And certainly, one should not assign the field merely on the basis of thinking you recognize the gender. The example I always think of is the actress who played "Mrs. Walton" on TV: Michael Learned.
Never mind names such as Jesse and Jamie (my nephew and niece -- in that order, I think), and others that have already been mentioned.
Timothy J. Carlton
Senior Instructor
Cooperative and Instructional Programs Division
Library of Congress
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-----Original Message-----
From: Program for Cooperative Cataloging [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kevin M Randall
Sent: Monday, August 05, 2013 1:34 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [PCCLIST] authorities for alternate identities
Ted Gemberling wrote:
> Robert Galbraith is a male name. Catalogers in the Anglo-American
> tradition would recognize that. Why is it necessary to code for the
> gender at all?
That question is a very good one, and I believe the main answer to it is: In the vast majority of cases, it is NOT necessary to code for gender.
We should keep in mind that just because an element is defined, does not mean that we MUST use that element! Only elements that are designated as CORE are required. There may be communities using RDA that also require the use of the gender element. But I don't think any of our libraries happen to be in those communities.
There may be the rare circumstance in which the gender of the person is an important element to be recorded, perhaps to distinguish between multiple people with the same or similar names. But I would submit that those cases are going to be very rare.
Kevin M. Randall
Principal Serials Cataloger
Northwestern University Library
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