RDA ON THE FRONT LINES
What the new cataloging standard will mean for non-catalogers
On the Front Lines: Engaging Our Communities
Pi Day* 2012
Springfield, Illinois
presented by
Richard A. StewartCataloging Supervisor
Indian Trails Public Library DistrictWheeling, Illinois
*3.14 …
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 2“Cataloging Is a Public Service”
Everything we do in cataloging should support
• the work of staff throughout the library
• independent discovery by patrons and others
How does cataloging (currently using the rules of AACR2) accomplish this?
“Resource Description and Access” (from RDA's full title) = a capsule summary of what cataloging is about
Description
Systematic and detailed
Enables users to identify and evaluate the resource represented by the description
Access
Enables users to find descriptions of resources
“Uncontrolled” access points, that is, recorded as found = Variant forms (especially variant titles) and part titles as found on items
“Controlled” access points = access points whose forms are made consistent (authority control)
Distinguishing names, titles, concepts that are different but have similar forms
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 3
Bringing together varying forms referring to the same entity
Making connections among related entities
Classification—the assignment of call numbers
Groups related items together on the shelves
If searchable, another means of subject access
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 4And How Will RDA Change Things?
The RDA timeline
Long period of planning, revision, testing
Library of Congress’s target date for adoption: March 31, 2013
Text of RDA to be reworded for clarity
Improvements expected in navigability of RDA Toolkit
Framework for successor to MARC to be established
Some libraries and some catalogers are already using RDA
More continuity than drastic change—especially at first
Subject headings and classification unaffected because outside RDA’s purview
New conceptual model, but builds on existing cataloging traditions
Designed to be compatible with pre-RDA records
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 5
Two RDA principles will affect what we see in the description
“Representation” principle—data “should reflect the resource's representation of itself”—“take what you see and accept what you get”
“Common usage” principle—data not transcribed from the resource “should reflect common usage”
Some examples:1
Erroneous data
AACR2
245 10 $a Micromagentic [sic] study of magnetoelastic materials / $c Yunfei Ma.246 3# $a Micromagnetic study of magnetoelastic materials
245 02 $a A nev [i.e. new] mechanism for transnational media complaints : $b minutes of the round table discussion, Istanbul, Turkey, March 15-17, 1996.246 3# $a New mechanism for transnational media complaints
RDA
245 10 $a Micromagentic study of magnetoelastic materials / $c Yunfei Ma.246 1# $i Title should read: $a Micromagnetic study of magnetoelastic materials
245 02 $a A nev mechanism for transnational media complaints : $b minutes of the round table discussion, Istanbul, Turkey, March 15-17, 1996.246 1# $i Title should read: $a New mechanism for transnational media complaints
The sign of omission
(Title appears on title page as If Elected … Presidential Campaigns from Lincoln to Ford, as Reported by the New York Times)
1 Sources for the examples in this presentation include the training examples posted by the Library of Congress at http://www.loc.gov/aba/rda/training_examples.html; Adam Schiff's presentations, which can be found at http://faculty.washington.edu/aschiff/; Barbara Tillett's presentation to LC's cataloging staff in January 2010, http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=4863; and RDA records in WorldCat.
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 6AACR2
245 10 $a If elected-- : $b presidential campaigns from Lincoln to Ford, as reported by the New York Times / $c edited by Arleen Keylin and Eve Nelson.
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 7RDA
245 10 $a If elected... : $b presidential campaigns from Lincoln to Ford, as reported by the New York Times / $c edited by Arleen Keylin and Eve Nelson.
Statements of responsibility:Titles of address, etc., and the Rule of Three
AACR2
245 00 $a A report on the recent events in Dunwich / $c Henry Armitage … [et al.].
