Catalog records that are in all caps take us right back to the state of the art in computer display, circa 1982--again, making librarians look like idiots.
Libraries are the center of culture, and culture includes appreciation for the printed word, and part of that tradition is following the conventions for what words get capitalized. I'm sorry to be so blunt--another aspect of culture is the art of gentle discourse--but I love cataloging and it makes me crazy to see some of the shortcuts and bad suggestions that have been lumped into the hodge-podge called RDA. Patt Leonard Collins Memorial Library University of Puget Sound Tacoma, Washington pleon...@pugetsound.edu -----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: Thursday, June 02, 2011 3:34 PM To: RDA-L@LISTSERV.LAC-BAC.GC.CA Subject: Re: [RDA-L] What do I tell the others? So, better to leave it at all caps? 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 Patt Leonard Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2011 5:51 PM To: RDA-L@LISTSERV.LAC-BAC.GC.CA Subject: Re: [RDA-L] What do I tell the others? The downside to capitalizing every word in a title is that it makes the entire library profession look incompetent and ignorant. Patt Leonard Collins Memorial Library University of Puget Sound 1500 N. Warner St. CMB 1021 Tacoma, WA 98416-1021 -----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: Thursday, June 02, 2011 1:55 PM To: RDA-L@LISTSERV.LAC-BAC.GC.CA Subject: Re: [RDA-L] What do I tell the others? [Text deleted] Regarding capitalization--I looked at a sample of the all caps 100/245 Matthew Beacom ran through MARCEDIT. MARCEDIT converted to lower case but capitalized the first letters of all of the words. Looked readable enough to me! What's the downside of transcribing a title using the simplified capitalization? (Surely there's some loophole in RDA that would allow this.) 100/245 in bib record from ProQuest for the dissertation: Before: 100 1\$aHANKINS, JOHN ERSKINE. 245 14$aTHE POEMS OF GEORGE TURBERVILE $h[electronic resource] /$c EDITED WITH CRITICAL NOTES AND A STUDY OFHIS LIFE AND WORKS. After: 100 1\$aHankins, John Erskine. 245 14$aThe Poems Of George Turbervile $h[electronic resource] /$c Edited With Critical Notes And A Study Of His Life And Works. 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
