Resource Description and Access at University of Zimbabwe

To create an efficient instrument to establish
whether the library contains a particular
item specified by access points such as:
1. Easy Retrieval (descriptive)
2. Holdings information (who has it)
3. Content of information (choice)

 Recommended Dietary Allowances
 Recommended Daily Allowance
 Russian Digital Alliance
 ...???

• RDA: Resource Description and Access
• FRBR: Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records
• FRAD: Functional Requirements for Authority Data
• JSC: Joint Steering Committee
• AACR2: Anglo American Cataloguing Rules Second Edition
• MARC: Machine Readable Cataloguing
• GMD: General Material Designation
• SMD: Specific Material Designation
• WEMI: Work, Expression, Manifestation, Item
• FISO: Find, Identify, Select, Obtain

 RDA is new cataloguing rules – successor to AACR2
 Based on the conceptual models of FRBR and FRAD
 Has online subscription product (RDA Toolkit) with print
version
 Designed for the digital world
 Designed for different Information providing Institutions

 Information resources is expanding to different formats
 Formats/carriers could be paper-based, audio or digital
 For instance:
 the content of a visual image can be captured on an
information carrier like film.
 Another content type is sound that can be recorded
as notation in printed scores or captured as an
MP3/MP4 file

 AACR was originally published in 1978. The
world has changed since then:
• The internet happened
• We are no longer using card catalogues
• We have more information carriers than
• before
• Technology is growing everyday
 AACR was revised in 1988, 1998 and 2002, but
all the revisions basically followed the same
structure as AACR2

 AACR was developed in the era of the card
catalogue, and much of the terminology in
AACR reflects that, for example terms like
‘heading’, ‘main entry’ and ‘added entry’.
 During the draft of AACR3 there was a concern
about the need to move closer to the alignment
with FRBR model.

 Simplifies the process of transcription by taking
what you see on the resource.
 Eliminates many of the AACR2 rules that instruct
cataloguers to alter the data that they are
transcribing.
 New elements are being added to RDA, some to
solve problems with AACR2 and some to add
elements that are lacking in AACR2

 User oriented. It allows users to ―easily find,
identify, select, and obtain the materials they
need within the system
 The end user is presented with data that can be
easily read and correctly interpreted.

 Easy to understand due to the use of English
language terms instead of Latin.
 Spelled out forms replacing the abbreviations
used in AACR2.
 More flexible framework than AACR2.
Cataloguers can use a number of different
encoding schema, including Dublin Core,
MARC21, and Metadata Object Description
Standard.

 It is more adaptable to an online network and
new types of media
 RDA is also fully online, so there are no
manuals to purchase or paper to print, saving
the libraries money

 Initial implementation is costly – subscription and
training
 The system needs to be installed on all computers and
all cataloguing records need to be converted over (not
enforced)
 The library staff needs to be trained to acquire skills on
how to use RDA
 The library must pay a subscription rate to use RDA
online.

 Committee of Principals (COP)
 Co-publishers who manage the AACR Fund
 Joint Steering Committee for the Development
of RDA (JSC)
 In South Africa there is an RDA Steering
Committee as well (RDA-SA)

• During the 1990s, IFLA took the lead in bibliographic
control to develop a conceptual model known as
FRBR
• Published in1998
• It reinforces the objectives of catalogues and the
importance of relationships.
• It helps users to fulfill basic tasks with respect to the
catalogue; enabling people to find, identify, select
and obtain information they want.
• These are known as the FRBR user tasks (FISO).

 FRBR ‐ Modeling the Bibliographic Universe utilizes an
entity‐relationship framework:
• Entities (a class of things)
• Relationships (associations among entities)
• Attributes (characteristics of the entities) [RDA calls these
“elements”]

 Framework identifies and defines entities of interest to
users
 Systematically analyses data users expect to find in a
bibliographic record
 “Users” are broadly defined
• Traditional library patrons and staff
• Publishers, distributors, retailers, and information
• providers outside traditional library settings

• Entities that are related to each other
• They can be described through data elements or
attributes.
• The entities themselves are sorted into three groups:
Group 1 - entities – WEMI (resource)
Group 2 - entities – Person, family and corporate body
(agent)
Group 3 - includes 1 & 2 plus – concept, object, event
and place (Subject
 FRBR uses an Entity-Attribute-Relationship structure

 The data elements describing a resource that are covered in
RDA generally reflect the attributes and relationships associated
with the entities WEMI that are defined in FRBR. Those entities
are defined in RDA as follows:
◦ Work—a distinct intellectual or artistic creation (i.e., the
intellectual or artistic content)
◦ Expression—the intellectual or artistic realization of a work in the
form of alpha-numeric, musical or choreographic notation, sound,
image, object, movement, etc., or any combination of such forms
◦ Manifestation—the physical embodiment of an expression of a
work
◦ Item—a single exemplar or instance of a manifestation.

