dapeters | 31 Jul 2014 12:17 p.m. PST |
I just want some information from the Swedish members. I dealing with a problem with a student worker who was entering records. Normally names are enter Last name, first name middle name initial. For some unknown reason she has not been putting a coma between the first and last names. When we discovered this she said that no one had told to do so and then added how would she know to do so. My question is in Swedish would one place a comma after a last name before a first name (like say on a list of names?) Here is an example: Smith, John If this is not done in Sweden please let me know. Thanks in advance |
Nick Bowler | 31 Jul 2014 4:46 p.m. PST |
I cant answer the Swedish question, but why are you attempting to break a name down. A name is a string. The definition of family name and first name is fundamentally meaningless. Chinese have the family name first. Others don't have a family name. Every individual has the right to define what their name is. At a basic level, how would you handle Liberace? |
rmaker | 31 Jul 2014 5:03 p.m. PST |
why are you attempting to break a name down. A name is a string. The definition of family name and first name is fundamentally meaningless Never had to fill out withholding tax, pension, or insurance forms, have you? Your position is a wonderful vision, but the real world trumps wonderful visions. |
VonTed | 31 Jul 2014 7:12 p.m. PST |
I suspect he filed his taxes under Władziu Valentino Liberace. Real world, meet political correctness. PC, meet the real world. Question is, sounds like a witch hunt to make her to blame….. is it? |
Nick Bowler | 31 Jul 2014 8:30 p.m. PST |
I have had to fill out many withholding tax, insurance etc forms. And most wont let me put down my name. In the US most legal forms would ask for first, last, and middle name. I have two middle names. There are a surprising number of people with no first name. And there are a surprising number of personnel records in the large company that I work for where the name is totally mangled due to people putting first name in the family name etc. |
SJDonovan | 01 Aug 2014 2:11 a.m. PST |
At a basic level, how would you handle Liberace? At a basic level, I would handle him wearing rubber gloves. |
dapeters | 01 Aug 2014 9:34 a.m. PST |
@Nick "I cant answer the Swedish question" Thank you, this is why I post on TMP. Where I am sure to get irrelevant answers from someone, I am not asking. @rmaker Thanks @VonTed "Question is, sounds like a witch hunt to make her to blame….. is it?" Actually I was trying to give her the benefit of the doubt. As she was telling me this, I could not phantom how one would otherwise tell last names from first names, the norm (here in the US) being first name last name (we have lot of students from all over the world so it may be difficult for anyone to discern a first name from a last name hence last, first name. ) At this point it more an academic question as we discovered that she was shown the correct way of imputing names and she had been doing it correctly up until two weeks ago. Mistakes happen and can be fixed, not the end of the world, the real problem is taking responsibility. @Nick forgive my snarkyness |
Lupulus | 01 Aug 2014 11:53 a.m. PST |
Being swedish, I have seen it used both ways (Smith, John and Smith John). Initials are seldom used. But I'd like to reverse the question. Why would you want to enter the names in the wrong order? If I were enter a list of names, I would write First name Last name. My first name is my name, the rest is fluff, a way to separate me from people sharing the same first name. Reversing the order is a relic from ages when you were identified as a representative of a family first, an individual second. Please stop doing that. (And while you're at it, please do something about your date order standard – D-M-Y and Y-M-D are logical, pick one of those. You don't write times mm:ss:hh, do you? :) |
dapeters | 01 Aug 2014 12:55 p.m. PST |
@lupulus, Thank you for your reply. "Why would you want to enter the names in the wrong order?" Short answer is "Ours is not to reason why…" Long answer the record is both names; there is not a separate field, for each. So if it was enter as John Smith we would have a listed by first name. A better question is why we are doing this at all when other departments also gather the same information. |
dapeters | 01 Aug 2014 1:01 p.m. PST |
Part ll (And while you're at it, please do something about your date order standard – D-M-Y and Y-M-D are logical, pick one of those. You don't write times mm:ss:hh, do you? :) Good luck with that, unfortunately that has as much chance as us going to metric, LOL. |
Thomas Nissvik | 04 Aug 2014 5:33 a.m. PST |
Another Swede chiming in here suggesting "benefit of the doubt". I have seen it done both ways in membership lists etc, can't say that I know of a standardised way we do it in Sweden. |
tuscaloosa | 05 Sep 2014 6:25 p.m. PST |
"And there are a surprising number of personnel records in the large company that I work for where the name is totally mangled due to people putting first name in the family name etc." Looks like you've answered your own question as to why offices would want conventions for entering names in records. "If I were enter a list of names, I would write First name Last name." If you're dealing with more than a dozen names, this would be a bad idea. In any European/Western Hemisphere cultural group, the pool of potential last names is much, much larger than the pool of potential first names. Therefore, sorting by last name first is much more efficient. |