RDA
245 10 $a A report on the recent events in Dunwich / $c Dr. Henry Armitage, Librarian, Miskatonic University, Dr. William H. Mudge, Professor of Metaphysics and Director of the Institute for Paranormal Studies, Miskatonic University, Reverend J.M. Harris, King's Chapel, Arkham, Massachusetts, and the late Curtis Whateley, Dunwich, Massachusetts.
optionally:
245 10 $a A report on the recent events in Dunwich / $c Dr. Henry Armitage, Librarian, Miskatonic University [and three others].
Capitalization
AACR2
245 10 $a April 1865 : $b the month that saved America / $c Jay Winik.
RDA
245 10 $a APRIL 1865 : $b The Month That Saved America / $c Jay Winik.
or
245 10 $a April 1865 : $b the month that saved America / $c Jay Winik.
(RDA, unlike AACR2, allows variant practices in capitalizing title information. The first RDA example here could result from taking data directly from a publisher, for example. Catalogers generally dislike this, and software to regularize capitalization is readily available, so we will probably continue to see traditional “cataloging” capitalization.)
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RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 9Abbreviations and Other Cataloging Conventions
AACR2
250 ## $a 1st ed.
RDA
250 ## $a First edition.
AACR2
260 ## $a Austin, Tex. : $b University of Texas, $c [1925]300 ## $a 86, [21] p. : ill., 1 folded map ; $c 24 cm.490 1# $a University of Texas bulletin ; $v no. 2544 (Nov. 22, 1925)
RDA
260 ## $a Austin, Texas : $b University of Texas, $c [1925]300 ## $a 86 pages, 21 unnumbered pages : $b illustrations, 1 folded map ; $c 24 cm.490 1# $a University of Texas bulletin ; $v no. 2544 (November 22, 1925)
(In this case, the series numbering appears in the source as “no. 2544,” so the abbreviation is kept.)
AACR2
260 ## $a [S.l.] : $b Poote Press, $c 1987.260 ## $a Vancouver, B.C. : $b [s.n.], $c 1951.260 ## $a [S.l. : $b s.n.], $c 1962.
(S.l. and s.n. are abbreviations for the Latin phrases sine loco and sine nomine, “without a place” and “without a name” respectively.)
RDA
260 ## $a [Place of publication not identified] : $b Poote Press, $c 1987.260 ## $a Vancouver, B.C., Canada : $b [publisher not identified], $c 1951.260 ## $a [Place of publication not identified] : $b [publisher not identified], $c 1962.
Something that will probably not affect the use of the catalog, but that you will notice: new treatment of copyright dates
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 10AACR2
260 ## $a [Ashland, Or.] : $b Blackstone Audio, $c p2009.
260 ## $a [New York, N.Y.] : $b HarperCollins, $c c2001.
RDA
260 ## $a [Ashland, Oregon] : $b Blackstone Audio, $c [2009], 2009.℗
260 ## $a [New York, New York] : $b HarperCollins Publishers, [2001], ©2001.
(Publication date and copyright date are two separate elements in RDA, and publication date is a core element, so copyright date cannot be substituted for it. Note the symbols.)
An element that disappears for non-print resources: the general material designation
GMD mixes information from different types of entities according to FRBR model
Three new elements (Content type, Media type, Carrier type) will replace it and will be used for all resources (including print)
Not known yet how the information will display in public catalogs (icons, perhaps?)
Examples:
AACR2
245 10 $a Pastwatch $h [sound recording] : $b the redemption of Christopher Columbus / $c Orson Scott Card.
(Some libraries add further information to the GMD:)
245 10 $a Pastwatch $h [sound recording (CD)] : $b the redemption of Christopher Columbus / $c Orson Scott Card.
RDA
245 10 $a Pastwatch : $b the redemption of Christopher Columbus / $c Orson Scott Card.
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 11336 ## $a spoken word $2 rdacontent337 ## $a audio $2 rdamedia338 ## $a audio disc $2 rdacarrier
AACR2
245 10 $a Pożegnanie z gitarą $h [sound recording] / $c Krzysztof Klenczon.
or
245 10 $a Pożegnanie z gitarą $h [sound recording (CD)] / $c Krzysztof Klenczon.
