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UNBIS Guidelines for Name Authorities : Policies and Practice
 


  • Laws
  • Treaties
  • Protocols
  • Additions - Dates
  • Additions - Qualifiers
  • - AACR2, Chapter 25: Uniform Titles

    - See also, MARC21 format standards in the UNBIS Reference Manual.

    - See also, separate section on Series Titles


    In addition to monographic series, uniform titles are established for laws, constitutions, statutes, charters, treaties, conventions, declarations, guidelines, principles, standards, etc. In UNBIS, the uniform title also has been used as a catch-all for things that in standard library practice would be treated as 650 subject headings, for example, commemorative days, decades and years, medals and awards. For the sake of consistency, it is advisable to continue in this vein.

    UNBIS practice has deviated in other ways from AACR2 with respect to uniform titles. Plans, for example, would normally be treated as corporate names (see List of Ambiguous Entities) but in UNBIS practice they are treated as uniform titles if they appear in a UN document in the form of a text which is debated and adopted (comparable, as such, to a legal instrument). When such a text is contained in a UN document, indexing practice stipulates that a uniform title added entry be created in field 730. Early on, programmes and projects also were treated as uniform titles, but that practice is no longer followed.

      130 _ 0 $a ESCAP Plan of Action for Sustainable Tourism Development in the Asian and Pacific Region, Phase II (2006-2012)
      130 _ 0 $a Plan of Action of the Euro-African Ministerial Conference on Migration and Development (2006)
      130 _ 0 $a UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy
      130 _ 0 $a Environment for Europe Communication Strategy (Draft)

    Laws

    (see AACR2: 25.15)

    Laws are entered under the heading for the jurisdiction that promulgated them. The MARC21 standard specifies that the name of the law should appear in subfield $t (Title of a work), but it has long been UNBIS practice to include both the jurisdictional body and uniform title in subfield $a. However, in lieu of using $t, the uniform title is enclosed within square brackets. A separate heading is created for each language edition.

      110 2 _ $a Namibia. [Constitution 1990]
      110 2 _ $a Namibia. [Constitution 1990. French]
    (Note: when a new publication containing the text of a constitution is catalogued, it is very important to verify whether it is in fact a new constitution or simply a new edition, perhaps with recently adopted amendments-there is a tendency to confuse the two-and there probably are many erroneous headings in UNBIS as a result).

    The unofficial short title «popular name» of a law is preferred as the established uniform title entry (see AACR2 25.15A2). Add variant forms of the name as cross-references.

      110 1 _ $a United States. [American Jobs Creation Act of 2004]
      410 1 _ $a United States. [Act to Amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to Remove Impediments in Such Code and Make Our Manufacturing, Service, and High-Technology Businesses and Workers More Competitive and Productive Both at Home and Abroad]
      410 1 _ $a United States. [Public Law 108-357]
    Earlier in UNBIS practice, however, laws were entered, not under the jurisdiction, but directly under the title of the law, with the jurisdiction added as a qualifier. Probably the majority of laws in the UNBIS database are in this format:
      130 _ 0 $a Export Administration Act 1979 (United States)
    A collection of laws of a single country is assigned a uniform title with the addition «Laws, etc.» (variation: «Laws, statutes, etc,»).
      110 1 _ $a Belarus. [Laws, etc.]
    Treaties

    (see AACR2: 25.16; see also, 21.35)

    If a publication contains the text of a treaty between two or three parties, it is entered under the jurisdictional headings for the governments that are parties to it. Add a uniform title comprising these elements: the phrase "Treaties, etc."; the other party; and the date (year, month, day) when the treaty was signed. As with laws, in UNBIS practice the uniform title information is enclosed within square brackets, whereas in standard MARC format, each element comprises a separate subfield.

      110 1 _ $a Brazil. [Treaties, etc. United Kingdom, 1947 Apr. 16]
      110 1 _ $a United Kingdom. [Treaties, etc. Brazil, 1947 Apr. 16]
    Otherwise, if the text of the treaty is not present but is a subject of the publication, it is customary, in UNBIS practice, to just establish the name of the treaty.
      130 _ 0 $a Treaty between the Government of Australia and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia Establishing an Exclusive Economic Zone Boundary and Certain Seabed Boundaries (1997)
    A collection of treaties. Add the phrase «Treaties, etc.» in square brackets.
      110 1 _ $a Finland. [Treaties, etc.]
    Protocols

    (see AACR2: 25.16B3)

    Add the phrase «Protocols, etc.» and the exact date in the form year-month-day of the protocol to the uniform title of the original agreement.

      130 _ 0 $a Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (1988). Protocols, etc., 2005 Oct. 14
    But if a bilateral/trilateral treaty, agreement or protocol has a distinctive name, it has been UNBIS practice to prefer the distinctive name. Thus,
      130 _ 0 $a Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2001)
      430 _ 0 $a UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000). Protocols, etc., 2001 May 31
    Additions - Dates

    Add the date (year) of adoption to declarations, treaties and agreements. In the case of a bilateral treaty or protocol, add the exact date in the form year-month-day.

      110 1 _ $a China. [Treaties, etc. Russian Federation, 2001 July 16]
      130 _ 0 $a Convention of Mannheim (1868). Protocols, etc., 2002 Nov. 27
      130 _ 0 $a International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (1969) Protocols, etc., 1992 Nov. 27

      130 _ 0 $a UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2006)
      130 _ 0 $a Cotonou Ministerial Declaration (2006).
      130 _ 0 $a Declaration of the Second Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions (2006)
      130 _ 0 $a Declaration on Deep-Sea Bottom Trawling to Protect Biodiversity in the High Seas (2006)
      130 _ 0 $a Declaration "Euro-African Partnership for Migration and Development" (2006)
    Add the exact date in the form year-month-day to avoid confusion.
      130 _ 0 $a Khartoum Declaration (2006 Mar. 29)
      130 _ 0 $a Khartoum Declaration (2006 June 22)
    Additions - Qualifiers

    The qualifier (Proposed) may be used with uniform titles, but (Draft) is added as the qualifier when the text of a declaration, treaty, agreement, etc., exists but has not yet been adopted. A uniform title entry should not be created until a draft text actually exists.

      130 _ 0 $a Declaration on the Rights and Responsibilities of Youth (Draft)
      130 _ 0 $a International Year of Tourism (Proposed)
    Names of computer programs and software are treated as uniform titles; the GMD (generic material description) «Computer file» may be added.

    130 _ 0 $a Dreamweaver (Computer file)
    130 _ 0 $a Microsoft Excel for Windows (Computer file)

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    Last updated: 17 May 2011