On 10/10/2013 2:34 PM, Kevin M Randall <k...@northwestern.edu> wrote:
> Mac Elrod wrote: > >>> In hand: a book in French, ... the summary, ... is in French >> >> If the patron can read the text, s/he can read the summary. > > But that is making the assumption that the person using the catalog > to find the item is fluent in the language of the item. There could > be any number of reasons people may consult a record in the catalog > and need to understand the notes in the record, without having any > need to actually read the resources themselves. Not because RDA prohibits or prescribes either choice, since we are not doing RDA cataloging here yet, but for the few Spanish items I catalog (our primary non-English language), it's seemed reasonable to me to include a summary in Spanish (generally by transcribing from somewhere on the item), and then an English summary as well, whether found on an English translation of the title, or taking a stab at translation myself, though the result may be briefer and drier. (My Spanish is quite rusty 18 years after high school, but has so far been sufficient to handle Spanish YA fiction.) -- Lisa Hatt Cataloging DeAnza College Library 408-864-8459
