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Code Table Request - Replace Agent Attributes: last name with surname, first name with given name, keep middle name the same
Initial Request
Goal
(https://github.com/ArctosDB/arctos/issues/7439#issuecomment-1957046507)
Context
The Diversity and Inclusion Committee today considered the new Agent and Agent Attribute changes.
We had the suggestion to replace Last Name with Surname and First Name with Given Name under the attributes Names definition.
The terms Last Name and First Name is very western centric culturally. To open up the use of Agents for more cultures (Bionomia webinar: consider how “first” and “last” names don’t make sense in some cultures and Personal names around the world), we wanted to suggest replace them with Surname and Given Name for the Agent attributes. People of different cultures can pick and choose which they feel is most appropriate.
The committee suggests that it be added under Names, and be publicly viewable.
After 16 Apr 2024 Committee discussion the following ideas were decided upon, and then final definition of given name decided in 16 July 2024 committee discussion. Definitions fi:
replace Last Name with surname
A surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person.
replace first name with given name
A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name that identifies a person and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a family or clan) who have a common surname. Do not use this attribute if a person does not have a given name. For reference see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Given_name.
Leave Middle Name as is.
Table
Agent Attributes - name
Proposed Value
surname
remove: Last Name from Code Table
given name
remove: first name from Code Table
Proposed Definition
@AJLinn @wellerjes - check my proposed definition please. ~~The name from a person's family, in western cultures the last name, but may not be expressed as a last name for all cultures and groups.~~
surname
A hereditary name common to all members of a family, as distinct from a given name. For reference see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surname
given name
A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name that identifies a person and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a family or clan) who have a common surname. Do not use this attribute if a person does not have a given name. For reference see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Given_name.
Collection type
Agents
Attribute Extras
Attribute data type
free text
Attribute controlled values
none
Attribute units
NA
Part preservation attribute affect on "tissueness"
NA
Priority
Normal Priority
Example Data
Wommack is my surname Elizabeth is my given name Ann is my middle name
Available for Public View
yes
Helpful Actions
-
[x] Add the issue to the Code Table Management Project.
-
[x] Please reach out to anyone who might be affected by this change. Leave a comment or add this to the Committee agenda if you believe more focused conversation is necessary.
@ArctosDB/arctos-code-table-administrators
Approval
All of the following must be checked before this may proceed.
The How-To Document should be followed. Pay particular attention to terminology (with emphasis on consistency) and documentation (with emphasis on functionality). No person should act in multiple roles; the submitter cannot also serve as a Code Table Administrator, for example.
- [ ] Code Table Administrator[1] - check and initial, comment, or thumbs-up to indicate that the request complies with the how-to documentation and has your approval
- [ ] Code Table Administrator[2] - check and initial, comment, or thumbs-up to indicate that the request complies with the how-to documentation and has your approval
- [ ] DBA - The request is functionally acceptable. The term is not a functional duplicate, and is compatible with existing data and code.
- [ ] DBA - Appropriate code or handlers are in place as necessary. (ID_References, Media Relationships, Encumbrances, etc. require particular attention)
Rejection
If you believe this request should not proceed, explain why here. Suggest any changes that would make the change acceptable, alternate (usually existing) paths to the same goals, etc.
- Can a suitable solution be found here? If not, proceed to (2)
- Can a suitable solution be found by Code Table Committee discussion? If not, proceed to (3)
- Take the discussion to a monthly Arctos Working Group meeting for final resolution.
Implementation
Once all of the Approval Checklist is appropriately checked and there are no Rejection comments, or in special circumstances by decree of the Arctos Working Group, the change may be made.
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[ ] Review everything one last time. Ensure the How-To has been followed. Ensure all checks have been made by appropriate personnel.
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[ ] Add or revise the code table term/definition as described above. Ensure the URL of this Issue is included in the definition. URLs should be included as text, separated by spaced pipes. Do not include HTML in definitions.
Close this Issue.
DO NOT modify Arctos Authorities in any way before all points in this Issue have been fully addressed; data loss may result.
