We have had discussion within the MODS Editorial Committee on this question --where within MODS can we record a cataloger name. �The committee has been considering the following idea and would like feedback.

The element �<recordOrigin> within <recordInfo> could be used to record the cataloger�s name.

the guidelines document �for recordInfo, http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/userguide/recordinfo.html says:

�<recordOrigin> can be free text or an institution may establish locally-controlled values for machine processing and consistency�

So the cataloger�s name, or initials, could be put in  <recordOrigin>.  �<recordOrigin> is repeatable, so you could say several things about the origin of the record, each in a different instance of the element.� So we might want to define a �type� attribute for <recordInfo> :

<recordOrigin type=�cataloger name�>Joe John</recordOrigin>

or

<recordOrigin type=�cataloger initials�>JJ</recordOrigin>

The values for the type would be locally established, i.e. there would be no (global) controlled vocabulary. An institution might establish local types, since, in general, recordOrigin is information of interest  to the local institution only.� There may be exceptions, for example, for the generation process, so it might be useful to declare one or a few well-known values, like ��generation process�.

So, we could consider adding the @type attribute to <recordOrigin> in version 3.6. ��Or, we could simply declare that if you want to indicate the cataloger�s name (or initials) put it in <recordOrigin> without saying anything further about how <recordOrigin> is to be structures.

Opinions on this idea will be appreciated.

Ray