Curiously, in AACR2 2.5B7, the initial term in the extent examples is "ca." which is now "approximately" in RDA, but it's "ca." not "Ca." Was AACR2 being inconsistent with ISBD in the examples?
Steven Arakawa Catalog Librarian for Training & Documentation Catalog & Metada Services Sterling Memorial Library. 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 Heidrun Wiesenmüller Sent: Tuesday, April 02, 2013 3:25 PM To: RDA-L@LISTSERV.LAC-BAC.GC.CA Subject: Re: [RDA-L] Capitalization of approximately in 300 Amanda, > All of the examples have approximately in lower case: > > approximately 60 slides > approximately 600 pages > > Granted that RDA doesn't give things in MARC format, but as the first element > shouldn't the approximately be capitalized? > > 300 Approximately 60 slides : $b etc. I believe nobody has answered your question yet, so I'll give it a try. I think the examples with "approximately" in lower case are correct according to RDA. If you look at appendix A, you'll find that there are only very few elements where the first word is to be capitalized, e.g. titles of manifestations (A.4), designation of edition (A.5) and notes (A.8). As the extent element is not among them, you simply use the ordinary spelling of the words as if they would appear in a running text. I guess this is another point where RDA differs from the ISBD. There, we have a general rule that each area starts with a capitalized word (ISBD consolidated, A.7: "In general, in those scripts where capitalization is relevant, the first letter of the first word of each area should be a capital"). Heidrun -- --------------------- Prof. Heidrun Wiesenmueller M.A. Stuttgart Media University Faculty of Information and Communication Wolframstr. 32, 70191 Stuttgart, Germany www.hdm-stuttgart.de/bi