Special Exemptions
In very specific cases and by prior approval of The Committee, the approval process may be skipped, and implementation requirements may be slightly altered. Please note here if you are proceeding under one of these use cases.
- Adding an existing term to additional collection types may proceed immediately and without discussion, but doing so may also subject users to future cleanup efforts. If time allows, please review the term and definition as part of this step.
- The Committee may grant special access on particular tables to particular users. This should be exercised with great caution only after several smooth test cases, and generally limited to "taxonomy-like" data such as International Commission on Stratigraphy terminology.
Code table is https://arctos.database.museum/info/ctDocumentation.cfm?table=ctagent_attribute_type
Agent Attributes - Identifiers
no, must be name
Family Name
Needs to be lower case/consistent, and possibly "surname" might better differentiate from things like generational names (which are also 'family' names, sorta).
REPLACE
yes
Agent Attributes - Identifiers
no, must be name
updated
Family Name
Needs to be lower case/consistent, and possibly "surname" might better differentiate from things like generational names (which are also 'family' names, sorta).
updated - surname is not functionally different from the existing last name?
functionally different
There's no functionality here, it's just a better label. A billion or so people have two(ish) "shared" or "family" (ish, kinda) names, doing something predictable with them would be nice.
Can/should we do something clever with https://arctos.database.museum/info/ctDocumentation.cfm?table=ctagent_attribute_type#middle_name (which I presume is carrying some generational names) while we're here? One change is probably easier to adapt to than two.
Maybe https://arctos.database.museum/info/ctDocumentation.cfm?table=ctagent_attribute_type#first_name too....
I'm fine with family name, but this will be a migration so I can't check boxes yet.
The Diversity Committee discussed the issue today and made edits to the request in line with the suggestions from @Jegelewicz and @dustymc. We think we are satisfied with what we were able to come up with.
Can/should we do something clever with https://arctos.database.museum/info/ctDocumentation.cfm?table=ctagent_attribute_type#middle_name (which I presume is carrying some generational names) while we're here? One change is probably easier to adapt to than two.
Maybe https://arctos.database.museum/info/ctDocumentation.cfm?table=ctagent_attribute_type#first_name too....
We also discussed ideas for replacement of first name and middle name. We found some references and ideas about first name to given name: A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a family or clan) who have a common surname. The term given name refers to a name usually bestowed at or close to the time of birth, usually by the parents of the newborn.
But we also realized that we should solicit more thoughts and ideas on how these types of names are used in different cultures. We'd welcome any thoughts and inputs from Arctos collections that are from other cultures or work with other cultures closely. @jonfonghk
Recommendations for Native Alaskan cultural names from UAM and @AJLinn was that the aka attribute was more useful for names as it allowed for better searchability and for the name to be written in full, in the form that was correct for that person's culture.
Perhaps after we deal with surname, we should move this topic to a discussion format?
Hi everyone, happy to share my thoughts on this issue. In Asia, the common terminology is surname and given name. First and middle names are tricky and not standardized. For example, given names in Chinese (and some other Asian languages like korean, vietnamese) have two separate characters. Some people may put both characters as first name, with no middle name, and some may separate. Sometimes for clarity when changing the name to English, they put a hyphen between the two characters. In somewhere like Hong Kong, it gets more complicated because some people have an english name as being officially part of their name. So they may separate chinese and english names as first and middle (or not).
