CHANGING THE NOM-DE-PLUME - A NAME-CHANGE PROTOCOL

Ensuring that students' records are maintained in proper form and iden tified with legally correct names is an important service registrars a nd records officers provide for students and alumni. Edgar Allan Poe, in a letter to Mr. B-, wrote, ''It is with literature as with law or e mpire-an established name is an estate in tenure, or a throne in posse ssion.'' Poe's words were not intended for AACRAOans, but his thoughts highlight the importance of a systematic and legal name-change policy . This author's research, involving records personnel throughout the c ountry, suggests the need to replace informal name-change procedures w ith a defensible policy that will serve as well as protect students wh en they change their names. Thus, this paper will describe some of the history of names and the changing of names, and suggest a Name-Change Protocol for consideration by AACRAO colleagues.