[Heb-NACO] Romanization of Names in Hebrew Script

[Biella, Joan]

This is what the third choice in the list is intended to recommend, if there is no "found romanization" in the item and no listing in either of the big encyclopedias.

Joan


-----Original Message-----
From: Aaron Kuperman [mailto:akup at loc.gov] 
Sent: Sunday, December 04, 2011 10:00 PM
To: Hebrew Name Authority Funnel
Cc: Biella, Joan
Subject: Re: [Heb-NACO] Romanization of Names in Hebrew Script

Would the author's personal home page, or listing in a readily available online source (e.g. college faculty directory) qualify.  These are all easily found in a "google" search, and probably best reflect how the individual romanizes his/her/its name. --Aaron Kuperman


On Sun, 4 Dec 2011, Biella,
Joan wrote:


> Heb-NACO readers may be interested in the following, a proposed Library of Congress Policy Statement (the RDA equivalent of an AACR2 Rule Interpretation) for instruction 9.2.2.5.3.  This draft was prepared in September by the Israel/Judaica Section at LC and the AJL Cataloging Committee, and is now under consideration for adoption.  --Joan Biella
>  
> +++++++++++++++
> Hebraic Alphabet: Follow this order of preference for persons with Hebrew and Yiddish surnames:
> 
> 1.  If the name is found prominently in a romanized form on the person's works in Hebrew or any other language written in the Hebrew script, use this form.
> 
> 2.  If the name is found as the heading for an article about the person in The Encyclopaedia Judaica or The Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, use this form. If the form varies in these two sources, use the form found in The Encyclopaedia Judaica.
> 
> 3.  If the name is found in a romanized form in a widely-known and easily-consulted free online source, use this form, especially where a person who writes or is written about primarily in the Hebrew script provides a preferred romanized form of the name in the reference source (e.g., Facebook, Linkedin) or, failing such a source, a general source (e.g., Wikipedia).
> 
> 4.  Otherwise, use the systematically romanized form of the name.
> 
> 5.  However,
>             a)  If the authorized access point for an author reflects the systematically romanized form and a subsequently received work of the author in Hebrew or Yiddish shows a non-systematically romanized name (i.e., a "found romanization"), generally do not change the heading. This means that only in exceptional cases will systematically romanized names be candidates for change.
>             b)  If the heading for a Hebrew or Yiddish author reflects a non-systematically romanized form and a subsequently received work of the author in Hebrew or Yiddish shows a different non-systematically romanized form (i.e., a different "found romanization"), do not change the heading until the different form clearly predominates.
> +++++++++++++++
> 
> 
> ________________________________________
> From: heb-naco-bounces at lists.service.ohio-state.edu [heb-naco-bounces at lists.service.ohio-state.edu] On Behalf Of Aaron Kuperman [akup at loc.gov]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2011 2:31 PM
> To: Hebrew Name Authority Funnel
> Cc: hasafran at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu; AUTOCAT
> Subject: Re: [Heb-NACO] Romanization of non-Hebrew proper nouns
> 
> We are dealing with a situation whereby an Israel author uses that
> Italian/English name "Mario" as a forename in writing in Hebrew.
> 
> Based on a search in the Google data base, it appears that no Hebrew
> speaker use any romanization other than "Mario".  If the rules as
> currently applied by LC result in an absurdity that impairs useabilty of
> our cataloging metadata, it is apparent that the rule is clearly wrong and
> should be changed. The guiding principle is that a catalog should provide
> access to works by the name that the author is known by, and that means
> know by the users in the real world. By this standard, the current
> AACR2/LCRI is a failure. Systematic romanization means apply a mechanical
> and artificial standard that benefits no users and merely makes cataloging
> more expensive and less useful.
> 
> I suggest the first rule in romanization of an author whose name is only
> in Hebrew characters in the book, is to "google" him and check what form
> he/she/it uses, or institutions associated with him/her (such as
> universities, publishers, professional groups, etc.) use. At this point in
> time, it should be easy to find the individual's preferred romanized from
> of name (at least for non-Hareidi authors, which pose other issues).
> 
> Aaron
> 
> Obviously not the opinion of LC. However I respectfully submit that in
> this matter I am right and LC practice is clearly wrong.
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, 28 Nov 2011, ...  wrote:
> 
> 
> > In order to preserve the natural and expected pronunciation of the word Mario I would romanize îøéå or îàøéå
> as Maryo rather than Mariyo.   This is my bias and does not reflect official LC practice.
>                                              Benjamin
> 
> 
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Aaron Wolfe Kuperman
Library of Congress, ABA USPL, Law Cataloging Section

This is NOT an official communication from the Library of Congress.