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Pete,

Given what you’ve described I believe you’re correct on all counts.

It looks like there are at least a half a dozen collections consisting of selected short stories by this author, as evidenced by the 4XX and 670 fields on n 90687615. I would call records like this one “undifferentiated work records”—because they represent more than one work entity. There is no provision or justification whatsoever in RDA for undifferentiated work records – unlike undifferentiated person records, for which there is justification in RDA (RDA 8.11), but which are forbidden under PCC policy. So given that PCC forbids undifferentiated personal name records all the more undifferentiated work records should not be created and old AACR2 undifferentiated work records (or their corresponding AAPs) should not be used, just as AACR2 undifferentiated person records (or AAPs) are not to be used.

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 Wilson, Pete
Sent: Friday, February 15, 2019 6:29 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Questionable new cross-reference on a "selections" authority record

Through checking up after our built-in automated authority control in Alma, I found that this cross-reference:

Zoshchenko, Mikhail, ǂd 1895-1958. ǂt Sentimentalʹnye povesti

had been added to one of those omnibus conventional-collective-title authority records for:

Zoshchenko, Mikhail, ǂd 1895-1958. ǂt Short stories. ǂk Selections.

The titles of several other, different Zoshchenko compilations also appear as cross references on this record.

While my knowledge of Russian literature approximates nil, I have developed the impression that Sentimental’nye povesti, first published under that title in 1930 and translated into English as “Sentimental tales” in 2018, qualifies as a legitimate work title according to the terms of 6.2.2.10, even in the rather strict PCC interpretation of that instruction.  Thus it should not be a cross reference on this conventional collective title authority record.

And even if this compilation-work should get a conventional title, it certainly should be qualified so as to be unique.

Unqualified work records like this one really cause problems for automated authority control!  An analytical 700 name-title heading in our catalog for Sentimental’nye povesti was turned into “Short Stories. Selections” via Alma’s Preferred Term Correction job.  In a sense that new heading is sort of semi-correct, but it’s not very helpful.

Are we ever going to get rid of this kind of one-size-fits-all work authority record?   I know we’ve all talked about them in the past.  And in the meantime, would anyone who has a better grasp on Russian literature than me like to remove this particular cross reference and perhaps make another authority record especially for Sentimental’nye povesti?

Thanks,

Pete Wilson
Vanderbilt University