RDA
245 10 $a Pożegnanie z gitarą / $c Krzysztof Klenczon.
336 ## $a performed music $2 rdacontent337 ## $a audio $2 rdamedia338 ## $a audio disc $2 rdacarrier
(Note how the Media and Carrier types are the same, but the Content type varies, between these two examples.)
AACR2
245 14 $a The geology of Denton County / $c by W.M. Winton.
(This is a printed book; although AACR2 provides the general material designation “text,” traditionally no GMD is used for eye-readable print materials.)
RDA
245 14 $a The geology of Denton County / $c by W.M. Winton.
336 ## $a text $2 rdacontent337 ## $a unmediated $2 rdamedia338 ## $a volume $2 rdacarrier
Further implications
The “entity-relationship model”
Difficult and abstract—we will not attempt a full exposition here
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 12Much of the potential power of RDA is in the systematic understanding of entities and their attributes and the definition of relationships among them
A quick look at Group 1 entities (“products of intellectual or artistic endeavor”)
Work
“a distinct intellectual or artistic creation”
very abstract
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 13Expression
the intellectual or artistic realization of a work—e.g., a sequence of words or musical notes, particular forms or colors
less abstract than “work” but still abstract—not yet bound to a physical medium
Manifestation
physical embodiment
the set of all items with the same characteristics of content and form
a published edition or a single unpublished item
the level at which we traditionally catalog; most bibliographic records represent manifestations in FRBR/RDA terms
Item
a single examplar of a manifestation, e.g., one copy of an edition of a book
Group 2 entities are “those responsible for intellectual or artistic content, physical production and dissemination, or custodianship of Group 1 entities”
authors, illustrators, translators, composers, performers, directors, production companies, etc.
but also publishers, distributors, printers, galleries, and museums
can be persons, families (a change from AACR2), or corporate bodies
RDA considers non-human entities (fictitious characters, animals) to be within the scope of persons
Much more extensive and systematic use of relationship designators than in AACR2—optional but of great potential use
AACR2
130 0# $a Gran Torino (Motion picture)245 10 $a Gran Torino $h [videorecording] / $c Warner Bros. Pictures presents in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, a Double Nickel Entertainment, a Malpaso Production ; produced by Robert Lorenz, Bill Gerber ; story by David
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 14Johannson & Nick Schenk ; screenplay by Nick Schenk ; produced and directed by Clint Eastwood....511 1# $a Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Ahney Her, Christopher Carley.…700 1# $a Eastwood, Clint, $d 1930-
RDA
130 0# $a Gran Torino (Motion picture)245 10 $a Gran Torino / $c Warner Bros. Pictures presents in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, a Double Nickel Entertainment, a Malpaso Production ; produced by Robert Lorenz, Bill Gerber ; story by David Johannson & Nick Schenk ; screenplay by Nick Schenk ; produced and directed by Clint Eastwood....336 ## $a two-dimensional moving image $2 rdacontent337 ## $a video $2 rdamedia338 ## $a videodisc $2 rdacarrier...511 1# $a Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Ahney Her, Christopher Carley.…700 1# $a Eastwood, Clint, $d 1930- $e film producer, $e film director, $e actor
In RDA terms, these are relationships between Group 1 and Group 2 entities
RDA more specifically defines relationships among Group 1 entities as well
AACR2
100 1# $a Coelho, Paulo.240 10 $a Alquimista. $l English245 14 $a The alchemist / $c Paulo Coelho ; translated by Alan R. Clarke.260 ## $a [San Francisco] : $b HarperSanFrancisco, $b c1993.300 ## $a 177 p. ; $c 21 cm.700 1# $a Clarke, Alan $q (Alan R.)