Expression
Manifestation
Item
Work
Physical -
recording of
content
Intellectual/
artistic content
is realized through
is embodied in
is exemplified by

 Abstract entity ‐ ideas
 No single material object one can point to
 Recognized through individual realizations or expressions
 Exists only in the commonality of content between and
among the various expressions
 Two examples of Work attributes:
◦ 1. Title of the Work:
◦ 2. Form of Work: (e.g., novel, play, poem, essay, biography,
symphony, concerto, sonata, map, drawing, painting,
photograph, etc.).

 The intellectual or artistic realization of a work in the form of:
Alpha‐numeric notation
Musical notation
Choreographic notation
Sound
Image
Object
Movement
Or any combination of such forms
 It is how the ideas are communicated
 Two examples of Expression attributes:
Book written in English
Song sung in Shona

 Represents all the physical objects that bear the same
characteristics, in respect to both intellectual content and
physical form.
 Encompasses a wide range of materials
 Manuscripts, Books, Periodicals, Maps, Posters, Sound
recordings, CD‐ROMs, Multimedia kits
 Three examples of Manifestation attributes:
◦ 1. Publisher/Distributor:
◦ 2. Date of Publication/Distribution:
◦ 3. Capture mode: (e.g., analogue, acoustic, electric,
digital, optical etc.).

 Item is a concrete entity:
 A single physical object (e.g., a copy of a one‐volume monograph, a
single audio cassette, etc.)
 or:
 Can comprise more than one physical object (e.g., a monograph
issued as two separately bound volumes, a recording issued on three
separate compact discs, etc.)
 Two examples of Item attributes:
◦ 1. Item identifier: (e.g., call number, accession number, bar code,
etc.). Or (e.g., a rare book collection, a branch library, etc.).
◦ 2. Provenance of the Item: The provenance of an item is a record
of previous ownership or custodianship of the item.

 The JSC has included FRAD’s (Functional Requirements for
Authority Data) basic concepts in RDA.
 Basically, entities in the bibliographic universe, such as those
identified in FRBR, are known by names or identifiers or both.
 In the cataloguing process, those names and identifiers are used
as the basis for constructing controlled access points.
 The FRBR model has been extended into the realm of authority
data.

• Now we have these two models from IFLA
• They give us a picture of how we might design systems in
the future
• Cataloguers are no longer work in isolation – new
technology developments
• Catalogues, and especially bibliographic data, can now be
integrated into the wider Internet environment.
• New kinds of links can be made
• New displays can be generated for users from the data that
can be packaged in new ways, all of it on a global scale.

 How to tell when you have an RDA record
Look for “‡e rda” in the 040 field
336, 337 and 338 fields
Other more MARC fields added

• RDA tells us what to record, a little about how, nothing
about where to record it
• LC policy tells us more about how and definitely where
• Name attributes are now being recorded in many distinct
fields, as well as the 670, by cataloger judgment
• Specific attributes used to break conflict are still
additions in the authorized access point (1XX)

 W attributes found in what field?
• preferred title : 1XX $t, 130, 240, 245, 7XX $t
• date of work : 130 $f
• other distinguishing characteristic of the work : depends on
what the distinguishing characteristic is
• intended audience : 008/22 ; 6XX $v [Juvenile resources]
• key : 240, 130, 7XX
• medium of performance : 240, 130, 7XX
• numeric designation of a musical work : 240, 130, 7XX
• coordinates of cartographic content : 255

 E attributes found in what field?

• content type : 336
• date of expression : $f of expression access point
• language of expression : 008/35-37, 041, 546, 130/240
$l, 7XX $l
• summarization of content : 520
• other distinguishing characteristic : depends on the
characteristic
• Scale [Core for cartographic resources] : 507

• title proper : 245 $a
• statement of responsibility for the title proper : 245 $c
• edition statement : 250 $a
• place of publication/distribution/manufacture/ production : 264 $a
• publisher/distributor/manufacturer/producer : 264 $b
• date of publication/distribution/manufacture/ production : 264 $c
• series statement : 490
• carrier type : 338
• media type : 337
• extent : 300 $a
• dimensions : 300 $c
• identifier for the manifestation : 020, etc.
• mode of issuance : 362
• physical medium : 340
• URL : 856
• frequency : 310/321
• note on changes in carrier characteristics : 500
• digital file characteristic : 352

 I attributes found in what field?
• restrictions on use : 5XX
• item identifier : barcode in Item record
• access restrictions on the item : 5XX

 A MARC bibliographic record includes data identifying
many FRBR entities – the Group 1 entities of:
• Work
• Expression
• Manifestation
• Item (sometimes)
• It can also include the persons, families, corporate bodies
– and relationships.
 The attributes, or as RDA calls them, the elements may
be stored in a MARC record in a subfield or a field.

 The focus of RDA is the user
◦ Each section is explicitly related to user tasks
◦ Fewer abbreviations and omissions
◦ No limitations on the number of access points

Resource Description and Access at University of Zimbabwe

Resource Description and Access at University of Zimbabwe

More Related Content

What's hot

Viewers also liked

Similar to Resource Description and Access at University of Zimbabwe

Recently uploaded

Resource Description and Access at University of Zimbabwe