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Spread of title page data

  • 1.  Spread of title page data

    Posted Aug 29, 2023 04:17 PM

    I catalog a lot of books that contain a work in either Latin or Greek, and also translated in to either English or a Western European language. These are often in series, so in addition to the title page (page on right hand side) in the translated language, there is also a series title page facing the title page which will repeat the title and statement of responsibility (and sometimes the publisher) in Latin or Greek. The series title for these books is often in Latin (or Greek), so I believe this is why the series title page often also repeats the title in the original Latin or Greek.

    AACR2 and RDA talked about title page data being on facing or successive pages being able to collectively constitute a title page, but I can't seem to find anything similar in 3R. Whereas in the original toolkit, the glossary definition for title page discussed facing pages, the glossary definition for title page in 3R does not: A source of information in a manifestation that is a page of a volume that contains information about title proper, statement of responsibility, publication, or other aspect of the manifestation.

    For my particular situation, I can only find under Title proper  "Title of manifestation in two or more languages or scripts" the condition "A value of a title appears in two or more languages in sources of information", which gives the condition option: "Record a value in the language or script of the main expression that is embodied by a manifestation." The LC/PCC Policy Statement states: "LC/PCC practice: IF: the content of the resource is written, spoken, or sung and the source of information for a title proper has a title in more than one language or script, THEN: apply the option."

    This seems to not apply to a book which contains the entirety of a work in more than one language, both languages (i.e., expressions) are embodied in the manifestation. To me, the condition option makes it sound like it is applying mainly to situations where there's one predominant language in the manifestation. I suppose though, that it could also be read in a way that there could be multiple languages or expressions in the manifestation, and thus the title can be recorded in more than one language, but it's unclear to me.

    In my situation, in AACR2 and RDA, catalogers would often only record the title on the right-hand side, and not the record the title on the series title page in the 245. Sometimes catalogers would put the Latin or Greek title in a 246 instead. I'm currently cataloging a book where catalogers have recorded both titles in the 245, but in reverse order. My understanding from both AACR2 and RDA is that the title page is the page on the right hand side (which would be the recto side of an individual page), and the page on the left hand side (which would be the verso side of an individual page), is not the title page, but I don't think that that was explicitly stated in either. So, as there seems to be confusion among catalogers, I would like to clarify, when there are two facing title pages, is the primary title page the one on the right or the left? My book contains Galen's Definitiones medicae in Greek and German. The title page on the left hand side contains the name of the series Corpus medicorum Graecorum, and the title, statements of responsibility and publishing data in Latin, the title page on the right hand side contains the title, statements of responsibility and publishing information in German. There's one master record in OCLC which has the German title first in the 245 and the Latin second (# 1378736652), and one which has the Latin title first and the German second (# 1350617191).

    Can someone please clarify which title page is primary, the one on the left or the right, and am I misinterpreting the condition above for "A value of title appears in two or more languages in sources of information." It seems to me to be applying to a situation where a title page may have a title in more than one language, but the manifestation only contains one expression. Does this also apply to situations where there are two titles on the title page, and the manifestation contains the work in two languages? And is this condition applying to a manifestation with a spread of title page data among two pages, or to a manifestation with a single title page? (It says "A value of title appears in two or more sources of information", so I guess it applies to a spread of title page data, but I wish that was more clear). It seems odd to me that if a single title page contains a title in two languages that you would not record one of the titles if the manifestation only contains the work in one language. But I'm also unclear under 3R if I need to record the title on the series title page (the left hand title page), as catalogers most often would not do this in practice under AACR2 (most likely because of LCRI 2.0B1), or under the original RDA.  Does 3R discuss a spread of title page data among two pages anywhere? If so, where? And does it list any limitations like LCRI 2.0B1: "2.0B1.  Chief source of information

    The last sentence of rule 2.0B1 allows the cataloger to treat as a single chief source successive leaves or pages.  The intent of this provision is not to combine separate title pages, however.  Separate title pages usually repeat everything.  The intent is for a spread of single title page data.  It is true that in such a spread some elements may be repeated (as the provision recognizes).  A tip-off that this provision is applicable is either no repetition or a partial repetition.  Conversely, complete repetition is a tip-off of non-applicability"?


