Step 03 - Standardize conjunctions

People list multiple roles with no standard punctuation (“CEO AND BOARD PRESIDENT”, “VP OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION”). standardize_conj() normalizes the connectors so that step 04 can split reliably, converting genuine separators into a single & while leaving compound titles intact.

standardize_conj()
|
+- standardize_and()        AND -> & when both sides are valid titles
+- standardize_to()         parenthetical / trailing TO -> UNTIL (dates)
+- standardize_of()         AS OF -> SINCE; drop dangling OF; FOR -> OF
+- standardize_comma()      comma as separator / "of" / redundant
+- standardize_slash()      slash as separator / "of" / redundant
+- standardize_and()        re-applied to catch newly created cases
+- standardize_separator()  ";" and "\\" -> &

The trick: separator vs. compound

The and/& decision checks whether both sides look like real titles:

standardize_and("CEO AND BOARD PRESIDENT")        # separator -> &
#> [1] "CEO & BOARD PRESIDENT"
standardize_and("VP OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION") # compound  -> unchanged
#> [1] "VP OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION"

Commas and slashes are disambiguated the same way — separator, “of”, or filler:

standardize_comma("SECRETARY, TREASURER")   # separator
#> [1] "SECRETARY & TREASURER"
standardize_comma("VP, MARKETING")          # "of"
#> [1] "VP OF MARKETING"
standardize_slash("SECRETARY/TREASURER")    # separator
#> [1] "SECRETARY & TREASURER"

“TO” and “OF” at the end of a title usually belonged to a (removed) date phrase:

standardize_to("DIRECTOR TO")               # -> "DIRECTOR UNTIL"
#> [1] "DIRECTOR UNTIL"
standardize_of("VICE PRESIDENT AS OF")      # -> "VICE PRESIDENT SINCE"
#> [1] "VICE PRESIDENT SINCE"

Input: TitleTxt2. Output: TitleTxt3 with & as the single title separator. Continue with step 04.