Cataloger's Reference Shelf
CONSER Cataloging Manual
Cataloger's Reference Shelf
CONSER Cataloging Manual
22.5. Headings for corporate names
The ALA rules consisted of specific rules for various types of corporate bodies. When describing the rules, Spaulding noted "there were specific rules for incorporated societies, for federated societies, for private and endowed schools, for Indian schools in the United States, for mercantile library associations, for mosques, for botanical and zoological gardens, and to bring this illustrative list to a proper ending, for cemeteries ( FN 9)." There were few general rules that could be applied and there was no provision for subordinate bodies, with the exception of government bureaus and offices. As a result, more of the hierarchy was given for both government and non-government headings than is the practice with AACR2.
The rules were broken into categories: government bodies, societies and institutions, and miscellaneous bodies, which included conferences, exhibitions, banks, and business firms. Entry could be under the jurisdiction (the name of the country, state, or city government), the place in which the body was located, or under the name of the body itself.
By applying the ALA rules, the cataloger often came up with a rather artificial form of the heading that bore little resemblance to that used on the piece. For example, the Stockton State Hospital was entered as California. State Hospital, Stockton. While the formation of such headings assuredly made logical sense to the catalogers, it no doubt left the user baffled. (It is hard to convert such headings to AACR2 without the piece in hand, because the cataloger has no clue as to the actual appearance of the body on the publication.) Nevertheless, there is a certain appeal in having all headings of a particular type entered in the same way, regardless of the nature of the name or its appearance on the piece, which of course is not always known by the user.
AACR took a totally different approach to the establishment of headings. For the first time, the cataloger had to consider the nature of the name itself, in addition to the type of body it represented. Emphasis was on direct entry under the name, depending on whether the name was distinctive enough to stand alone. Both general and specific rules were included with the basic distinction being made between government and non-government bodies. There were also elaborate rules for subordinate bodies that allowed the cataloger to eliminate unnecessary parts of the hierarchy. Two alternative rules, 98 and 99, were provided for those wishing to minimize the changes. These rules provided for entry under local place for churches and many of the types of institutions covered in the earlier ALA rules; however, both rules were canceled in 1972 (CSB 104, May 72).
The Library of Congress, faced with changing headings in its card catalog, made the decision to continue using already established headings in their ALA form and to use the AACR rules only when establishing new headings (CSB 79, Jan. 1967). This policy of "superimposition" soon caused problems. When a new subordinate body was to be established and the parent body was still in the ALA form, LC decided to set up the subordinate body in ALA form as well. When the parent body changed but the subordinate body did not, and the subordinate body under AACR would go under its own name, the whole heading was changed to the AACR form.
Since AACR was adopted as the "standard" for the CONSER Project, LC agreed to use the AACR form of heading in the main or added entry of the CONSER online record input to OCLC. To accommodate LC’s catalog, however, LC’s established form was given in an 87X field. When the record was returned to LC from OCLC, the headings "flipped" so that the ALA heading would be used in the appropriate main or added entry.
There was much controversy and unhappiness with LC’s superimposition policy and it was abandoned when LC adopted AACR2 in 1981.
The following discussion examines both ALA and AACR rules for corporate body headings. AACR2 forms are given in the examples for comparison. The AACR form is not given when it would be the same as the AACR2 form. The actual form used in AACR records is hard to determine because of the LC policy of superimposition.
Both the ALA and AACR rules provided separate rules for government bodies. The ALA rules limited government bodies to the various departments of the government. Entry was under the jurisdiction. Bureaus and other bodies subordinate to a department were entered directly under the jurisdiction, as is current practice. Minor divisions and offices were added following the name of the bureau or department, regardless of the distinctiveness of the name. National and state institutions were included under the rules for institutions but were also entered under the jurisdiction. State-run agricultural experiment stations were entered under the state.
Under AACR, agencies, departments, and bureaus of the government were entered under the jurisdiction, with elaborate instructions given for direct or indirect entry for subordinate agencies and units. For the first time, the distinctiveness of the name itself was considered with the result that many lower bodies were entered directly under the jurisdiction (as is the case in AACR2). Other government controlled bodies were entered according to the general rules for corporate bodies if they fell into one of seven types. These included institutions, parks, authorities, banks, and established churches.
ALA:
U.S. Bureau of Plant Industry. Division of Cereal Crops and Diseases.
AACR2:
United States. Division of Cereal Crops and Diseases.
ALA:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Alaska Fish and Wildlife Research Center.
AACR2:
Alaska Fish and Wildlife Research Center (U.S.)
ALA:
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C.
AACR2:
Naval Research Laboratory (U.S.)
ALA:
Banque de France, Paris
AACR2:
Banque de France
ALA:
U.S. Library of Congress.
AACR2:
Library of Congress (U.S.)
ALA:
U.S. Andrews Air Force Base, Washington, D.C.
AACR2:
Andrews Air Force Base (Washington, D.C.)
ALA:
Maine. State Library, Augusta.
AACR2:
Maine State Library.
ALA:
New York (State). Agricultural experiment station, Geneva.
AACR2:
New York State Agricultural Experiment Station
ALA:
New York (State). State University College, Geneseo.
AACR2:
State University of New York College, Geneseo
ALA:
Pennsylvania. University.
AACR2:
University of Pennsylvania
ALA rules for non-government bodies were specific to the type of body. Under AACR, all non-government bodies were entered directly under their own name.
Both ALA and AACR headings for societies were entered under their name. If the society was part of a school or organization, it was entered under the school or organization in ALA headings. The distinctiveness of the name determined whether it was entered under the school or directly under its own name in AACR headings.