One strange situation that I know of is Myanmar. In Burmese, oftentimes no surname. This should be a small proportion of people, but if you want to be inclusive, need to consider this. I know it gets complicated when trying to standardize, but if you want to be able to account for all possibilities, some flexibility is likely involved in what is “required”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burmese_names @./naming-system-in-myanmar-a9e6c91bbfcc> Burmese don’t have last names. Here is @./naming-system-in-myanmar-a9e6c91bbfcc> @./naming-system-in-myanmar-a9e6c91bbfcc> @./naming-system-in-myanmar-a9e6c91bbfcc>
Jon
==================================== Jonathan J. Fong Acting Associate Dean, School of Interdisciplinary Studies (SIS) Director, Office of Core Curriculum (OCC) Chairperson, Health Safety and Environment Committee (HSEC) Associate Professor, Science Unit (SU) LCH116/6, 1/F Lau Chung Him Building Lingnan University Tuen Mun, New Territories Hong Kong
Office: +852-2616-7081 http://www.jonjfong.com
On 17 Apr 2024, at 11:01 AM, Elizabeth Wommack @.***> wrote:
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The Diversity Committee discussed the issue today and made edits to the request in line with the suggestions from @Jegelewiczhttps://github.com/Jegelewicz and @dustymchttps://github.com/dustymc. We think we are satisfied with what we were able to come up with.
Can/should we do something clever with https://arctos.database.museum/info/ctDocumentation.cfm?table=ctagent_attribute_type#middle_name (which I presume is carrying some generational names) while we're here? One change is probably easier to adapt to than two.
Maybe https://arctos.database.museum/info/ctDocumentation.cfm?table=ctagent_attribute_type#first_name too....
We also discussed ideas for replacement of first name and middle name. We found some references and ideas about first name to given name: A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal namehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_name that identifies a person, potentially with a middle namehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a familyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family or clanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan) who have a common surnamehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surname. The term given name refers to a namehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name usually bestowed at or close to the time of birth, usually by the parents of the newborn.
But we also realized that we should solicit more thoughts and ideas on how these types of names are used in different cultures. We'd welcome any thoughts and inputs from Arctos collections that are from other cultures or work with other cultures closely. @jonfonghkhttps://github.com/jonfonghk
Recommendations for Native Alaskan cultural names from UAM and @AJLinnhttps://github.com/AJLinn was that the aka attribute was more useful for names as it allowed for better searchability and for the name to be written in full, in the form that was correct for that person's culture.
Perhaps after we deal with surname, we should move this topic to a discussion format?
— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/ArctosDB/arctos/issues/7477#issuecomment-2060258137, or unsubscribehttps://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ASOI6H6G4VGUNJD2MK4H633Y5XQX3AVCNFSM6AAAAABEAYITJ2VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDANRQGI2TQMJTG4. You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: @.***>
first name to given name
That kinda seems too easy/obvious to skip, I say we lump it on here to minimize the changes.
what is “required”
No particular piece of data is (or, I think, will be) required. Predictable structure will give someone who wants to use it the best chance of avoiding duplicates, and of course an entity represented by multiple Arctos records cannot receive proper attribution for their work.
I think the only functional/technical "requirement" is to do something at the right balance of inclusive and specific (but who knows where that is). If for whatever reason (eg trying to be too specific) we end up with two apparently-appropriate places for Fong then someone will use them and make a duplicate. If we go to the other extreme and place Jon and Fong into one place/label (eg not being specific enough) we'll probably end up in the same place by a slightly different path.
two separate characters
... one of which is shared in complicated ways, at least in some places/situations. (And I think we're probably OK to ignore all of that for the moment?)
English
Also used in complicated ways, which I also think is mostly OK to ignore? Someone having multiple given (or middle or whatever) names isn't a problem - I think we can accommodate eg original+transliterated+English names in whatever way the person prefers without confusing ourselves too much.
I have updated the request to include given name.
Do we need to do anything with middle name?
I have updated the request to include given name.
Do we need to do anything with middle name?
The committees recommendation was actually to keep this request to be just surname. We think that there needs to be more conversation about given name/first name/birth name and middle name. If we wait for that debate then surname will not be added for a long time.
more conversation about given name/first name/birth name
I don't see anything missing, I think we have an obvious path forward which minimizes changes (and changes ALWAYS confuse users, fewer is better).
middle name
I don't have or see better ideas, I think that's OK.
@ArctosDB/diversity-and-inclusion today says that middle name is fine as is.
The @ArctosDB/diversity-and-inclusion committee has finalized the definitions for given name. I updated the issue above. This should be ready to head to the Code Table Committee please.