Print

Print


It may help to sidestep the term “pseudonym” when considering the question of the alternate name v. the alternate identity.

 

An identity can assume and operate under multiple names. For any given name (nomen), in the absence of attributes distinct from the main identity’s and when there is clear evidence from bibliographic sources (e.g. the resource itself or the publisher) tying it to the identity, the attributes of the main identity apply to its alternate names.

 

An alternate identity means a single name, which may or may not have a different string value from the main identity’s, AND which has a separate set of attributes.

 

As Richard Moore and Stephen Hearn point out, whether or not the main identity is fictitious or not is not at issue for purposes of authority work: it’s what we do once we have knowledge that something is either an alternate name or an alternate identity. Steve McDonald reminds us that whether or not we record attributes for any identity is a separate policy issue.

 

So given any name, my conclusion would be this:

1)      If the name can be determined to be an alternate name, the attributes of the main identity apply, whether we choose to record them or not.

2)      If the name can be determined to be an alternate identity, the attributes of the alternate identity apply, whether we choose to record them or not.

3)      If the name cannot be determined with full certainty to be one or the other, the attributes of the main identity do NOT automatically apply.

 

Regine Heberlein

Principal Cataloger and Metadata Analyst

Princeton University Library

One Washington Road

Princeton, NJ 08540

609-258-6156

 

From: Program for Cooperative Cataloging [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Stephen Hearn
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2018 9:40 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [PCCLIST] Describing pseudonyms/real identities

 

The question is not whether I must know whether or not a name is a pseudonym in order to establish it. The question is, when I know with good evidence that a name is a pseudonym, how can I convey that fact? If I'm able to provide a real name in a 500 with the relationship designator "real identity", that implies that the 100 is a pseudonym, but the real name can't always be determined. I agree with Steven Folsom that a richer vocabulary for expressing relationships between author entities and works would also help.

 

Pseudonyms, especially when they involve a purported identity, raise questions of interest to scholars and readers alike about authorial authenticity and (lately) potential misappropriation of others' identity. We should be able to provide data useful exploring these questions in our descriptions of entities. My hope is that we find a more nuanced way to convey complex facts about authorial identities when complex facts are the facts we have. 

 

As Richard Moore observes, often pseudonyms are simply alternate names without a purported alternate identity. I'm fine in those cases with adding a known author's life dates to the pseudonym. It's when there's more distance between the author and the pseudonymous identity that I have concerns. We should be able to record as a useful and consistent data point that an entity is fictitious when that is known without being obligated to record such information for all entities. There should be boundaries on using such an element which would prevent it being applied to entities which come out of religious or cultural traditions and doubtless other cases--which is not an easy task, as Richard indicates. Still, given the issues which purported identities raise, we'll keep coming back to this problem until some better solution is found.

 

Stephen

 

On Thu, Dec 13, 2018 at 1:24 AM Moore, Richard <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Well. There is a long established practice of adding the real person’s dates to a pseudonym, with or without the need to distinguish it. As we’ve always applied the options in both AACR2 and RDA to add dates when known. In most cases the pseudonym has simply been another name used by the real person. I don’t see this as problematic.

 

The complication occurs when someone ascribes a back story to the pseudonym, effectively creating a fictitious character. Sometimes the pseudonym is for an actual fictitious character in literature. In these cases, are we saying that the pseudonym is a nomen of the writer, or the fictitious character?

 

We wrestled with these issues at some length in the RSC Fictitious Characters Working Group last year. I came to the conclusion that however much we go round the houses, they are ultimately intractable. In theoretical terms at least. In practice we can usually judge whether an attribute belongs or not. Nobody ever suggested that George Orwell wasn’t born in 1903. On the other hand, if someone writes purporting to be Sherlock Holmes, the question arises.

 

 

Regards

Richard

 

________________________

Richard Moore

Authority Control Team Manager

The British Library

                                                                       

Tel.: +44 (0)1937 546104                                  

E-mail: [log in to unmask]      

 

 

 

 

From: Program for Cooperative Cataloging <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Luiza Wainer
Sent: 12 December 2018 16:32
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [PCCLIST] Describing pseudonyms/real identities

 

Dear PCCers,

 

Sorry to keep beating a dead horse, but there is still some internal disagreement in my institution about describing pseudonyms, so I wanted to open up for discussion once more the issue on using biographical information for the "real" identity to describing a pseudonym in an authority record.

