On Tue, 9 Dec 2003, Markus wrote:
> However, the discussion about middlename forgets one fact that we
> can't simply ignore. While it might be desirable to drop middlename in
> order to make the markup more culture-agnostic, the main purpose of
> RefDB is to format bibliographies according to publisher's
> specifications. If you don't like middle names or middle initials,
> you'll have to file a motion with the publishers of scientific
> journals to remove these. In the life sciences approx. 99% of all
> journals use middle names or middle initials regardless of the
> cultural background of the authors. I've mentioned it previously that
> my friend Raman (who insists that this is his full name) appears as
> C.S. Raman on his papers for the sole purpose of having two initials.
Thanks for supporting my argument with this excellent exemple ! :-)
> RefDB must support middle names if it wants to be useful in the life
> sciences.
Sure.
On Tue, 9 Dec 2003, Bruce wrote:
> 4)
>
> <given>James C.</given>
> <family>Scott</family>
>
> I find all of them problematic, frankly, because we don't have a way to
> know whether a name is initialized or not. But I wonder if 5 wouldn't
> be a solution. I personally would code it as 4 and expect the software
> and to figure out how to format it on output.
That's exactly what I am suggesting.
I am NOT=A0asking to remove the concept of <middlename> down to every
refdb line code: I am just suggesting to postpone this concept to the
rendering stage, so it does not spoil the data model.
Cheers,
Marc.
PS: Markus, please do not let ugly bibliographers "standardize" our
names! :-( At least not up to databases.
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