Thanks, Gene. I hadn't realized spaces between initials have already
been common practice in authority records for such a long time (oh dear,
still so many things I don't know about Anglo-American cataloguing...).
But why are the two cases treated differently, in the first place?
I know that ISBD calls for no spaces (A.6.5: "Initials and acronyms are
recorded without internal spaces, regardless of how they are presented
on the resource."), a rule which we've been happily ignoring in Germany.
So maybe that's the reason for RDA 1.7.6. But then, why do it
differently in authority records? I suppose there must be an advantage
in having internal spaces in authority data (easier for indexing?), and
then I don't see why the same advantage shouldn't apply to similar data
in the bibliographic description.
So, it's still a bit of a mystery to me, and I'd be glad if somebody
could enlighten me.
Heidrun
Gene Fieg wrote:
As I understand it, and I could be wrong here. In the description of
the item in hand, there are no spaces between initials, but in the
authority record there are. This has been the common practice at
least since AACR2 and I think it is in the NACO manual.
On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 8:01 AM, Heidrun Wiesenmüller
<wiesenmuel...@hdm-stuttgart.de
<mailto:wiesenmuel...@hdm-stuttgart.de>> wrote:
I am puzzled by the treatment of initials in names of persons
under RDA.
According to AACR2, I believe there was never a space between two
or more initials, regardless whether the initials appeared in the
bibliographic description (e.g. in the statement of
responsibility) or in a heading or reference. An example in
1.1.F4. reads "edited by P.C. Wason and P.N. Johnson-Laird", and
one in 22.5A1. reads "Byatt, A.S.". So, the treatment was consistent.
Now in RDA, initials in the bibliographic description are still
transcribed without internal spaces, e.g. "edited by P.C. Wason
and P.N. Johnson-Laird" (example in 1.7.6). Yet they are
transcribed with spaces in preferred or variant names of persons, e.g.
"Rowling, J. K." (example in 8.5.6.1).
I find it difficult to understand why the rule was changed with
respect to preferred/variant names only. Wouldn't it be much
easier to apply the same custom in both cases?
In Germany, we've always put spaces between initials in names of
persons, regardless whether these appear in the bibliographic
description or in headings/references. I think this is mainly due
to matters of indexing. Many systems here simply ignore full stops
in indexing. So without internal spaces we would end up with "PC"
in the index instead of "P" and "C".
Heidrun
--
---------------------
Prof. Heidrun Wiesenmueller M.A.
Stuttgart Media University
Faculty of Information and Communication
Wolframstr. 32, 70191 Stuttgart, Germany
www.hdm-stuttgart.de/bi <http://www.hdm-stuttgart.de/bi>
--
Gene Fieg
Cataloger/Serials Librarian
Claremont School of Theology
gf...@cst.edu <mailto:gf...@cst.edu>
Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Lincoln University do not
represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any of the
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the views of Claremont School of Theology or Claremont Lincoln
University. It has been forwarded as a courtesy for information only.
--
---------------------
Prof. Heidrun Wiesenmueller M.A.
Stuttgart Media University
Faculty of Information and Communication
Wolframstr. 32, 70191 Stuttgart, Germany
www.hdm-stuttgart.de/bi
