Quoting Karen Coyle <[log in to unmask]>:
> adding multiple forms of an author's name complicates the
> MODS to MARC unless there is specific coding that would identify what
> librarians call the "authoritative name."
Quoting Bruce D'Arcus <[log in to unmask]>:
> No; I'm not saying I want to list twenty different variations of a name
> in a MODS record; I'm saying I want the two variations I must have if I
> am to support scholars working with multiple languages.
Somewhat related to the recent "mods:name" discussion, I would be interested in
hearing people's ideas about the international/multilingual potential of MADS.
What if the MADS schema were modified to allow different authorized forms for
different languages (although no more than one per language)? Besides the
transliteration/script issues, for certain qualified names there are
significant differences between different languages. For example, from three
different national catalogs, we have:
[LOC] Catherine II, Empress of Russia, 1729-1796
[DDB] Ekaterina <Rossija, Imperatrica, II.>, 1729-1796
[BNF] Catherine 02 (impératrice de Russie ; 1729-1796)
If MADS and MODS records are to be used and re-used globally, it would be great
to have a metadata infrastructure that would allow switchable preferred forms
of headings depending upon the language of the user. Thus, an English speaker
would see "Catherine II, Empress of Russia" while a French speaker would see
"Catherine 02 (impératrice de Russie)" [ignore the punctuation issue for the
moment].
In Bruce's examples, there would be an authorized English version of the
author's name, as well as an authorized Japanese kanji version. There would
still be plenty of variants in a MADS record that would never be authorized
forms, and thus should not be used in a corresponding MODS record. Of course,
there are all sorts of implications involving the way the authorized forms are
defined (as defined by the English AACR2: "the name by which a person is
commonly known from ... works by that person issued in his or her language", by
the German RAK, by the French RAMEAU, etc.)
In a modified MADS, this could be structured something like:
<authority>
<name lang="en">[authorized English form]</name>
<name lang="fr">[authorized French form]</name>
<name lang="de">[authorized German form]</name>
</authority>
The default form to be used in a local record could be explicitly defined (by
name order, or by attribute), or else determined by the language of the
user/system.
Would this capability be useful? Or would it cause more problems than it
solves? (Boon or boondogle?)
-Keith
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Keith Jenkins, Metadata Librarian
Mann Library @ Cornell University
[log in to unmask] (607)255-7953
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