RDA
100 1# $a Coelho, Paulo, $e author.240 10 $a Alquimista. $l English245 14 $a The alchemist / $c Paulo Coelho ; translated by Alan R. Clarke.260 ## $a [San Francisco, California] : $b HarperSanFrancisco, $c [1993?], ©1993. 300 ## $a 177 pages ; $c 21 cm336 ## $a text $2 rdacontent
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 15337 ## $a unmediated $2 rdamedia338 ## $a volume $2 rdacarrier700 1# $i Translation of: $a Coelho, Paulo. $t Alquimista.700 1# $a Clarke, Alan $q (Alan R.), $e translator.
(This treatment of translations is allowed by RDA; I am not certain whether LC will use it.)
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 16AACR2
100 1# $a McCaig, Donald.245 10 $a Rhett Butler's people / $c Donald McCaig.500 ## $a Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the wind.700 1# $a Mitchell, Margaret, $d 1900-1949. $t Gone with the wind.
RDA
100 1# $a McCaig, Donald, $e author.245 10 $a Rhett Butler's people / $c Donald McCaig.700 1# $i Sequel to: $a Mitchell, Margaret, $d 1900-1949. $t Gone with the wind.
(In a public-access catalog, this would generate a note, just as we would have under current practice though with somewhat different wording:)
Sequel to: Mitchell, Margaret, 1900-1949. Gone with the wind.
(and an access point, which could be more informative as to its reason for being there; the wording would depend on the particular catalog.)
Mitchell, Margaret, 1900-1949. Gone with the wind (Previous work)
Access at levels other than “manifestation”
Current practice forces retrieval of records for editions (manifestations)
Interlibrary loan: must choose edition most likely to be available
In-library use: must consult two or more records; some libraries work around with “various editions” records
What if we could search/retrieve by expression?
e.g., Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn in English
Beyond the “silo”
Integrating library records into other information resources (e.g. World Wide Web)
Meeting potential patrons where they are
May require moving beyond MARC format
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 17
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 18A Historical Perspective:
Significant Statements of the Purposes of Cataloging
Antonio Panizzi (author of the “91 Rules” for the catalogue of the British Museum Library) on the reasons behind his rules, 1847:
Panizzi's response was, in effect: Yes, I require the reader to look in two places for the information he wants, because I want to tell him much more than merely whether or not the library has a particular book; yes, my rules are complicated, but that is because my rules are concerned not only with the book as a single and separate item, but also as a complex of editions and translations of potential interest to an acquiring reader … In Panizzi's own words, “a reader may know the work he requires; but he cannot be expected to know all the peculiarities of different editions, and this information he has a right to expect from the catalogues.” … Panizzi saw the book as an edition of a particular work that is intimately related to the other editions and translations of the work that the library may have, and thought that it should therefore be integrated with them.2
Panizzi's language reflects his times, in which a library was understood to be a collection of printed monographs and (to some extent) serials. Of much more significance is his pioneering insight that an individual book is part of a network of interrelated editions and translations (what RDA would later call expressions) and that the catalog is not just a list of a library's holdings, but an integrating tool that brings out those interrelationships for the user.
Charles Ammi Cutter's Objects [objectives] of the catalog, first published in his Rules for a Dictionary Catalog (1876):
1. To enable a person to find a book of which either(A) the author(B) the title is known(C) the subject
2. To show what the library has(D) by a given author(E) on a given subject(F) in a given kind of literature
2 Seymour Lubetzky and Elaine Svenonius, “The Vicissitudes of Ideology and Technology in Anglo-American Cataloging since Panizzi and a Prospective Reformation of the Catalog for the Next Century,” in Seymour Lubetzky: Writings on the Classical Art of Cataloging, eds. Elaine Svenonius and Dorothy McGarry (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2001), pp. 421-429; quoted in William Denton, “FRBR and the History of Cataloging,” in Understanding FRBR: What It Is and How It Will Affect Our Retrieval Tools, ed. by Arlene G. Taylor (Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited, 2007), pp. 38-39.
