Dear Rachel, In my opinion this is a very reasonable and valid request. I think that it would be a very worthwhile suggestion to be brought to the attention of the AJL R&S Cataloging Committee.
As you may be aware, the guidelines for establishing Hebrew names in RDA have been modified a little. During the test period a number Library of Congress Policy Statements (LCPSs), i.e, policy decisions for the Library's participants in the RDA Test, have been posted for use, if desired, in the library community. There is an LCPS for RDA 9.2.2.5.3 which includes guidelines very similar to the current LCRI for establishing the preferred form for persons with Hebrew and Yiddish names. However the current LCPS is not identical to the LCRI and the list of approved resources has been expanded to include Wikipedia, Linkedin and Facebook. These LCPSs may be modified during and after the test period. As official testers Joan and I have been in contact and consulting with the LC RDA coordinators as we work through the application of RDA to the idiosyncrasies and issues unique to Hebraica cataloging. If other colleagues and the AJL Cataloging Committee are in favor of adopting the Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World as an additional valid resource we could share that recommendation with the LCPS staff. Sincerely, Heidi ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rachel Simon" <rsi...@princeton.edu> To: heb-naco@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Sent: Monday, November 29, 2010 12:27:06 PM Subject: Source for Sephardi/Mizrahi names Since many Sephardi/Mizrahi names are not included in Enc. Jud., can the authoritative source for them be the new Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World (Brill, 2010)? Rachel -- Heidi G. Lerner Hebraica/Judaica Cataloger Metadata Development Unit Stanford University Libraries Stanford, CA 94305-6004 e-mail: ler...@stanford.edu ph: 650-725-9953 fax: 650-725-1120