Corporate Bodies at Head of Title

In some publications, the title page will have one, two, or more names of corporate bodies that appear at the very top of the title page, or sometimes on a preliminary page. Why are they there, especially if a publication has a legitimate author whose name also appears on the title page?

It is a generally accepted practice in Russia, the former Soviet republics, and Eastern Europe to include on the title page, in some cases, the names of the corporate bodies that have contributed to the work by commissioning or sponsoring it. For example, if a work was published by a member of the academic staff of a university, the university’s name might appear at head of title signaling that this work was commissioned (and usually published) by the university.

The addition of notes related to statements of responsibility is optional. Suggested cataloging practice given in this chapter can only be taken as a recommendation.

Suggested cataloging practice:

Transcribe the names of corporate bodies that appear at the head of the title in a general note.

Besides the note, will corporate names also needed to be traced in a bibliographic record? It depends. General practice is to trace corporate bodies at head of title, only when there is a title main entry.

Scenario 1: Resource in question has a creator or creators.

Example:

Ўзбекистон республикаси халк̨ таълими вазирлиги
Тошкент давлат педагогика университети [GENERALLY NOT TRACED]

М.А. Х̨амроев

Х̨озирги Ўзбек тилидаги

кўрсатиш олмошларининг

функционал-семантик

хусусиятлари

Тошкент

Ўзбекистон Республикаси Фанлар Академияси

"Фан" Нашриёти

2009

In this case, M.A. Hamroev is the sole creator of a work on Uzbek language, which was completed while he was an employee of the Tashkent Pedagogical University. The contribution of the University in this work is merely formal, but somewhat important and worth noting in a record.

Suggested cataloging practice:

Trace only the author, and DO NOT trace corporate bodies at head of title. Transcribe the names of corporate bodies at the head of the title page in a general note.

Optionally, a cataloger may choose to trace corporate bodies.

Example (in MARC format):

500 At head of title: Ŭzbekiston respublikasi khalq taʺlimi vazirligi. Toshkent davlat

pedagogika universiteti.

No authorized access point for Nizomiĭ nomidagi Toshkent davlat pedagogika universiteti required.

Optionally, a cataloger may add an authorized access point for Nizomiĭ nomidagi Toshkent davlat pedagogika universiteti.

Scenario 2: Resource in question does not have a creator/creators.

In the case of aggregate works, such as compilations, collaborative works, serials, or conference proceedings, the role of a corporate body (or bodies) at the head of the title page takes on greater significance. In such cases, a corporate body that appears on the title page of conference proceedings, for example, usually has either organized, hosted, or sponsored the event, or worked on putting papers together, edited them, prepared for publishing, and often acted as an official publisher.

Example:

Министерство образования и науки Российской Федерации [DO NOT TRACE]
Федеральное государственное бюджетное образования "Тверской государственный университет" [TRACE]

СМИ в онтологическом и культурном пространстве славянского мира

Дни славянской письменности и культуры

Тверь

Тверской государственный университет

2013

In this case Tver University organized and hosted a conference, and also published conference papers; therefore the University’s role is comparable to the role of a creator.

Suggested cataloging practice:

Transcribe the names of corporate bodies at the head of the title page in a general note. It is strongly encouraged (and it has been LC practice) to also trace corporate bodies at the head of title in the case of aggregate works.

Optionally, a cataloger may omit this information and not transcribe at all. According to the BIBCO Standard Record requirements only those notes that support identification of item need be included.

Example (in MARC format):

500 At head of title: Ministerstvo obrazovanii︠a︡ i nauki Rossiĭskoĭ Federat︠s︡ii.

Federalʹnoe gosudarstvennoe bi︠u︡dzhetnoe obrazovatelʹnoe uchrezhdenie

vysshego professionalʹnogo obrazovanii︠a︡ "Tverskoĭ gosudarstvennyĭ universitet".

710 2 Tverskoĭ gosudarstvennyĭ universitet, ‡e host institution, ‡e organizer, ‡e issuing body.

Please note that the “Ministerstvo obrazovanii︠a︡ i nauki Rossiĭskoĭ Federat︠s︡ii” appears here as part of the official name for Тверской государственный университет, and should not be traced.

See also: Hierarchical Corporate Bodies at Head of Title

Revised: Aug. 28, 2015