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 19
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 203. To assist in the choice of a book
(G) as to its editions (bibliographically)(H) as to its character (literary or topical)3
S.R. Ranganathan's Five Laws of Library Science (1931):
• Books are for use.• Every reader his book.• Every book its reader.• Save the time of the reader.• The library is a growing organism.4
Paris Principles (Statement of Principles passed at the International Conference on Cataloguing Principles, 1961)—Principle #2, “Functions of the Catalogue”:
The catalogue should be an efficient instrument for ascertaining2.1 whether the library contains a particular book specified by
(a) its author and title, or(b) if the author is not named in the book, its title alone, or(c) if author and title are inappropriate or insufficient for identification, a
suitable substitute for the title; and
2.2 (a) which works by a particular author andwhich editions of a particular work are in the library5
The four user tasks of FRBR:
• Find entities that correspond to the user's search criteria.
• Identify the entity (confirm that the entity found is the entity the user sought).
• Select an entity from the resulting group appropriate to the user's needs.
• Obtain the selected entity.
The four user tasks of FRAD:
• Find entities that correspond to the user's search criteria.
3 Denton, pp. 40-41.4 Denton, p. 44.5 Denton, p. 47.
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 21
• Identify the entity (confirm that the entity found is the entity the user sought).
• Contextualize, that is, place the entity into context.
• Justify, that is, document the data creator's reason for choosing the name on which a controlled access point is based.6
RDA: Purpose and Scope
RDA provides a set of guidelines and instructions on formulating data to support resource discovery.
The data created using RDA to describe a resource are designed to assist users performing the following tasks:
find—i.e., to find resources that correspond to the user’s stated search criteria
identify—i.e., to confirm that the resource described corresponds to the resource sought, or to distinguish between two or more resources with similar characteristics
select—i.e., to select a resource that is appropriate to the user’s needs
obtain—i.e., to acquire or access the resource described.
The data created using RDA to describe an entity associated with a resource (a person, family, corporate body, concept, etc.) are designed to assist users performing the following tasks:
find—i.e., to find information on that entity and on resources associated with the entity
identify—i.e., to confirm that the entity described corresponds to the entity sought, or to distinguish between two or more entities with similar names, etc.
clarify—i.e., to clarify the relationship between two or more such entities, or to clarify the relationship between the entity described and a name by which that entity is known
understand—i.e., to understand why a particular name or title, or form of name or title, has been chosen as the preferred name or title for the entity.
6 Robert L. Maxwell, FRBR: A Guide for the Perplexed (Chicago: American Library Association, 2008), pp. 4-5.
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 22RDA provides a comprehensive set of guidelines and instructions covering all types of content and media.7
7 RDA Toolkit, accessed March 6, 2012, 0.0.
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 23Resources
Tilllett, Barbara. What is FRBR? : A Conceptual Model for the Bibliographic Universe. Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress Cataloging Distribution Service, 2004. http://www.loc.gov/cds/downloads/FRBR.PDF
Oliver, Chris. Introducing RDA : A Guide to the Basics. Chicago : ALA Editions, 2010.
RDA Toolkit: http://www.rdatoolkit.org
Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDAhttp://www.rda-jsc.org/rda.html
About RDA (OCLC)http://www.oclc.org/us/en/rda/about.htm
A page of links to various online resources.
RDA ON THE FRONT LINES 24
Richard A. StewartCataloging SupervisorIndian Trails Public Library District355 S. Schoenbeck Rd.Wheeling, IL 60090
Phone: 847–279–2214847–459–4100 (general number)
Fax: 847–459–4760
www.indiantrailslibrary.org
Blogs:
Three Catalogers Walk Into a Blog http://3catalogers.wordpress.com/
“Resources to help the cataloger catalog.”
Flaming Catheads http://flamingcatheads.wordpress.com/
“Universal Bibliographic Control and the future of civilization: a conversation for interesting times.”
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/stewartra
Button image courtesy of OCLC.
Sheep and UFO painting and “I Miss Recess” by Rosie Stewart (yes, I'm her proud pop)
http://www.paintingbyrosie.com/
