A list for discussion of library cataloging and authorities issues

Re: [ACAT] Dali Lama (long)

Quoting Greta De Groat 
 <<But my real peeve was that in most of the books we had his name was
given as
"Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama." There were small variants of that name,
but at least 80% of the books we had gave his name in that form.>>  

In most cases, at least in my experience, the authorized form of the
name is also present but in a very cursive Tibetan dbu-med [rough
pronounciation "oomay"] script. Dbu-med can be as difficult to read as
Chinese cao wen (very cursive, lit. grass writing). 

One of the problems with non-systematically romanized Tibetan names is
that they are usually based on pronunciation and that can vary widely
from place to place. Tenzin Gyatso, which appears to be Lhasa dialect,
would become Danzan Gyamts in some of the Northern Amdo dialect areas.

Wayne Richter
Asian Materials Specialist/PCC Liaison
The Libraries
Western Washington University
Bellingham, WA 98225-9103

***********************************************************************

E-mail AUTOCAT listowners:             autocat-request@...
Search AUTOCAT archives:  http://listserv.syr.edu/archives/autocat.html
Selected AUTOCAT commands: http://www.cwu.edu/~dcc/Autocat/options.html
  By posting messages to AUTOCAT, the author does not cede copyright

***********************************************************************

(Continue reading)

headers

Hal Cain | 5 Apr 02:43

Re: [ACAT] Dali Lama (long)

Wayne Richter wrote:

> One of the problems with non-systematically romanized Tibetan names is
> that they are usually based on pronunciation and that can vary widely
> from place to place. Tenzin Gyatso, which appears to be Lhasa dialect,
> would become Danzan Gyamts in some of the Northern Amdo dialect areas.

Quite.  However, in the LC catalog, "Tenzin Gyatso" occurs in statement 
of responsibility or within the title of 45 out of 47 hits (not all of 
them English text).

While acknowledging the preferences of some, I still think the clear 
mainstream usage is "Dalai Lama" -- sometimes specified as 14th; 
moreover, it has the advantage of direct access to other holders of the 
title too.

A phrase-in-title search (which includes statement of responsibility) in 
the LC catalog yielded 602 hits, of which I quickly checked every 25th. 
  I noted, for the 14th Dalai Lama: 13 hits, "Dalai Lama"; 7 hits, "14th 
Dalai Lama" (or "fourteenth" or "XIV" or "XIVth"); plus one each for the 
First, Second, Third and Fifth (in words or figures).

Hal Cain
Dalton McCaughey Library
Parkville, Victoria, Australia
hal@...

***********************************************************************

E-mail AUTOCAT listowners:             autocat-request@...

(Continue reading)

headers

Evan Bellairs | 9 Apr 17:41

Re: Dali Lama (long)

People go to the library wanting to find books on the Dalai Llama or written
by him. Does anyone really think that the lay person would have any idea who
you were talking about if you said *Bstan-'dzin Rgya-mtsho? *I highly doubt
it. If people cannot look up Dalai Llama in a card catalog, then they will
not find what they want. If they have not found what they want by virtue of
some nitpicky cataloger, then that is a failure in my eyes. try to remember
that next time you are cataloging an item. Might do us all a world of good.

E. Bellairs

***********************************************************************

E-mail AUTOCAT listowners:             autocat-request@...
Search AUTOCAT archives:  http://listserv.syr.edu/archives/autocat.html
Selected AUTOCAT commands: http://www.cwu.edu/~dcc/Autocat/options.html
  By posting messages to AUTOCAT, the author does not cede copyright

***********************************************************************