[DCRM-L] ESTC and the revision of SCF

[John Overholt]

For what it's worth, the ESTC we have in mind is also the first result 
in Google. Unless the Eugene [Oregon] Swim & Tennis Club becomes 
markedly more popular than it is now, I think we're safe to leave the 
citation as the acronym.

John Overholt
Assistant Curator
The Donald and Mary Hyde Collection of Dr. Samuel Johnson/
Early Modern Books and Manuscripts
Houghton Library
Harvard University
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/hydeblog



Randal Brandt wrote:
> As those of you who follow the work of the RBMS Bibliographic 
> Standards Committee already know, a revision of _Standard Citation 
> Forms for Rare Book Cataloging_ (SCF) is underway (please see the 
> agenda and draft minutes from the Bib Standards meeting held in 
> Anaheim in June 2008 for more information: 
> http://www.rbms.info/committees/bibliographic_standards/conference-docs/index.html) 
>
>
> One of the key principles of the revision is to make citations used in 
> bibliographic records (in MARC tag 510) more understandable to 
> researchers (and, by extension, other catalogers). In order to do 
> that, citations will be based, as much as possible, on the AACR2 
> entries for the works being cited. Current single-name or single-word 
> citations will be expanded.
>
> However, at the Anaheim meeting, a lively discussion took place over 
> the citation for the ESTC. The room was basically split over what to 
> do about it. Many favored leaving it alone; "ESTC" is so widely known 
> that the existing citation is sufficient. Others favored following the 
> new, AACR2-based principle and expanding the citation to "English 
> short title catalogue."
>
> At the meeting, it was decided to take the ESTC debate to this list 
> and see what the wider rare materials cataloging community thought 
> about it. I'll get the discussion rolling by stating my own opinion.
>
> I am in the camp that believes that "ESTC" is OK as it is. The acronym 
> is sufficiently well-known and does not need to be spelled out. 
> Researchers and catalogers alike all know what it means. More 
> importantly, a title keyword search on "ESTC" in OCLC WorldCat 
> retrieves the bibliographic record for the resource.
>
> What do the rest of you think?
>
> Randal Brandt
> Chair, ACRL/RBMS Bibliographic Standards Committee
>