Kevin, As a rule of thumb, I was interpreting 2.4.1.8 as applying to situations where there was a grammatical connection between the noun/noun phrase. "I, robot : a novel / by Arthur C. Clarke" would be an example of the noun/noun phrase with a grammatical connection (through "by"), an example of 2.4.1.8. But "I, robot : a novel / Arthur C. Clarke" would be an example where there is no grammatical connection, so by default 2.3.4.1 would apply. After all, if the noun phrase without grammatical connection was used as part of the statement of responsibility in the latter situation, you would be left with "I, robot / novel, Arthur C. Clarke." So it doesn't necessarily have to be used only when the statement of responsibility includes entities identified as having different functions (... / novel by X ; illustrations by Y). Where the noun phrase clearly functions to "explain" the title proper, the grammatical connection would be ignored. I was actually thinking of including something like "Turbulence : a novel of the atmosphere / by Giles Foden" as an example of a noun phrase that was indicative of the character, contents, etc. of the resource. Most publishers of recent fiction finesse the ambiguity by leaving out the "by" -- I really had to hunt around to find the Turbulence example. I think there are ramifications for where the noun phrase is located. In most results displays on a title search in OPACs that use the browse function, the statement of responsibility does not affect the sorting, but the absence/presence of the other title often does.
Steven Arakawa Catalog Librarian for Training & Documentation Catalog & Metadata Services, SML, Yale University P.O. Box 208240 New Haven, CT 06520-8240 (203)432-8286 steven.arak...@yale.edu -----Original Message----- From: Resource Description and Access / Resource Description and Access [mailto:RDA-L@LISTSERV.LAC-BAC.GC.CA] On Behalf Of Kevin M Randall Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2011 10:51 AM To: RDA-L@LISTSERV.LAC-BAC.GC.CA Subject: Re: [RDA-L] RDA 2.4.1.8 Noun Phrase Occurring with a Statement of Responsibility I think the line between 2.4.1.8 and 2.3.4 is very blurry. In 2.3.4.1, it says "Other title information may include any phrase appearing with a title proper that is indicative of the character, contents, etc. of the resource ..." That could very well be interpreted as meaning that a phrase such as "a novel" is other title information; but then 2.4.1.8 is quite helpful when you have something like "text by Person A, drawings by Person B". I wouldn't necessarily say that it would be "right" or "wrong" to record the phrase "a novel by Author C" as either (in ISBD form) ": a novel / by Author C" or "/ a novel by Author C". It all depends on how the cataloger is interpreting the information. Wouldn't a phrase such as "a novel of the Old West" fit better as other title information, even if it was connected to the author's name with the word "by"? On the other hand, it wouldn't affect access very much (if at all?) by being recorded as part of the statement of responsibility. Kevin M. Randall Principal Serials Cataloger Bibliographic Services Dept. Northwestern University Library 1970 Campus Drive Evanston, IL 60208-2300 email: k...@northwestern.edu phone: (847) 491-2939 fax: (847) 491-4345 > -----Original Message----- > From: Resource Description and Access / Resource Description and Access > [mailto:RDA-L@LISTSERV.LAC-BAC.GC.CA] On Behalf Of Arakawa, Steven > Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 5:56 PM > To: RDA-L@LISTSERV.LAC-BAC.GC.CA > Subject: [RDA-L] RDA 2.4.1.8 Noun Phrase Occurring with a Statement of > Responsibility > > When I attended the RDA 101 ALA preconference, one of the things that > stuck with me was the RDA rule 2.4.1.8. AACR2 1.1F12 makes a fine > distinction between noun phrases that are indicative of the nature of the > work and noun phrases that are indicative of the role of the person named in > the statement of responsibility. The former category is considered to be part > of the title; the latter category is considered to be part of the statement of > responsibility. RDA 2.4.1.8 simply states that if a noun phrase occurs with a > statement of responsibility, it is part of the statement of responsibility. In > fact, RDA takes the same examples used by AACR2 to represent the 2 > categories and puts both of them in the statement of responsibility. Dr. > Robert Ellett, the presenter at RDA 101, had a much more striking example of > a noun phrase than the ones used by RDA and AACR2: "a novel by ..." which > we have all seen at one time or another. AACR2 cataloging rather > consistently interprets "a novel" as indicative of the nature of the work, > with > "a novel" in 245 $b, usually immediately preceding the ISBD slash and "by > Ruth Latta" in 245 $c, following the ISBD slash. Explaining AACR2 1.1F12 has > always been a headache for me when training staff, so I welcomed the rule > simplification in RDA. However, if there is no grammatical connection to the > author, my understanding has been that the noun (or the noun phrase) in > RDA remains part of the title. So, "... / a novel by Ruth Latta" but "... : > a novel > / Ruth Latta." For training purposes, I wanted to have a couple of RDA > examples, so I went to our LC resource file and did a combined keyword > search on "a novel" and "rda" for all books cataloged from 2008. All of the > records continued the practice of leaving "a novel" in the other title and "by > so and so" in the statement of responsibility. I then searched on "a novel" in > the extra set file of the RDA test and the results were no different from the > search limited to LC cataloging. I've checked the LCPS and 2.4.1.8 is without > comment, and the rule is not covered in any of the LC Training presentations > I'm aware of. The only reference to 2.4.1.8 I've been able to discover is in > Adam Schiff's AACR2/RDA comparison presentation, but the AACR2/RDA > examples are taken from AACR2 1.1.F12 and RDA 2.4.1.8. So I'm wondering if > I understand the RDA rule, or if the wisdom of the crowd has resulted in the > correct application of the rule. One interesting note--I found quite a few > poem collections in the same LC resource file where "poems by" is in the > statement of responsibility; there are certainly examples of "poems / by" but > the number of grammatically connected "poem" phrases in the statement of > responsibility seemed to be noticeably different from the number of > grammatically connected "novel" phrases. > > Steven Arakawa > Catalog Librarian for Training & Documentation > Catalog & Metadata Services, SML, Yale University > P.O. Box 208240 New Haven, CT 06520-8240 > (203)432-8286 steven.arak...@yale.edu >
