[DCRM-L] Devised titles in DCRM(MSS): required components conundrum

Tue Mar 20 11:35:36 MDT 2018

I agree, you both raise good points, Bob and Erin. We (or our illustrious successors) could add a bit of clarifying language at the beginning of rule 1B1.2.1, along the lines of “For manuscripts not covered by the rules in sections 1B2-1B6, the following are required components: ...” 1B1.2 gives one the default instructions; 1B2-1B6 give one the rules to follow in specific cases.

Best,

Margaret Nichols

_______________________________

Margaret F. Nichols
Rare Materials Cataloging Coordinator
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
2B Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-5302
Tel. (607) 255-9667

From: DCRM-L [mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu] On Behalf Of Elizabeth O'Keefe
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2018 12:30 PM
To: DCRM Users' Group <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] Devised titles in DCRM(MSS): required components conundrum

Don;t know about the expert status but here is my take on this:
Untitled poems are often cited by their opening lines, in the absence of another title. At what point does a title, originally devised, become the title by which the work is commonly known and transition to a formal title? This transition occurs not just with poems, but with letters, documents, and literary, historical, etc. works. But poems are the only genre I can think of where there is a strong tradition of using the first line as the title. Yes, you can do some research to see if there is another title--but the results of the search may be inconclusive. So assuming that there is no title, and using the first line as the basis for a devised title, seems the safest (and yes, the easiest) option.
It's a good point that there is an inconsistency between the instructions for devising titles for poems and the required elements for devised title. We could reword the instructions to say, don't include form and creator for for devised poem titles, or suggest that the form and the creator be incorporated in the devised title for a poem. This could be formulated as Erin suggests or as:
Oh God, whose dread and dazzling brow, a hymn by William Cullen Bryant

Of making (and then revising) of standards codes there is no end  ...
Liz O'Keefe

On Tue, Mar 20, 2018 at 8:53 AM, Ducharme, Diane <diane.ducharme at yale.edu<mailto:diane.ducharme at yale.edu>> wrote:
Hi Erin, Bob,

1B5 is indeed a bit of a deviation from the strict definition of devised, and perhaps we need a bit of verbiage to explain what we’re doing with the first-lines there (making an exception to the devised title rule to accommodate a traditional and useful way of “inventing” a title.

1B, Devised title, takes place of priority because the overwhelming majority of single items do not have formal titles, and the rules for devised titles were located to conform to that reality 😊. I’m not sure I agree with you that title from first line is “formal,” in the sense that it is taken from a title page, colophon or caption (the only circumstances in which the cataloger MUST treat title information as a formal title in DCRM(MSS). I do not think a first line is a title in that sense. Nor is a first line a title covered by  “Title from elsewhere in the manuscript or accompanying material” (1C1.1.2.1) and that rule is:

If there is no title page, colophon, or caption, but a title
appears elsewhere in the manuscript or in accompanying material, including
housing, use judgment as to whether to treat it as a formal title or to devise a title
(see 1B). Consider the title’s utility and accuracy, whether the work is commonly
known by a certain title, and information from reference sources, if any.

A first line COULD be “a title elsewhere in the manuscript” if it were set off, written in a larger hand or different ink, etc., but in most cases they are not.

Perhaps Liz O’Keefe, our resident title expert, will clarify it all for all of us!

All best,
Diane

From: DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu>> On Behalf Of Robert Maxwell
Sent: Monday, March 19, 2018 6:45 PM
To: DCRM Users' Group <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>>
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] Devised titles in DCRM(MSS): required components conundrum

I wonder if 1B5 is out of place in the numbering scheme. The first line of a verse is not what I would call a “devised title”, that is, made up by the cataloger (albeit following rules). Everything else in 1B does seem to be “devised,” but not (in my opinion) 1B5.

It also seems odd to me that 1C, Formal title, follows 1B, devised title, since 1B expresses a preference for using a formal title as the title proper (“For manuscripts without a formal title … devise a brief title”)—that is to say, the first thing you look for is a formal title, so I’d think the rule for that would precede the rule for devised titles. And choosing a title that is a quote from the item itself (first line of the text, 1B5) seems pretty formal to me.

Bob

Robert L. Maxwell
Ancient Languages and Special Collections Librarian
6728 Harold B. Lee Library
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602
(801)422-5568

From: DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu>> On Behalf Of Erin Blake
Sent: Monday, March 19, 2018 4:17 PM
To: DCRM Users' Group <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>>
Subject: [DCRM-L] Devised titles in DCRM(MSS): required components conundrum

Can someone please help me see what I'm missing? DCRM(Manuscripts) appears to have contradictory instructions on devised titles...

1B1.2.1 says there are two required components in a devised title: Form or Genre, and Creator (if known).

But both both required components are missing from 1B5, which says to use the first line of a work in verse as the title, if it lacks a formal title.

The example in 1B5 says:
Oh God! whose dread and dazzling brow
Note: Title from first line of hymn

If the required elements are included,it seems it would have to be something like:
Hymn by William Cullen Bryant beginning Oh God! whose dread and dazzling brow

The instructions at 1B1.1 say that the order of required components isn't prescribed, unless rules for specific types of manuscript say otherwise. What about their presence in the first place?

Thanks,

Erin.
________

Erin C. Blake, Ph.D.  |  Head of Collection Information Services  |  Folger Shakespeare Library  |  201 E. Capitol St. SE, Washington, DC, 20003<https://maps.google.com/?q=201+E.+Capitol+St.+SE,+Washington,+DC,+20003&entry=gmail&source=g>  |  eblake at folger.edu<mailto:eblake at folger.edu>  |  office tel. +1 202-675-0323

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