Usage: The <name-alternatives> element is intended to collect multiple versions of a single name without appearing to multiply the number of names. (Three versions of a author name is not the same as three different contributors.) Like the element <alternatives>, which is a similar construction for objects such as graphics, an application must determine how multiple versions of a single name are to be processed. The @specific-use, @content-type, and @xml:lang attributes can be used to distinguish the cases for separate processing.

Usage Examples: The <name-alternatives> element can be used to record:

• A name in multiple languages (for example, a name in Korean or Chinese-Han characters and a transliterated version of the same name in the Latin alphabet);
• A name in multiple language/script combinations (for example, a name in Japanese [xml:lang="ja-Jpan" for Han + Hiragana + Katakana] and the same name written in Kanji [xml:lang="ja-Hani"]);
• An alternate name for sorting or searching (for example, a name in French with accented letters, such as an “é”, or a plain-letter lower-ASCII version of the same name with “é” replaced by “e” for sorting). The @specific-use attribute can be used to indicate that the ASCII version is only for sort, not for display.);
• An alternate name for indexing (For example, a publisher may choose to record several name variants for an individual: a nickname, author-pseudonym, maiden name, religious name, or tribal name. The attribute @specific-use could be used to record the rationale for the name variant, such as “primary”, “index”, or “table-of-contents”. Alternatively, or in addition, the attribute @content-type could be used to record the type of name variant, such as “nickname”, “maiden-name”, “pseudonym”, etc.);
• A version of the name in a different arrangement (For example, since the order of the <surname> and <given-names> is fixed in NISO STS.)

ID Attribute: The names inside a <name-alternatives> do not generally have a unique identifier because they are all the same name. This Tag Set assumes that any necessary unique identifier will be placed on the enclosing element that contains the <name-alternatives> wrapper.