In theory this solution sounds attractive. Machine handling of articles, it is suggested, would not be subject to human error. Unfortunately, in practice it is very difficult for a computer to identify initial articles. If these strings occurred initially in a French title they should be filed upon. The variety of languages which might be represented in a single record, both in the description and access points, make machine determination of articles based on language coding impractical.
Many systems already deal programmatically with non-filing characters to a limited degree.
Omission of Articles One of the most widely used solutions for dealing with initial articles has been to omit them from cataloging data altogether. Rules for the inclusion or omission of initial articles in other access points vary but have tended to favor omission in recent years. This solution has been suggested for field 246 as well. Their chief argument has been that the simple omission of articles corrupts the cataloging data grammatically and yields title strings that the public finds unacceptable. Many worry that the impact would be considerable.