Additions to distinguish identical personal names

Check the authority file to determine if there is an exact match for the personal name that appears on the chief source of information for the piece in hand.

If there is an exact match and you have determined that the established heading is not for the person cited on the piece in hand, check elsewhere on your piece for other distinguishing information. If you can't find any distinguishing information either on the piece or in reference sources, create an Undifferentiated Personal Name (non-unique) NAR (see "Gloss on Undifferentiated Personal Names").

Even if there is no exact match, but you want to include distinguishing information in your heading, you should do so according to LCRI 22.17 (dates) and LCRI 22.18 (fuller forms of name). If you locate distinguishing information in your piece or in a reference source, add it to the heading in this prescibed order of preference (LCRI 22.17-22.20):

A. A fuller form of name from the item being cataloged if there is an initial or an abbreviation in the chosen form of name. (AACR2r and LCRI 22.18)
B. Dates - most often birth and/or death dates. You may use "flourished" or "century" dates for pre-20th century authors. (AACR2r and LCRI 22.17)

Note: If both fuller forms of name (A) and dates (B) are available, use both.
C. Term of address associated with the name appearing in a prominent source on the piece. These include things like:

For 20th century people: Ph. D., M.A., Dr., Prof., Rev.
For pre-20th century people, you can use descriptive phrases like: Actor, Painter, Writer on ..., etc.

D. A fuller form of name from a reference source if an initial or an abbreviation does not appear in the item being cataloged.
E. A full forename when nickname is used in the heading, but not vice versa. This can only be done when the full forename is verified in the piece being cataloged or in a reference source (i.e. Peggy is not necessarily Margaret).
F. A "flourished" date for pre-20th century authors.
G. A "century" date for pre-20th century authors.

Things to remember when constructing 670s for all personal names:

Even if there is no conflict, include potential conflict breaking information from the item being cataloged in the 670 (i.e. dates, fuller forms of name, titles, etc.) If you had to do a little research to determine if an existing heading is your author, chances are that others will too. Save other catalogers time and add information from your piece into a new 670 and add 400's or 500's as necessary.

dcc@cwu.edu; 11/21/2000