    I hope this was not too confusing to follow.

    Thanks very much for any guidance you can give me.

    Dana Van Meter
    Cataloging Librarian

    Historical Studies-Social Science Library

    Institute for Advanced Study

    Princeton, NJ 08540

     



    ------------------------------
    Dana Van Meter
    Cataloging Librarian
    Institute for Advanced Study, Historical Studies-Social Science Library
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Spread of title page data

    Posted Aug 30, 2023 08:32 AM

    To answer your  questions:

    • Can someone please clarify which title page is primary, the one on the left or the right, and am I misinterpreting the condition above for "A value of title appears in two or more languages in sources of information." It seems to me to be applying to a situation where a title page may have a title in more than one language, but the manifestation only contains one expression.
      • As you describe it, I think both pages could be described as title page.  However, in official RDA it does not matter a great deal which of these pages is the title page.  The instructions for title simply refer to sources of information.  Note the plural; it is inclusive of all sources.
    • Does this also apply to situations where there are two titles on the title page, and the manifestation contains the work in two languages? And is this condition applying to a manifestation with a spread of title page data among two pages, or to a manifestation with a single title page? (It says "A value of title appears in two or more sources of information", so I guess it applies to a spread of title page data, but I wish that was more clear). It seems odd to me that if a single title page contains a title in two languages that you would not record one of the titles if the manifestation only contains the work in one language. But I'm also unclear under 3R if I need to record the title on the series title page (the left hand title page), as catalogers most often would not do this in practice under AACR2 (most likely because of LCRI 2.0B1), or under the original RDA.
      • Yes, it applies because, as I noted above, the instructions refer to sources of information.  It does not matter whether both titles appear on the same page or on opposite pages or even on opposite ends of the book.
    • Does 3R discuss a spread of title page data among two pages anywhere? If so, where? And does it list any limitations like LCRI 2.0B1: "2.0B1.  Chief source of information
      • I don't recall that official RDA discusses a spread of title page data across two pages.  But again, it does not matter for the application of the conditions.

    You have been focusing on the first option to this condition.  You should take a look at the second option:  'Record a value in the language or script that appears first in a manifestation being described.'  The associated LC/PCC PS says (emphasis added), 'IF: the content is not written, spoken, or sung, or if there is no main content in a single language, THEN: apply the option.'  From your description, you believe that the main content is not in a single language.  This option would have you use the first title, which I believe you said is the Latin title.



    ------------------------------
    Stephen McDonald
    Digital Initiatives Librarian
    Tufts University
    ------------------------------



  • 3.  RE: Spread of title page data

    Posted Aug 30, 2023 08:36 AM

    I meant add that official RDA does not incorporate the concept of primary source of information.  You don't have to worry as much as you have about which page is the title page.



    ------------------------------
    Stephen McDonald
    Digital Initiatives Librarian
    Tufts University
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: Spread of title page data

    Posted Aug 30, 2023 08:53 AM

    You also said, 'It seems odd to me that if a single title page contains a title in two languages that you would not record one of the titles if the manifestation only contains the work in one language.'

    RDA is not telling you to record only one title.  It is tellng you to record only one title as title proper.  You would still record a parallel title, which is not title proper.



    ------------------------------
    Stephen McDonald
    Digital Initiatives Librarian
    Tufts University
    ------------------------------



  • 5.  RE: Spread of title page data

    Posted Aug 30, 2023 08:55 AM
    The PCC still has not implemented Official RDA (the version arising out of the 3R project), so I would say that for this situation, one should still follow the practices of the Original Toolkit until the PCC and your library implement Official RDA during the rolling implementation period from May 1, 2024- April 30, 2027. 

    This situation would be covered in Official RDA by the guidance chapter on aggregates. Based on your description, this manifestation embodies a parallel aggregate.  From that part of the guidance chapter, the LC-PCC PS points to another guidance chapter on describing a manifestation, specifically a section on Describing a manifestation that embodies two or more expressions. The condition option that seems applicable in this section is "Relate the manifestation separately to one or more of the expressions that are aggregated using Manifestation: expression manifested," and the LC-PCC PS associated with that section has some additional guidance: "LC/PCC practice for a parallel aggregate: Identify the original language expression, if present, and at least the first translation in a parallel aggregate. If the manifestation is a parallel aggregate embodying multiple expressions of the Bible or its parts, provide analytical authorized access points for each expression."  However, this doesn't exactly help out with your question regarding the title page. There are some additional examples and guidance in the LC-PCC Metadata Guidance Document on Aggregates that may be helpful.

    In Official RDA, there is less emphasis on determining preferred sources of information for titles and other elements.  Most of this information is now in a guidance chapter on data provenance, and for monographs this is the applicable condition option, which also has further guidance in an associated LC-PCC-PS.  There is also an LC-PCC metadata guidance document on variant titles that may be helpful. In short, though, I think for this particular issue, even under Official RDA, I think you should still consider the "right hand page" to be the primary title page.  My impression from a quick glance through this documentation is that some details, such as whether to record the Latin/Greek title on the left-hand page in the 245 as well as in 246 fields, are left to cataloger's judgment. 

    I believe that work is still underway on some of the metadata guidance documents and policy statements ahead of the rolling implementation, so there may be additional guidance forthcoming on some of these trickier topics such as aggregates. 

    I hope that helps!

    --
    Timothy Ryan Mendenhall (he/him/his)
    Metadata Librarian
    Columbia University Libraries
    Cataloging and Metadata Services
    102 Butler Library
    535 West 114th Street
    New York, NY 10027

    (212) 851-2452







  • 6.  RE: Spread of title page data

    Posted Aug 30, 2023 12:43 PM

    Thank you both Stephen and Timothy, so much for your responses. This helps a lot. 

    I did see that other condition Stephen, and was confused by it because I missed the "or" in the sentence,  so  I just ignored that condition! After a while with Official RDA my eyes go blurry, and it helps to have a second pair of eyes point out to me what I missed in the text.

    Thank you, Timothy, for the links to the sections of Official RDA. Under the original RDA, I was seeing, and was, myself, skipping the Latin (or Greek) title in the 245 and entering the data in a 246 1_ $iLatin title from series title page:$a ..., but I just had two books in the series I mention in my previous message, that had both titles in the 245 in OCLC master records, and I was wondering if that was something new that was specifically spelled out in Official RDA. I have to say I'm not a fan of the wishy-washiness of Official RDA, and that so much is left to "cataloger's judgment", I think this makes training for new cataloger's more difficult, because they don't have a lot of cataloging experience to draw on. 

    Again, thank you both for having the patience to wade through my long message and for providing such useful and detailed responses.

    -Dana

     

    Dana Van Meter
    Cataloging Librarian

    Historical Studies-Social Science Library

    Institute for Advanced Study

    Princeton, NJ 08540

     



    ------------------------------
    Dana Van Meter
    Cataloging Librarian
    Institute for Advanced Study, Historical Studies-Social Science Library
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: Spread of title page data

    Posted Aug 30, 2023 02:18 PM

    Putting a parallel title into the 245 is not new at all--it goes back to AACR2, and probably to AACR.  In AACR2, it was covered in 2.1D.  In original RDA Toolkit, it was covered in 2.3.3.



    ------------------------------
    Stephen McDonald
    Digital Initiatives Librarian
    Tufts University
    ------------------------------



  • 8.  RE: Spread of title page data

    Posted Aug 30, 2023 02:55 PM

    Hi Stephen, 

    Yes, I realize that, but I don't think it has been entirely common to put a parallel title from a page that is more like a series title page than the primary title page, in the 245. That was my confusion, because I hadn't been seeing other catalogers do that much with the type of work I described in my original message. Either the parallel Latin title was ignored, or it was put in a 246, it generally didn't get put in the 245. In AACR2, I think this was because of the LCRI stating that pages that repeat everything aren't considered to constitute a spread of title page data, but I'm not sure why catalogers opted to ignore the parallel Latin title on the series title page with the original RDA, because as you note, 2.3.3 does state that a parallel title should be recorded, and that it can come from any source within the manifestation. Although the original RDA did not state where to record the parallel title, and it seems that catalogers considered the page facing the title page to be more of a series title page than a title page spread over two, facing pages.

    I'm still not convinced that in this situation the series title page should be considered as a component part of a two-page title page, but if this is how catalogers will be interpreting the Official RDA I can put the parallel title in the 245 as well, it just makes for a long 245, especially with the parallel statements of responsibility included. But single title pages often include series information also, so I suppose the presence of series title info. on a page facing the title page doesn't have to exclude the data on that page from appearing in the 245, given that RDA just tells us what information can be included but doesn't dictate where it should be recorded.

    Thanks again for your help,

    Dana



    ------------------------------
    Dana Van Meter
    Cataloging Librarian
    Institute for Advanced Study, Historical Studies-Social Science Library
    ------------------------------



  • 9.  RE: Spread of title page data

    Posted Aug 31, 2023 09:44 PM
    Dana,

    The parallel title proper does not have to be in the same source of information as the title proper according to original and official RDA. Per original RDA 2.3.3.2, you can take a parallel title proper from any source within the manifestation. Outside the manifestation, it must come from the same source s the title proper. If you are using MARC 21, you can record a parallel title proper that appears on the title page verso, the back cover, the series title pages, etc. in 245$b. A note about the source of the parallel title is always helpful.

    I would not be surprised if many people do not do that for a variety of reasons including 1) parallel title is not a required element for their agency, 2) they are relying on what they knew from AACR2 and don't realize the rule about sources of information changed with RDA, 3) they do know that but they don't think they should be doing it because a) they don't see other people doing it or b) they have a philosophical objection to it. 

    The key issues consider are whether the title meets the definition of parallel title, whether recording this parallel title could help a user find the manifestation considering that most users know nothing about cataloging rules so have no expectation of a limitation on considering it a title based on location in a book, whether you can record it because of technology or cataloged knowledge, and if recording it conforms to agency policy.

    Kate James 

    P.S. I keep meaning to switch this list to my work email but can't find the directions so if anyone knows, I'd be grateful for the link.





  • 10.  RE: Spread of title page data

    Posted Sep 01, 2023 09:55 AM

    Thank you Kate. I guess I was too hung up on viewing the series title page as just that, and not as a source for a parallel title. My institution doesn't really have a policy on parallel titles in the 245, although we do still have a shelflist (gasp), so having a parallel title with parallel statements of responsibility makes for multiple cards for one title, which is a bit cumbersome, but still, in cases like the one described in my original message, as these books often have two internal title pages (besides the title page and series title page) which contain the title in Latin (or Greek), and also in the language of translation, I think having both titles in the 245 is probably useful. I think another reason why people may have been ignoring the Latin in the 245 is because that title was appearing in the 700 02 added entries, although with the $a preceding the $t.

    But it does seem, that the right hand title page should be the primary source, so in my case, the German title should be entered in the 245 first, not the Latin.

    Thanks Kate (and Stephen and Timothy) for your help.

    Have a good weekend,

    Dana



    ------------------------------
    Dana Van Meter
    Cataloging Librarian
    Institute for Advanced Study, Historical Studies-Social Science Library
    ------------------------------



  • 11.  RE: Spread of title page data

    Posted Sep 02, 2023 10:13 AM
    Hi Dana,

    I wonder if your situation is also covered under the following instruction from Guidance: Data provenance. Recording a source of metadata that is a manifestation that is being described:

    CONDITION
    The source of a metadata work is a manifestation that is being described.
    A manifestation contains recording sources in two or more languages or scripts.

    CONDITION OPTION
    Prefer the following sources of information, in this order:
    1. A recording source in a language or script that corresponds to the language or script of the content of the manifestation
    2. A recording source in a language or script that corresponds to the predominant language or script of the content of the manifestation
    3. A recording source in a language or script of translation, if the manifestation embodies the same work in two or more languages or scripts and translation is known to be the purpose of the manifestation
    4. A recording source in an original language or script of the content, if the manifestation embodies the same content in two or more languages or scripts and an original language or script can be identified
    5. A recording source that occurs first
    6. ....
    According to the instruction above, if the primary purpose of the resource is known to be providing a translation for modern readers, accompanied by the original text, option 3 seems to apply [title in English, German, etc.]. Otherwise, option 4 seems to apply[title in original Latin or Greek] when the resource is in multiple languages and there is no predominant language.

    Also, it has not been clear to me if this was articulated explicitly in original RDA, but as has been mentioned, a parallel title is a separate data element and it seems that a different source of information can be used other than the title page, even under original RDA, to record data for the parallel title found on the resource (i.e., MARC 245 field $b, or $c once $c has been recorded).

    Yuji
    --
    Yuji Tosaka, PhD, MLIS (he/him/his)
    Cataloging/Metadata Librarian
    Cataloging and Metadata Services
    R. Barbara Gitenstein Library
    The College of New Jersey
    PO Box 7718 Ewing, NJ 08628-0718





  • 12.  RE: Spread of title page data

    Posted Sep 05, 2023 07:45 AM

    Yuji,

    The Data Provenance instructions are used for recording the source of a piece of metadata.  In this case, the instructions you cite would mean recording in a 500 note something like, "Title from title page" or "Title from series title page."  Dana wasn't asking how to record the provenance of the title; they were asking _which_ title to record and whether the two pages counted as a single title page spread.  The Data Provenance instructions do not answer that. question.



    ------------------------------
    Stephen McDonald
    Digital Initiatives Librarian
    Tufts University
    ------------------------------



  • 13.  RE: Spread of title page data

    Posted Sep 05, 2023 08:19 AM
    Hi Stephen,

    Yes, data provenance instructions provide information about the metadata that is recorded in an element or set of elements. That being said, the section cited is carried over from Original RDA 2.2.3 "More Than One Preferred Source of Information," which has instructions about choosing the preferred source If there is more than one source of information that qualifies as the preferred source of information for the manifestation. So, I wonder if this Official RDA section does provide additional information beyond what is explicitly stated in the section heading, "Recording a source of metadata ...."

    Yuji





  • 14.  RE: Spread of title page data

    Posted Sep 05, 2023 08:29 AM

    You're right.  I forgot they moved that section to the Data Provenance Guidance pages.



    ------------------------------
    Stephen McDonald
    Digital Initiatives Librarian
    Tufts University
    ------------------------------



  • 15.  RE: Spread of title page data

    Posted Sep 26, 2023 01:14 PM

    Hello Yuji,

    A very much delayed response to your answer to my question, my apologies for the delay.

    Thank you for pointing me to this portion of RDA, and for reiterating what others have said, which is that the parallel title doesn't have to come from the same source as the title proper. I was hung up on viewing the series title page as just that, and not as a valid source for a parallel title, even though it seems that RDA has never said that a parallel title can't come from a series title page.

    You have saved me a lot of time spent going back and forth on this so thank you! And just noticed now that you're very close to my institution in NJ! Hello fellow New Jerseyan!

    Thanks again,

    Dana
    Dana Van Meter, Cataloging Librarian, Historical Studies-Social Science Library, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ 08540



    ------------------------------
    Dana Van Meter
    Cataloging Librarian
    Institute for Advanced Study, Historical Studies-Social Science Library
    ------------------------------