| From: Peter Graham, Rutgers University Libraries
| >I think Terry Allen has put the case very well against trying to assign
| >numeric values to the element names: there is a serious linguistic argument
| >against doing so as it implies an exact equivalence between terms which in
| >fact may be different (issues of authorial responsibility have already been
| >noted). We need to recognize the distinctions rather than Procrusteanly make
That is not the main point I wanted to make, rather, that the name of
the element is not its definition, and the definition must be in
some human language. The simple case is that the definition can be
translated and considered to be equivalent in many languages; differences
between definitions in different languages are a more complex case.
That is, if AUTHOR is #33, #33 still has to be defined (e.g., in English).
One can imagine a regime in which the English definition is normative,
and translations are only representations of it in other languages;
if there is some dispute over what a translation means, you examine
the English definition.
Or one can imagine a regime in which every translation of the English
definition is normative and must be carefully coordinated with every
other translation (as in diplomatic documents). I think the first
regime is easier to handle, although it does create diplomatic problems
of its own. If the second regime is preferred, then numbers may be
useful (e.g., when the Pashtu definition of #33 is being compared
with the Sioux definition).
AUTHOR is only a label for a definition. (And on the issue of how to
define an element, I much prefer definition by prose to definition
by example.)
Now if we have a case in which the English definition of AUTHOR
is unsuitable to another culture, that's yet another problem.
Perhaps I missed an example, but can anyone provide an example
of such a case for DC elements when applied to documentlike
objects?
Regards,
Terry Allen Fujitsu Software Corp. [log in to unmask]
"In going on with these experiments, how many pretty systems do we build,
which we soon find outselves obliged to destroy?" - Benjamin Franklin
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