-------- Original Message -------- Subject: RE: [Fwd: RE: [Cohsl-list] [Fwd: Query from LC]] Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 20:19:34 +0100 From: Anastassia Loukina <anastassia.loukina(a)stx.ox.ac.uk> To: <karabel(a)fas.harvard.edu> Dear All, I agree with many others that the modernization of ALA romanization for table is long overdue and I would very much support switching to ISO. I am worried though that by going for a half-measure and rejecting the rough breathing now, we will end up with even greater inconsistencies than the ones we have now. Especially considering that a large number of libraries will not do retrospective amendments, this will lead to a lot of inconsistencies on the catalogues. Another point is that a number of books and journals in Greece are still published in old orthography (as political or stylistic statement). This means that we could either get rid of the breathings altogether and then we will have to diverge from the books which do have breath marks; (same applies to older editions and reprints). Or we could consistently reflect what's on the book, which will create enourmous inconvenience for the readers who will need to search for both Ellenike and Hellenike in case the book was published in old orthography. Plus two editions of the same book may have different 245 field. Of course, it can be solved with 246 field. To summarize: I would be happy to gor for "Elliniki", but I am not sure it is justified to switch from Hellenike to Ellenike, since both are counterintuitive anyway. All best wishes, Anastassia -- Anastassia Loukina OULS Subject Consultant for Modern Greek University of Oxford tel. 01865 270437 -- Rhea K. Lesage Head and Bibliographer for Modern Greek Modern Greek Section Collection Development Department Widener Library Harvard College Library Cambridge, MA 02138 (617)495-3632 FAX (617)496-8704