Showing papers on "Resource Description and Access published in 2012"
TL;DR: Six key recommendations for libraries and standards agencies are provided, including rising to the challenges and embracing the opportunities presented by current technological trends, adopting minimal requirements of Linked Data principles, developing ontologies, deciding on what needs to be retained from current library models, becoming part of the Linked data cloud, and developing mixed-metadata approaches.
Abstract: Contemporary metadata principles and standards tended to result in document-centric rather than data-centric; human-readable rather than machine-processable metadata. In order for libraries to create and harness shareable, mashable and re-usable metadata, a conceptual shift can be achieved by adjusting current library models such as Resource Description and Access (RDA) and Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) to models based on Linked Data principles. In relation to technical formats, libraries can leapfrog to Linked Data technical formats such as the Resource Description Framework (RDF), without disrupting current library metadata operations. This paper provides six key recommendations for libraries and standards agencies. These include rising to the challenges and embracing the opportunities presented by current technological trends, adopting minimal requirements of Linked Data principles, developing ontologies, deciding on what needs to be retained from current library models, becoming part of the Linked Data cloud, and developing mixed-metadata (standards-based and socially-constructed) approaches. Finally, the paper concludes by identifying and discussing five major benefits of such metadata re-conceptualisation. The benefits include metadata openness and sharing, serendipitous discovery of information resources, identification of zeitgeist and emergent metadata, facet-based navigation and metadata enriched with links.
94 citations
TL;DR: The degree of alignment of RDA with FRBR and FRAD is reviewed, covering user tasks, entities, attributes and relationships, and the ways in which RDA incorporates both models into a single content standard are reviewed.
Abstract: Resource Description and Access (RDA) is based on the original entity-relationship statements of the conceptual models Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) and Functional Requirements for Authority Data (FRAD). This article reviews the degree of alignment of RDA with FRBR and FRAD, covering user tasks, entities, attributes and relationships. It discusses the divergences that exist, those of both greater and lesser significance, and looks at the ways in which RDA incorporates both models into a single content standard. The ways in which RDA implements FRBR and FRAD, as well as the areas of divergence, may provide valuable insights towards the consolidation of the FRBR family of conceptual models.
21 citations
TL;DR: It was clarified that RDA adopts the FRBR entities but with some differences, such as the relationship between work and manifestation and the treatment of “title of the expression.”
Abstract: Resource Description and Access (RDA) was analyzed through a comparison between the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) and Functional Requirements for Authority Data (FRAD) models and the model that RDA directly reflects. First, it was clarified that RDA adopts the FRBR entities but with some differences, such as the relationship between work and manifestation and the treatment of “title of the expression.” Second, for the FRAD scope, a slightly different model that reflects RDA directly was proposed, incorporating the decomposition of FRAD entities as well as a new entity “description.”
16 citations
TL;DR: This study examined the preliminary training that has occurred and will occur in the future, as well as the perceptions of cataloging department heads toward RDA, and found that many of the essential components for RDA training have been included in preliminary training.
Abstract: This study examined the preliminary training that has occurred and will occur in the future, as well as the perceptions of cataloging department heads toward RDA (Resource Description and Access) in American academic libraries. Previous research indicates that the successful adoption of new cataloging rules relies on the strength and elements included in the training offered to and required of individuals in the library cataloging community. This study found that many of the essential components for RDA training have been included in preliminary training. Now that a decision has been made by the Library of Congress, this study identified room for improvement in some areas of RDA training prior to adoption.
16 citations
TL;DR: An in-depth study presenting the new cataloging code, RDA (Resource Description and Access) and its relationship to technology and its origin, what it represents and its implications for cataloging are analyzed.
Abstract: An in-depth study presenting the new cataloging code, RDA (Resource Description and Access) and its relationship to technology. Its origin, what it represents and its implications for cataloging are analyzed. The state of bibliographic control and the foundations of the new cataloging code are reviewed. Details are presented concerning its structure, changes and advantages of being based on the FRBR model. Reference is also made to RDA’s adoption by the international community. Finally, the article sets forth the changes and doubts that RDA prompts. The exhaustive bibliographic review permits the identification of the most significant changes as well as the pros and cons. Likewise, a detailed study of the Functional Requirements of Bibliographic Records (FRBR) and the Functional Requirements for Authority Data (FRAD) enables a better understanding of the new code’s instructions, connections and relationships to them.
16 citations
TL;DR: This study examines results of the U.S. RDA test, some basic principles of adult learning theory, and currently available training materials in order to consider what is most beneficial to practitioners in developing professional fluency and identity and what changes can be made to serve that end.
