[DCRM-L] pre-1801 names in RDA

[Hartman, Laura A. (NIH/NLM) [E]]

In case it escaped your notice, LC did not issue an LCPS equivalent of LCRI 22.1B, in which is found the guidance "For persons living before 1801, when chief sources of information show one form of name and another form is used in modern reference sources in the person's language, prefer the latter."  

For the RDA Test Period, it is LC practice to construct authorized access points for persons living before 1801 according to the rules for modern persons, which generally prefer the predominant usage of the name on preferred sources of information.  One normally doesn't even consult reference sources unless additional information is needed.   

It will be very interesting to me to see how many RDA forms for pre-1801 names differ from the AACR2 form as a result of this policy change.


Laura Hartman
Rare Book Cataloguer
History of Medicine Division
National Library of Medicine
301-402-6170