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My appologies if my answer seemed flippant to some people, but honestly ... the guy was given 3 easy options and he balked at all of them and only settled for a questionable solution which, to my mind, seems extremely pretentious.  It sounds to me like the author has something to prove to his peers/family/friends and is using the libraries good will to grind his axe for him.


My point was that just because someone wants something does not mean they can or should always get it.  If they want information that is factually incorrect removed or actually has a good reason for it (I don't want it is not, in my mind, a good reason if the information is veritably factual), then I'm all for it ... but they have to meet me half way and accept a reasonable alternative.  And accepting "Ph.D." does not seem reasonable as 1) there may be other PhDs, 2) It does not specify what field the PhD is in, and 3) doesn't really tell you much.


Hank Young


University of Florida



From: Program for Cooperative Cataloging <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Wilson, Pete <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 9, 2018 2:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [PCCLIST] Adding Ph.D. to authority record for an author
 

I remember a friend of mine in high school who would say something out loud to himself and then write with a straight face, �It has been said��

 

Pete Wilson

Vanderbilt University

 

From: Program for Cooperative Cataloging [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Robert Maxwell
Sent: Tuesday, October 9, 2018 1:36 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [PCCLIST] Adding Ph.D. to authority record for an author

 

Just to point out, 98.4.1.9 is fairly vague. The guideline says �if the term appears with the name� and does not say �if the term appears with the name in a published source.� The term has in fact appeared with the name, now, in the e-mail correspondence.

 

Bob

 

Robert L. Maxwell
Ancient Languages and Special Collections Librarian
6728 Harold B. Lee Library
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602
(801)422-5568

 

From: Program for Cooperative Cataloging <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of McDonald, Stephen
Sent: Tuesday, October 9, 2018 12:08 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Adding Ph.D. to authority record for an author

 

The fact that RDA says specifically �Include a term if the term appears with the name and if � is a problem.  I think this means Ph.D. has to have been used with the name, on top of the other requirements.  Since the author has never used Ph.D. as part of his name in published works, I�m not sure it can legitimately be used here.  I would suggest using an Other Designation.

 

                                                                                Steve McDonald

                                                                                [log in to unmask]

 

From: Program for Cooperative Cataloging <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Netanel Ganin
Sent: Tuesday, October 9, 2018 2:01 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [PCCLIST] Adding Ph.D. to authority record for an author

 

I agree with Rich. I interpret the Exception at 9.2.2.4 broadly: "Exception If a person�s preference is known to be different from normal usage, follow that preference when choosing the part of the name to be recorded as the first element."

 

That is, a person's preference for their own name's appearance supersedes what the rules dictate up to the point where it would create actual bibliographic havoc in the database. Adding a 667 note for future catalogers could also mitigate someone who had not communicated with the author from flipping the heading thinking they'd found the date.

 

best,

 

Netanel Ganin

 

he/his/him

 

Any opinions in this email are solely those of Netanel Ganin and not to be construed or represented as those of any institution.

 

 

 

On Tue, Oct 9, 2018 at 1:55 PM Richard Murray <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

I think the fact that the author has said he doesn�t want his date of birth to appear in his heading makes it effectively �not available.�

 

I would probably go ahead and use �Ph. D.,� citing the author�s preference, but you could also use something like �Writer on astronomy� (or whatever) or �Of Oregon State University.�

 

Rich

 

 

Rich Murray

Principal Cataloger

Catalog Librarian for Spanish and Portuguese Languages | Rare Books | Sequential Art

Duke University Libraries

Durham, North Carolina, USA

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From: Program for Cooperative Cataloging <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Sapon-White, Richard
Sent: Tuesday, October 9, 2018 1:26 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [PCCLIST] Adding Ph.D. to authority record for an author

 

An author of a dissertation at our institution contacted me to ask that we remove his year of birth from the access point for his name on the dissertation�s (and thesis�s) bib records.  If we do that, his name conflicts with another in WorldCat.  I do have his middle initial, but when asked if we could use his middle name to distinguish his name, he gave a long answer why he didn�t want his middle name used.  I asked if he could provide his profession and he refused to give one.  He is in the military and with reference to the above possible additions to his name, he cites his being in the military.  He is okay about us using �Ph. D.� as an addition to his name.

 

I could just go ahead and do that, but I looked at RDA and the relevant LC Policy Statements.  RDA 9.19.1.7, Other Term of Rank, Honour, or Office, specifically states:

 

Include a term indicative of rank, honour, or office if the term appears with the name (see 9.4.1.9) and if needed to distinguish one authorized access point from another. Include this element when the person's date of birth or date of death is not available (see 9.19.1.3).

 

�Ph. D.� is given as an example of such a term.  Of the 3 conditions specified in the rule, only the need to distinguish from another authorized access point is me. None of his 3 publications (thesis, dissertation, and a journal article) use Ph. D. after his name, although it is obvious from the dissertation that he has the degree.  His birth date is available, so the 3rd condition in the rule is not met � that is how this situation began.

 

Is this the point where cataloger�s judgment kicks in?  Should I not be a stickler for rules and just drop his birth date and add the Ph. D.?  I intend to create an authority record in addition to changing the access points on the bib records.

 

Thanks for your input.

 

Richard

 

 

Richard E. Sapon-White, Head

Cataloging and Metadata Services

Oregon State University Libraries

121 Valley Library

Corvallis, OR  97331-4501

541-737-7319 (voice)

541-737-8267 (fax)

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