[DCRM-L] pre-1801 names in RDA

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

When I emailed LChelp4RDA at loc.gov to confirm that I had not overlooked the LC Practice Statement (LCPS), I was told that if I felt that a RDA change proposal or LCPS was needed I should make a comment in my RDA test survey. "Make a comment in your survey" is such a common stock reply to testers that I would not try to glean any motivation from that response.  

If any non-official testers feel inclined to comment to LC about the lack of an LCPS for pre-1801 names, or any other RDA issues, you can do so on the Informal RDA Testers Questionnaire available at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Q5968DB.

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


-----Original Message-----
From: Deborah J. Leslie [mailto:DJLeslie at FOLGER.edu] 
Sent: Friday, November 26, 2010 6:21 PM
To: DCRM Revision Group List
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] pre-1801 names in RDA

I wonder if this was deliberate, or just an oversight?

-----Original Message-----
From: dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu [mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu] On
Behalf Of Hartman, Laura A. (NIH/NLM) [E]
Sent: Wednesday, 24 November, 2010 13:06
To: 'DCRM Revision Group List'
Subject: [DCRM-L] pre-1801 names in RDA

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