From: riks@ogicse.cse.ogi.edu (Rik Fischer Smoody)
Newsgroups: comp.object
Subject: Full names, please
Date: 15 Aug 92 00:23:51 GMT
Article-I.D.: ogicse.41410
Distribution: world
Organization: Oregon Graduate Institute (formerly OGC), Beaverton, OR

This is inspired by O.'s nice posting
 References to all ECOOP and OOPSLA proceedings, 1986-1992
Thank you for the effort, and here's a suggestion for improvement
aimed at many of us.

We are workers in the information industry, and yet many of us
systematically commit an act that is nothing short of data corruption.
I refer to the troublesome habit of corrupting the names of the
authors of papers in citations and bibliographies.

The authors' names should be cited as they appear on the paper itself.
Do not shorten names to initials unless the author has done so.

Many years ago, data storage space was expensive.  But then, word processors
were few, and people actually *typed* their papers.  The effort of typing
first names was too much for harried department secretaries.  But now we
have tools for storing the reference on our databases.  The human effort
involved in selecting a reference is independent of the length of its
contents.  The cost of the extra data is tiny.

Some of our colleagues are perhaps better known by first name: Adele, Balaji. 
Some people use their middle names prominently and the initialization
process confuses their identity.  L. Deutsch: Larry? Louise? Oh, Peter!
Some have common last names: Johnson, Cook, Smith, Tanaka, Kinoshita.
I know more than one R.Johnson and more than one K.Tanaka.
Some of us are lucky.  My surname is rare enough that I am probably the
only one to write papers in my field.  But outside of Scandinavia, my first
name would do almost as well.  There are certainly colleagues who
have forgotten my last name.
Why should we let an obsolete computer front-end cause us any confusion?

I have heard the suggestion that initials avoid sexual bias. This may be
true, but the decision to hide some aspect of their background should
be left entirely to the author.  
If George Elliot feels compelled to publish her novels under an assumed name,
that is her perogotive (sp?).  We should strive to eliminate the bias
without trying to eliminate the wonderful gender differences.
If Adele Goldberg is not embarassed by her femininity, who are we to complain? 
Does the International Tennis Journal attribute articles to M.N.
because either of "Martina" and "Navratilova" implies feminine gender?  
Do you question the masculinity of Yasuhiko YOKOTE?  
  ("Haruko", "Hanako", "Rumiko", "Yuko" and others ending in "-ko" are
    Japanese girls names.)
Do you know for sure if Kamal, Sanja, Terry, Chris, Pratha, or Jamie
imply gender?  
Are you certain how much of a name is the SURNAME?
I have seen mechanical forshortenings omit all but one letter of a
Japanese surname but leave the entire gender-exposing given name.
Various cultures use names of various lengths written in different
orders using various alphabets.  There is beauty in the sheer variety.
Computer systems should be made to do their best to transcribe without
corrupting.  (Single-alphabet computers is an entirely different issue.)
Bibliographies are not appropriate pulpits for neutralizing and bleaching
our collective culture.

In some cultures people change their surnames for various reasons,
such as when they get married or unmarried. 
Should we exacerbate this singularity in the databse by losing all but
a single character of their previous identity?

As we move away from paper as the storage medium of choice, it becomes
more important to avoid losing data.  One should be able to "grep" for
papers by "Wilf" or "Rebecca" and get satisfactory results.
It cannot happen if the data isn't there.

You can call me Rik Fischer Smoody, but if that's too long
you can call me Rik F. Smoody
or you can call me Rik F Smoody
or you can call me Rik Smoody
or you can call me Rik S
or you can call me RikS
or you can call me Rik
but don't call me R.

Rik Fischer Smoody
smOOdynamics	 Systems Made Outa Objects
	2400 NE 25th, Suite 800
	Portland, OR 97212
503-249-8300	 	riks@cse.ogi.edu