I'm with Christopher on this.

It seems to me the subject heading "Pseudo-Messiahs" is an appropriate way to describe works such as:

Women and the Messianic heresy of Sabbatai Zevi : 1666--1816 / Ada Rapoport-Albert ; translated from the Hebrew by Deborah Greniman. (see: http://lccn.loc.gov/2010004977)

That is to say, the decision that someone was "pseudo" is part of the work's point of view, so it's more or less an objective observation that "pseudo-messiahs" is part of what the work is about.

(I guess it helps that within his own religious tradition Sabbatai Zevi was considered a false prophet;  I guess when you claim to be a religion's savior, then convert to another religion, you open yourself up to that kind of judgment.)

As I said in a different backwater: this points to the tensions that arise when we take a vocabulary that was designed to describe intellectual works, and use it to describe bibliographic identities. We should tread carefully.

Benjamin Abrahamse
Cataloging Coordinator
Acquisitions and Discovery Enhancement
MIT Libraries
617-253-7137


-----Original Message-----
From: Program for Cooperative Cataloging [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of CHRISTOPHER WALKER
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2013 1:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [PCCLIST] subjective opinions buried in the new fields on NARs - open season?

John, and other colleagues, 

the exact descriptor could be applied to Jesus of Nazareth. 
or  Bahá'u'lláh. 

Other religious or political figures, especially of the relatively recent past, might collect similar additions to their NARs that reflect condescension or hostility to their work and legacy, on the part of an individual cataloger. 

I don't think it's the business of contributors to the Authority File to distinguish a "correct" Messiah from other religious figures, or to denigrate religions they don't happen to belong to as characterized by "fresh-faced" proselytes.  

I'd have to look up the literary warrant for "Pseudo-Messiahs." 
It would be a heading I'd be extremely cautious of using. 



Christopher H. Walker
Serials Cataloging Librarian
Penn State's representative to the CONSER Operations Committee Member at Large, ALCTS CRS Executive Committee 2013/2016
126 Paterno Library
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802-1812
(814) 865-4212
[log in to unmask]
 



----- Original Message -----
From: "John Hostage" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2013 1:28:11 PM
Subject: RE: [PCCLIST] subjective opinions buried in the new fields on NARs - open season?

Christopher,

What is so disturbing about it?  It seems like an objective statement to me, especially since he's self-proclaimed.  I don't know if it's scurrilous, but it might be bizarre.  
Do you prefer the LCSH term Pseudo-Messiahs?

And yes, they did open up the possibility of editing wars when they started including all this non-objective data.

John
------------------------------------------
John Hostage
Senior Continuing Resources Cataloger
Harvard Library--Information and Technical Services Langdell Hall 194 Harvard Law School Library Cambridge, MA 02138 [log in to unmask]
+(1)(617) 495-3974 (voice)
+(1)(617) 496-4409 (fax)

________________________________________
From: Program for Cooperative Cataloging [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of CHRISTOPHER WALKER [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2013 11:53
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [PCCLIST] subjective opinions buried in the new fields on NARs - open season?

Colleagues,

In another online community where catalogers gather, discussion is raging about the 374 that has been added to NAR  n  79006991 for Moon, Sun Myung:

Evangelist ǂa Businessman ǂa Self-proclaimed messiah ǂv New York times, Sept. 2, 2012.

I find the characterization in the third $a profoundly disturbing both with regard to this particular NAR and in its implication that if catalogers can only find something scurrilous to quote from a respected newspaper, they may add it to an established NAR for a religious leader, politician, or historical figure they happen not to like or admire.

The potential for editing wars is surely not something envisioned by the framers of the new MARC fields introduced by RDA.

Christopher H. Walker
Serials Cataloging Librarian
Penn State's representative to the CONSER Operations Committee Member at Large, ALCTS CRS Executive Committee 2013/2016
126 Paterno Library
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802-1812
(814) 865-4212
[log in to unmask]