Of course Superman and Clark Kent are only subject headings. Have they
created any resources like Dr. Snoopy has? ;-)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Adam L. Schiff
Principal Cataloger
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA 98195-2900
(206) 543-8409
(206) 685-8782 fax
asch...@u.washington.edu
http://faculty.washington.edu/~aschiff
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On Wed, 27 Apr 2011, Deborah Tomares wrote:
Here's the thing, though. Snoopy doesn't have the profession of author,
because as we all know, he didn't really write the book. He is a fictitious
dog, lacking in digits and English language necessary to put out the work
he "authored" (even in the cartoons, he never speaks). So I don't believe
we can, or should, apply the same rules and standards to him that we do to
real, live, preferably human authors.
And yes--I would have one heading for both Superman and Clark Kent. And it
would be a subject heading, not a personal name heading. That's where I
believe fictitious characters belong, and where most users would expect to
find them. As in my Spiderman example before, I don't think it would
benefit anyone, cataloger or user, to have to constantly revise and sift
through the changeable natures/personae/call-them-what-you-will of
fictitious characters. Because they aren't real, so aren't bound by rules
of reality, to attempt to impose reality upon them seems to me wrong and
not useful.
Deborah Tomaras, NACO Coordinator
Librarian II
Western European Languages Team
New York Public Library
Library Services Center
31-11 Thomson Ave.
Long Island City, N.Y. 11101
(917) 229-9561
dtoma...@nypl.org
Disclaimer: Alas, my ideas are merely my own, and not indicative of New
York Public Library policy.
From: Peter Schouten <pschou...@ingressus.nl>
To: RDA-L@LISTSERV.LAC-BAC.GC.CA
Date: 04/27/2011 12:51 PM
Subject: Re: [RDA-L] Dr. Snoopy
Sent by: Resource Description and Access / Resource Description and Access
<RDA-L@LISTSERV.LAC-BAC.GC.CA>
Unless one assumes that Dr. Snoopy is somehow different from plain
Snoopy,
and would advocate a series of maybe linked authorities for each
differing
guise of a character. Mr. Schouten, for example, claims that: "even
fictional characters are entitled to their own Personae". But I would
argue
against this route for multiple reasons. Fictitious character cannot
truly
have professions, so they aren't really different "persons" despite the
guise;
But in this example, the publication presents Dr. Snoopy as the author,
which causes the fictional character to have the profession of author.
Would you also have 1 heading for both Clark Kent and Superman?
Peter Schouten
