Thanks, Anthony, for the very lucid
explanation. I also remember the Dark Ages when the RI was first
published. At that time it was used to convert AACR1 headings, with
the old rules' emphasis on the real, full name, to the revolutionary AACR2
standard of "commonly known." Catalogers would scan through
many titles published over a range of years. Now, we are most frequently
presented with the first work or just a handful of works by a new author.
Perhaps we should make more use of a rule of thumb that I remember
only from informal communication with trainers, that the author's preference
trumps all. With Google and email, it is easier and easier to contact
authors. As many of us wrote in another thread, authors are usually
happy to be consulted about how their name will appear in catalogs.
Below is an example of how contact with an author (initially just to determine
his birth date) resulted in a fuller form than was on the title page of
his one published work. In other cases, such as Duke theses, we have
used less full forms, based on the author's stated preference.
010 no2007113874
040 NcD ǂb eng ǂc NcD
1001 Baker, G. Kevin, ǂd 1966-
4001 Baker, Kevin, ǂd 1966-
670 Advent 2007, 2007: ǂb t.p.
(Kevin Baker) back cover (senior pastor of Reconciliation United Methodist
Church, Durham, NC)
670 Email from the author, Sept.
25, 2007 ǂb (G. Kevin Baker, b. Sept. 16, 1966; intended to include "G."
on t.p. of book, wants it included in heading)
Amy
Amy H. Turner
Monographic Cataloger & Authority Control Coordinator
Duke University Libraries
Durham, NC 27708-0190 [log in to unmask]
I think that we are getting a couple different rules that serve
different purposes confused in the course of this discussion.
Both 22.2 and 22.3 emphasize that one selects the predominant form of
usage as the basis for one's heading. In 22.2A:
Choose the name by which the person is clearly most commonly known, if
there is one. Otherwise, choose one name or form of name according to
the following order of preference:
a) the name that appears most frequently in the person*s works
b) the name that appears most frequently in reference sources
c) the latest name.
22.3A goes on to discuss using the fullest form of name in use by the
author and how to select that. While the lead-in to that discussion is
that one has found *headings* based upon a usage that differs from the
usage of the item in hand, the actual discussion is based upon the
actual usage found on the bibliographic records.
It appears from the discussion that we*re getting a little too hung
up on the 80% *rule* The LCRI simply says to do this quickly, use
common sense, and, if all else fails, use the fullest usage found:
When there is no commonly found form * choose the fullest form as the
AACR2 form.. (When determining the fullest form for a person who uses
both forename initials and forenames, make no distinction between
initials and forenames, e.g., "B.E.F. Pagen" is fuller than "Bernard
Edward Pagen.")
As Mr. Russell has not been blessed with additional forenames and
initials as have others of us, it does appear that your heading is
100 1 $a Russell, Marc James, $d 1975-
An historical footnote: During my training in the Dark Ages, the 80%
rule derived from two sources. (1) the assumption that an author adopted
a regular usage over time and that a predominant form could eventually
be determined and (2) it kept us from revising headings in the database
until we were certain that a standard usage had evolved.
Anthony R.D. Franks
Head, Cooperative Programs Section
Cooperative and Instructional Programs Division
Library of Congress
202-707-2822 (voice)
202-252-2082 (fax)