[DCRB-L] WG2: transcription position paper

Fri, 07 Feb 2003 10:29:22 -0500

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At 2/6/03&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 02:35 PM, Brian Hillyard
wrote: 
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>(2)&nbsp; In addition, while there
is no technical problem with transcribing uppercase letters, it is a
well-established convention across the whole of cataloguing that when
transcribing for a catalogue record the use of uppercase or lowercase is
determined by the current conventions of the language concerned and not
by the use of uppercase or lowercase as found in the
book.</blockquote> 
There is an important exception to this rule in ISBD(A) 0.8, which I have
HIGHLIGHTED below by violating the exception in question. I note that
this could introduce an inconsistency: for instance, a name
&quot;NOMEN&quot; must be transcribed into &quot;Nomen&quot;; but
&quot;nomen&quot;, on the same title page, must be transcribed exactly.
This is analogous to the inconsistency referred to at the end of the
first paragraph of 0.8, and therefore, presumably, equally
tolerable. 
The remainder of this message is quoted from
<a href="http://www.ifla.org/VII/s13/pubs/isbda2.htm#8" eudora="autourl">http://www.ifla.org/VII/s13/pubs/isbda2.htm#8</a> 
 
0.8
Capitalization 
In general, the first letter of the first word of
each area should be a capital; the first letter of the first word of some
elements (e.g. general material designation, parallel title, alternative
title, section title) should also be a capital. Other capitalization
should follow the appropriate usage for the language(s) and/or script(s)
used in the description (see 0.6). When more than one language and/or
script appears in the description, each should be capitalized in
accordance with the usage of that language and/or script even when this
produces an inconsistent pattern of capitalization for the description as
a whole. 
HOWEVER, LOWER CASE LETTERS ARE NEVER TRANSCRIBED INTO CAPITALS. In
converting capitals to lower case, the usage (including that of
diacritics) in the publication being described should be followed. The
following usage is recommended for converting I, J, U, V and VV where
practice is not consistent: 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I or J as i (but final IJ as ij and final larger
capital I as I); 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; U and V as u (but initial U or V as v); 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; VV as uu (but vv initially). 
Black letter capitals in the form J or U are transcribed as I or V.
Letters of numerical value in a chronogram in the title or imprint, or in
a chronistic in the text of a poem are given in capitals. Interpolations
used by the cataloguing agency should follow modern practice. 
<x-sigsep></x-sigsep>
RICHARD NOBLE : RARE BOOKS CATALOGER : JOHN HAY LIBRARY : BROWN
UNIVERSITY 
PROVIDENCE, RI 02912 : 401-863-1187/FAX 863-2093 :
RICHARD_NOBLE@BROWN.EDU</html>