Pseudonyms of women authors, contingency and their social protagonism: FRSAD, FRASAD and subject representation in online catalogs

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper aims to present perspectives regarding subject representation of pseudonyms of women authors, who especially between the early nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, chose or were forced to sign their works with male or ambiguous names. Considering that library catalogs must promote visibility to subject representation of women author’s pseudonyms, this exploratory and qualitative research highlights statements from the conceptual models Functional requirements for authority data, Functional requirements for subject authority data, and the knowledge organization literature to put forward a discussion regarding social issues conveyed by a name assigned to a bibliographic record. Applied examples from the Name Authority Headings of the Library of Congress and the Brazilian National Library are discussed, and the social protagonism which these records can embody is also highlighted.

Keywords: Conceptual Model; FRAD; FRSAD; Pseudonyms; Subject Representation; Social Protagonism.