2309.13 (A) (1) The “Article” Column
If any of the titles in the document begin with an article, such as “a,” “an,” “the,” or any other article listed below, the remitter should separate that article from the rest of the title and should place it in the first column under the heading entitled “Article.” For example, if the title of the work is “A Suitable Boy,” the remitter should place the word “A” in the first column. Similarly, if the title of the work is “The Moor’s Last Sigh,” the remitter should place the word “The” in the first column. Separating these articles from the rest of the title will assist the Office in sorting the records within its database.
In all cases, the following articles should be included in the first column of the table:
• English-language titles: A, An, The.
• Spanish-language titles: Un, Una, El, La, Lo, Las, Los.
• French-language titles: L’ (as in L'Innommable), Le, La, Les, Un, Une.
• German-language titles: Der, Die, Das, Einer, Eine, Ein.
If a particular title does not begin with an article, or if the title begins with an article that is not listed above, or if the title is written in a language other than English, Spanish, French, or German, the remitter should include the first column in the table but the “Article” column for that particular work should be left blank. For instance, if the document contains the title “Il Postino,” the remitter should include the “Article” column in the table, but the remitter should not include the article “Il” in that portion of the table.