According to the ALA rules, the place was added, preceded by a comma, if the place was not included in the name and the activities of the society were local in nature. If the activities of the society were state or national in scope, the name of the state or country was added in parentheses. If the name and place were identical, the date of founding of the society was added. The name of the place or another qualifier was given in parentheses when added to AACR records.
ALA:
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.
AACR2:
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
ALA:
Oxford. University. Oxford Union Society.
AACR2:
Oxford Union Society.
ALA:
Anti-imperialist league, Boston.
AACR2:
Anti-Imperialist League (Boston, Mass.)
ALA:
American Physiological Society (Founded 1887)
AACR2:
American Physiological Society (1887- )
ALA defined institutions as establishments that required some form of building or physical plant. Most institutions were entered under the place in which they were located. If the name began with the place it could be transcribed as a place and subdivision so that is would file with other bodies entered under the same place, e.g., San Francisco. Museum of Art; not San Francisco Museum of Art.
ALA:
Boston. Public Library.
AACR2:
Boston Public Library
ALA:
Paris. Musée national du Louvre.
AACR2:
Musée du Louvre
ALA:
New York (City). Metropolitan museum of art.
AACR2:
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)
ALA:
Chilocco, Okla. Indian Agricultural School.
AACR2:
Chilocco Indian Agricultural School.
ALA:
Washington, D.C. National Cathedral School for Girls.
AACR2:
National Cathedral School for Girls.
ALA:
Trenton, N.J. Delaware Steam Fire Engine Company.
AACR2:
Delaware Steam Fire Engine Company (Trenton, N.J.)
Institutions were entered directly under their name when the name began with a proper noun or proper adjective. The place was added at the end unless the institution was very well known.
ALA:
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
AACR2:
Corcoran Gallery of Art.
ALA:
Copeland School, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
AACR2:
Copeland School
ALA:
Smithsonian Institution
AACR2:
Smithsonian Institution
There was no provision under either the ALA or AACR rules for adding the term "meeting" to the name of a corporate body for conference publications, as is done in AACR2. Other differences involved the order of information added to the name of the conference name (e.g., number, date, place), but such information is generally not given in serial records. Exhibitions, however, were entered under the place where they were located or under the sponsoring society under ALA. They were entered directly under their name, according to AACR. The ALA rules also included in this category headings for botanical gardens and cemeteries, which under AACR2 would be treated as geographic rather than corporate names.
ALA:
International Geographical Congress. 4th, Paris, 1889.
AACR:
International Geographical Congress, 4th, Paris, 1889.
AACR2:
International Geographical Congress (4th : 1889 : Paris)
ALA:
Chicago. World's Columbian Exposition, 1893.
AACR:
World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893.
AACR2:
World's Columbian Exposition (1893 : Chicago, Ill.)
ALA:
Harvard University. Arnold Arboretum.
AACR2:
Arnold Arboretum.
ALA:
Gettysburg. National Cemetery. (tag X10)
AACR2:
Soldier's National Cemetery (Gettysburg, Pa.) (tag X51)
ALA:
Washington, D.C. National Zoological Park. (tag X10)
AACR2:
National Zoological Park (U.S.) (tag X51)
22.5.4. Deletions and changes to the entry element
According to ALA, firms were entered under their surname, rather than forenames or initials. Under AACR, initials or abbreviations of forenames were inverted.
ALA:
Ward, Montgomery, & co.
AACR2:
Montgomery Ward
ALA:
Appleton (D.) and Company
AACR:
Appleton (D.) and Company
AACR2:
D. Appleton and Company
ALA:
Schirmer (G.), inc., New York
AACR:
Schirmer (G.), inc.
AACR2:
G. Schirmer, Inc.
b. Words denoting royalty, national, etc.
Words such as "Imperiale," "Reale," and "Konigliche" appearing at the beginning of a heading were abbreviated according to the 1908 rules. The 1949 and AACR rules deleted them altogether. However, if the word was an integral part of the name or was in English it was retained.
ALA (1908):
I.R. Accademia di scienze, lettere ed arte degli in Rovereto
ALA (1949) / AACR:
Accademia di scienze, lettere ed arte degli in Rovereto
AACR2:
Imperial Regia Accademia di scienze, lettere ed arte degli agiati in Rovereto.
but
ALA:
London. National Gallery.
AACR2:
National Gallery (Great Britain)
ALA:
Royal society of Edinburgh
AACR2:
Royal Society of Edinburgh
Under ALA, names consisting solely of acronyms or initialisms were spelled out in full. AACR entered acronyms under the acronym but spelled out initialisms.
ALA:
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
AACR:
Unesco
AACR2:
Unesco
ALA:
European Atomic Community
AACR:
Euratom
AACR2:
Euratom
ALA:
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
AACR:
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
AACR2:
AFL-CIO
The ALA 1949 and AACR rules called for capitalization of headings similar to that which is used in AACR2. The earlier codes specified that only the first words in each unit and proper names were to be capitalized. Capitalization in the ALA rules was based on LC practice; capitalization in AACR was based on the United States Government Printing Office Style Manual. Terms such as "inc." were given uncapitalized in both codes.
ALA (1908) / ALA (1941):
New York (State). Agricultural experiment station, Geneva
ALA (1949) / AACR2:
New York (State). Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva
The abbreviations "U.S." and "Gt. Brit." were used in name headings until the adoption of AACR. The use of "U.S." may cause some confusion with names that actually begin with the abbreviation U.S. and are entered directly under their name. LC abbreviated the word "Department" in both ALA and AACR headings, as is the current practice.
ALA:
U.S. Dept. of Commerce.
AACR2:
United States. Dept. of Commerce.
ALA:
Gt. Brit. Civil service commission.
AACR2:
Great Britain. Civil Service Commission.
When the place was added at the end of the heading it was given in italics on LC cards. LC continued to use italics in its printed cards until 1971.
Society of Comparative Legislation, London.
See also: