Margo, We noticed your two postings on ha-Safran, dated Jan. 23 and Jan. 31, 2008, re. the subject heading for Dayr Ya?si?n. This response is based on the contributions of Joan Biella and Benjamin Fryser, senior cataloging specialists here at the Library of Congress.
There are two aspects to your question on how to construct the string for a book about Dayr Ya?si?n, one regarding the qualifier after the name of the village, the other dealing with the geographic subdivision. a) The qualifier (Palestine) after the name of the village: To explain the qualifier of (Palestine) after the name of the village, we need to turn to LCRI 23.4B (Chapter 23. Geographic Names- 23.4. Additions--23.4B. General Rule, "Choice of Larger Place") which begins as "When adding the name of a larger place as a qualifier, use the heading for the current name of the larger place..." except: "If the smaller place has changed its name or has ceased to exist, use as a qualifier the name the larger place had during the period in which the name of the smaller place is applicable." and the LCRI gives the example: Leningrad (R.S.F.S.R.) not Leningrad (Russia)" Because the village of Dayr Ya?si?n was known as such under the British Mandate over Palestine and has ceased to exist--either condition would have been enough--, we "use as a qualifier the name the larger place [Palestine] had during the period [British Mandate] in which the name of the smaller place is applicable." You are not the only one to have wondered about this geographical subdivision applied in this case. A cataloger permanent note (MARC 952) in the authority record indicates this: "Note: 781 is correct as of Dec. 26, 2007, with qualifier (Palestine) retained according to SCM:SH H 830 sec. 6. Please do not change." As you will agree, this information is still correct today. b) The geographic subdivision: The general rule is to subdivide geographically according to present territorial sovereignties, according to _Subject Cataloging Manual_ (SCM), H830, "Geographic subdivision," 3 "Use of present territorial sovereignties:" "Subdivide geographically according to present territorial sovereignties of existing nations, even for works covering earlier periods of time. In the case of a region or jurisdiction that existed in the past under various sovereignties, interpose the name of the country now in possession, as long as the region or jurisdiction is now located wholly within that country." The example illustrating this rule is a 1910 book about the then-current status of education in Alsace, when Alsace was under the German rule. The subject heading is 650 - 0 a Education z Francez Alsace. The authority record for Dayr Ya?si?n (Palestine), n 85142451, contains the information on how to construct the indirect geographic subdivision (MARC field 781): 781 - 0 z Israel z Dayr Ya?si?n (Palestine) The practice of subdividing indirectly through "Israel," but retaining the qualifier "(Palestine)" is governed by SCM H830, "Geographic subdivisions," 6 "Deletion of qualifiers:" "If the heading for the locality being brought out as a geographic subdivision has as its qualifier the same name as the country or division through which it is being subdivided, delete the country or division name from the qualifier of the locality, even if it is abbreviated, in order to avoid redundancy. Retain in parentheses any other data included in the qualifier to differentiate the heading, including names of obsolete jurisdictions." Thus a subject heading can be constructed as: 650 - 0 a Palestinian Arabs z Israel z Dayr Ya?si?n (Palestine). The first element is the topical heading assigned. The second element, Israel, follows the provision of SCM H830 3 to subdivide by the present territorial sovereignty. The retention of the qualifer (Palestine) follows the provision of SCM H830 6 on deletion of qualifiers. I hope this helps. Feel free to contact us if you would like to discuss this matter further. All the best, - r. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Roger Kohn Cataloger, Hebraica Team Library of Congress LS/ABA/RCCD/HB (4384) LM 537 Washington, D.C. 20540-4384 (202) 707-3997 "Opinions expressed are those of the author, and are not official statements by the Library of Congress." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