The pseudonym and the "real" identity are two separate identities that are linked to the same entity, each of them with their own set of identifying attributes. This image from Wikimedia Commons by Audun Jøsang [CC BY 3.0] exemplifies this perfectly.

 

Authors may or may not decide that their pseudonym has a completely different backstory (or set of attributes) than their own.

 

This is clear in the case of Jim Dodge and Gordon Langley Ives: Jim Dodge (the “real” identity) was born in 1945 in California; Gordon Langley Ives (the pseudonym) was born in 1936 in England. They are both identities of the same entity (Jim Dodge the person).

 

Same goes for Hannelore Hippe (“real” identity) who lives in Cologne; and Hannah O’Brien (no2018166157, pseudonym) who lives in Ireland.

 

Some of my colleagues believe that we should carry over these attributes from the “real” identity to the description of the pseudonym (like death/birth dates, professions, associated locations, etc), since that is how we’ve historically done things (see: Mark Twain  and Samuel Clemens).

 

I argue that these attributes of the real identity should not be used to describe the pseudonym, even if the pseudonym doesn’t have its own, separate backstory. If an attribute is needed to disambiguate the name of the pseudonym, $c (Pseudonym) can be used instead of the dates of the real identity. Since these are two separate identities, using attributes of one to describe the other is inaccurate at best and harmful at worst.

 

Curious to see what you all think.

 

Best,

 

__

Luiza Wainer

Metadata Librarian

Princeton University Library

[log in to unmask] | (609) 258-2789

(Pronouns: they/them/theirs)

 

 

 


From: Luiza Wainer
Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2018 10:01 AM
To: Program for Cooperative Cataloging
Subject: Describing pseudonyms/real identities

Dear collective wisdom,

 

I was wondering on best practices for creating authority records for pseudonyms beyond what is covered on the LC/PCC FAQs on individuals with more than one identity.

 

If an individual only uses a pseudonym, we're instructed in RDA 9.2.2.8 (exception), RDA 9.2.3.4 and the aforementioned FAQs to input the person's real name, if known, as a 400. This seems a bit unethical to me. If this person does not want their real name associated with their works (hence the use of pseudonym), why are we making this explicit? In many cases with pseudonyms, a person has their real identity outed without their consent, and I question our complicity in this by publicly sharing this information in the NAF (see, for instance, the outing of J.K. Rowling as the real identity behind Robert Galbraith [1])

 

I also question using biographical information for the real identity when describing a pseudonym. Author's might decide that their pseudonym has a different gender, nationality, birth date, etc. then themselves for a myriad of reasons (like the endless list of women writers that decide to use male pseudonyms because, as Charlotte Bronte puts it, "we had a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice" [2]). Records like no2018033569 (Cunha, Eduardo, ǂd 1975-), n  79045512 (Eliot, George, ǂd 1819-1880), n  78081235 (Sand, George, ǂd 1804-1876) - just to name a few off the top of my head - all carry biographical information of the real identity, which does not describe the pseudonym.

 

It seems to me that the same best practices suggested for recording information about gender [3] should be applied for pseudonyms: "Do not dig for given names or genders assigned at birth". Which is to say, describe the identity associated with the pseudonym, and do not dig for information regarding the real identity. 

 

 

__

Luiza Wainer

Metadata Librarian

Princeton University Library

[log in to unmask] | (609) 258-2789

(Pronouns: they/them/theirs)

 

 

 


 
******************************************************************************************************************

Experience the British Library online at www.bl.uk

The British Library’s latest Annual Report and Accounts : www.bl.uk/aboutus/annrep/index.html

Help the British Library conserve the world's knowledge. Adopt a Book. www.bl.uk/adoptabook

The Library's St Pancras site is WiFi - enabled

*****************************************************************************************************************

The information contained in this e-mail is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete this e-mail and notify the [log in to unmask] : The contents of this e-mail must not be disclosed or copied without the sender's consent.

The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the British Library. The British Library does not take any responsibility for the views of the author.

*****************************************************************************************************************

Think before you print


 

--

Stephen Hearn, Metadata Strategist

Data Management & Access, University Libraries

University of Minnesota

170A Wilson Library (office)

160 Wilson Library (mail)

309 19th Avenue South

Minneapolis, MN 55455

Ph: 612-625-2328

Fx: 612-625-3428

ORCID:  0000-0002-3590-1242