirow and \multicolumn, load the multirow package for that. For example:

\multicolumn{2}{c}{\multirow{2}{3cm}{\centering Nov 2010\\to Apr 2011}}