It seems to me that typography can play a part also, showing the page designer's intent as to whether the phrase is associated with the title or statement of responsibility. The RDA instruction expects us to determine if the noun or phrase "occurs with" a statement of responsibility, and while that includes grammatical connection, "occurs with" also includes physical location on the page or type layout, in my opinion.
I would see a difference between a title page set up CHARACTERS FROM DICKENS: DRAMATISED ADAPTATIONS by Barry Campbell And one set up CHARACTERS FROM DICKENS dramatised adaptations by Barry Campbell If so, that makes it difficult to judge after the fact by looking at transcriptions in 245 fields whether a phrase goes with the title or statement of responsibility. Bob Robert L. Maxwell Special Collections and Ancient Languages Catalog Librarian Genre/Form Authorities Librarian 6728 Harold B. Lee Library Brigham Young University Provo, UT 84602 (801)422-5568 "We should set an example for all the world, rather than confine ourselves to the course which has been heretofore pursued"--Eliza R. Snow, 1842. -----Original Message----- From: Resource Description and Access / Resource Description and Access [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Arakawa, Steven Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2011 12:25 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [RDA-L] RDA 2.4.1.8 Noun Phrase Occurring with a Statement of Responsibility Kevin, As a rule of thumb, I was interpreting 2.4.1.8 as applying to situations where there was a grammatical connection between the noun/noun phrase. "I, robot : a novel / by Arthur C. Clarke" would be an example of the noun/noun phrase with a grammatical connection (through "by"), an example of 2.4.1.8. But "I, robot : a novel / Arthur C. Clarke" would be an example where there is no grammatical connection, so by default 2.3.4.1 would apply. After all, if the noun phrase without grammatical connection was used as part of the statement of responsibility in the latter situation, you would be left with "I, robot / novel, Arthur C. Clarke." So it doesn't necessarily have to be used only when the statement of responsibility includes entities identified as having different functions (... / novel by X ; illustrations by Y). Where the noun phrase clearly functions to "explain" the title proper, the grammatical connection would be ignored. I was actually thinking of including something like "Turbulence : a novel of the atmosphere / by Giles Foden" as an example of a noun phrase that was indicative of the character, contents, etc. of the resource. Most publishers of recent fiction finesse the ambiguity by leaving out the "by" -- I really had to hunt around to find the Turbulence example. I think there are ramifications for where the noun phrase is located. In most results displays on a title search in OPACs that use the browse function, the statement of responsibility does not affect the sorting, but the absence/presence of the other title often does. 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 [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: Resource Description and Access / Resource Description and Access [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Kevin M Randall Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2011 10:51 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [RDA-L] RDA 2.4.1.8 Noun Phrase Occurring with a Statement of Responsibility I think the line between 2.4.1.8 and 2.3.4 is very blurry. In 2.3.4.1, it says "Other title information may include any phrase appearing with a title proper that is indicative of the character, contents, etc. of the resource ..." That could very well be interpreted as meaning that a phrase such as "a novel" is other title information; but then 2.4.1.8 is quite helpful when you have something like "text by Person A, drawings by Person B". I wouldn't necessarily say that it would be "right" or "wrong" to record the phrase "a novel by Author C" as either (in ISBD form) ": a novel / by Author C" or "/ a novel by Author C". It all depends on how the cataloger is interpreting the information. Wouldn't a phrase such as "a novel of the Old West" fit better as other title information, even if it was connected to the author's name with the word "by"? On the other hand, it wouldn't affect access very much (if at all?) by being recorded as part of the statement of responsibility. Kevin M. Randall Principal Serials Cataloger Bibliographic Services Dept. Northwestern University Library 1970 Campus Drive Evanston, IL 60208-2300 email: [email protected] phone: (847) 491-2939 fax: (847) 491-4345
