The chaos derives from the different sources that were input, and
perhaps some bugs in the code that did the switch. (Most data in OL came
from outside metadata sources.) Since we can't algorithmically switch
back to the surname, name order, we probably need to continue to go in
the predominant direction, with is "direct order" - "John Smith". The
majority of the names should be in that order, and it is trivial to make
the switch to direct order, but not vice versa. Note that OL takes in
data from both libraries (which use the surname, name order) and Amazon,
which uses direct order. The chosen reconciliation was to use direct order.
I still think that the only plausible solution is to return to the
original data sources that DO have a separation between surname and name
and add a name form that has separate coding for the two (similar to the
way FOAF handles it). So we would have a direct order name field (which
currently is the display form) and a surname, name field. The end
result, however, will be that some authors in OL will have only a direct
name form, so the indirect form needs to be "added information" not the
required display form.
kc
On 9/18/13 9:10 AM, Arturo Vázquez wrote:
>
> I understand that making such a change at this state is going to be
> almost impossible but... Could we force all book entries to follow the
> format {Surname, Name} at least from now onwards?
> At present, I've seen some book entries in which the author has been
> introduced following that format, but this doesn't seem to be the
> general rule... so there is no pattern nor format established for all
> the books to follow... it's pretty chaotic.
>
> Arturo.
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--
Karen Coyle
[email protected] http://kcoyle.net
m: 1-510-435-8234
skype: kcoylenet
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