[DCRB-L] Practical DCRB problems

[Barry E. Hinman]

Posted at the suggestion of Deborah J. Leslie.

Here are three little practical problems I have encountered several times 
just recently that you might want to consider in your discussions.

1) dimensions in the 300.

The indication of size in the 300 field is supposed to represent all 
copies, yet my experience is that the dimensions in centimeters of a 
pre-machine press volume, measured along its spine, are largely a function 
of its individual binding.  In other words, size of a hand-press era book 
is copy specific.  How should this contradiction be resolved?  Should the 
measurement be of the text block, for example, rather than of the binding?

2) Greek letters used as numbers.

I have a parellel text in Greek and Latin.  As is normal in the 16th 
century at least, the Greek uses the letter of the alphabet for the number:
	Bibl. theta, or sometimes bibl. th.	
while the Latin has:
	Libri octo, or libri 8

Do I transcribe the characters or the intent?:
	bibl. theta
	bibl. 8

3) the dedication is embedded in the text of the title:

	... sopra l'Ethica d'Aristotile, al signor Alfonso Cambi Importuni, 
gentilhuomo fiorentino ; ne quali non solo etc.

At present, the rules say omit all dedication statements with no ... 
[Folger did in this record], but, as it is not extraneous information at 
the end I prefer to put in ..., especially as there are many 
examples of this being transcribed when the rest of the title is 
very short.  On the same t.p. Col priuilegio appears under the 
imprint, at the bottom of the page.  This I left out without the ...
Treatment of these kinds of things leads to inconsistencies in 
transcription.

Barry E. Hinman
Special Collections Librarian for Cataloging
Department of Special Collections
Green Library
Stanford University, Stanford CA  94305
bhinman at stanford.edu

--- End Forwarded Message ---


Barry E. Hinman
Special Collections Librarian for Cataloging
Department of Special Collections
Green Library
Stanford University, Stanford CA  94305
bhinman at stanford.edu