> I note with interest, not necessarily approval, that these citations > begin with the author's given name, not the surname. > > Is that name-reversal common these days? > > Cheryl Singhals <[email protected]> I'm a librarian in a public library and deal with students of all ages who are doing research. There are many different styles for citing sources (MLA, APA, Turabian, etc), but ALL of the books show the lastname, firstname format. I have never seen anything official list given name first and think that would be very confusing. Kim Kim <[email protected]>

> I'm a librarian in a public library and deal with students of all > ages who are doing research. There are many different styles for > citing sources (MLA, APA, Turabian, etc), but ALL of the books show > the lastname, firstname format. I have never seen anything official > list given name first and think that would be very confusing. > > Kim Hi Kim, Given that some names are used as both forename and surname, like Allen, Thomas, John, the use of either can be confusing. If a book were accredited to author, John, Thomas = would we know which was which? [ I think i would assume that he was Thomas John = but one might be in some doubt. ] Phil P. S. Glad to see that [GM] PREFIX has = re-emerged today, its temporary loss was a bit confusing! Is this List being moderated - there seem to be so many comments within posts! [ Yup, this list and gatewayed newsgroups have been moderated for more than a decade now, since the great genealogy "split" on USENET. The moderator is usually very, very quiet, though. - Mod ] Phil Warn =C3=B4=C2=BF=C3=B4 Genealogists do it backwards Family Historians take all steps "The Warn family in Tetbury from 1722" = <http://homepage.ntlworld.com/philwarn/FamHist1/index.htm> Phil Warn <[email protected]>

> > I'm a librarian in a public library and deal with students of all > > ages who are doing research. There are many different styles for > > citing sources (MLA, APA, Turabian, etc), but ALL of the books show > > the lastname, firstname format. I have never seen anything official > > list given name first and think that would be very confusing. > > > > Kim > > Given that some names are used as both forename and surname, > like Allen, Thomas, John, the use of either can be confusing. > > If a book were accredited to author, John, Thomas = > > would we know which was which? > > [ I think i would assume that he was Thomas John = > > but one might be in some doubt. ] > > Phil Warn Especially since ,,, seem to be out-of-favor. (g) If one could COUNT on the writer using his ,,, properly, ambiguity decreases. ;) Cheryl singhals <[email protected]>