Abstract: Significant changes in both the cataloging code and our mode of recording metadata are slated to take place in the coming months and years. These changes give us an unprecedented opportunity to change our teaching strategies and our attitudes towards lifelong workplace learning for the better. In this study, we examine results of the U.S. RDA test, some basic principles of adult learning theory, and currently available training materials in order to consider what is most beneficial to practitioners in developing professional fluency and identity and what changes can be made to serve that end.
14 citations
TL;DR: In Fall 2010, in the Music Library at the University of North Texas, a subgroup of the full-time music catalogers were both participating in the U.S. National RDA Test and overseeing the cataloging of a large gift of scores.
Abstract: This article discusses Resource Description and Access (RDA) and new catalogers' errors in Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd ed. (AACR2).
13 citations
TL;DR: The use of Resource Description and Access for recording the different types of relationships (identifiers, authorized access points, composite structured and unstructured descriptions) and how to represent them in existing formats is examined.
Abstract: Libraries that have implemented Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) are obliged to resort to auxiliary models to display bibliographic records This article examines the use of Resource Description and Access (RDA) for recording the different types of relationships (identifiers, authorized access points, composite structured and unstructured descriptions) and how to represent them in existing formats It also analyzes the modifications that will be needed and the elements that should be taken into account in order to develop innovative tools capable of representing relationships in the clearest and most appropriate way for users, while staying current with the latest trends in information organization
12 citations
TL;DR: Libraries must reexamine current cataloguing practices and the way libraries control the bibliographic description to better serve the user's needs when using new discovery services, including next generation catalogues, federated search, and Web-scale discovery.
Abstract: To improve resource discovery and retrieval, libraries have implemented new discovery services, such as next generation catalogues, federated search, and Web-scale discovery, in addition to their traditional integrated library systems. These new discovery services greatly improve the user experience by utilizing existing cataloguing records housed within the library system or in combination with metadata from other sources, both in and outside of libraries. However, to maximize the functionality of these discovery services, libraries must reexamine current cataloguing practices and the way libraries control the bibliographic description to better serve the user's needs. This report discusses how new discovery services use the cataloguing records and the challenges that libraries encounter in bibliographic control to work with new discovery services, including the quality of cataloguing records, granular levels of bibliographic description, and integration of user-generated metadata into the cataloguing records. Each of these aspects requires further discussion.
12 citations
TL;DR: What internal users of the catalog will find familiar in the new type of records and what will require a learning curve are shed on.
Abstract: Reference librarians' work will be affected by the upcoming change in cataloging standards from the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules to the Resource Description and Access (RDA). Reference librarians were asked to give their perceptions about RDA records. They found that RDA records were comparable in terms of quality and quantity of information. However, terms used in new fields that provide format information lacked clarity. RDA records live compatibly with their Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules counterparts but do have distinctive differences. This study sheds light on what internal users of the catalog will find familiar in the new type of records and what will require a learning curve.
12 citations
TL;DR: This study reveals that there are different perspectives of what is introduced by FRBR as the cataloging object in the context of various interpretations of the model, namely Resource Description and Access (RDA), FRBRization projects, and FRBROO.
Abstract: Libraries face a double challenge in the digital age: both the describing framework and the describing object are under change. Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) attempts to generate a coherent theory and yield a new Paradigm of cataloging. This study deploys current conceptualizations of the FRBR Group 1 entities within the FRBR models family with a view to semantic interoperability. FRBR cannot be considered as simple metadata describing a specific resource but more like some kind of knowledge related to the resource. This study reveals that there are different perspectives of what is introduced by FRBR as the cataloging object in the context of various interpretations of the model, namely Resource Description and Access (RDA), FRBRization projects, and FRBROO.
TL;DR: Technical service personnel who establish policies with the information needed to establish standards for copy cataloging RDA records, particularly monographs are provided.
Abstract: The Library of Congress and other national libraries will adopt Resource Description and Access (RDA) on March 31, 2013, but RDA is already an established cataloging code. Copy catalogers are likely to encounter RDA records in the near future, and need local standards to guide their work. This article provides technical service personnel who establish policies with the information needed to establish standards for copy cataloging RDA records, particularly monographs. An example of one successful standard, that of Kent State University Libraries, is provided for readers to adopt or adapt.
TL;DR: The new code includes fewer case-based rules, but some specialized instructions remain for music materials, and some highlights for music include consistent use of the term "score" for notated music not in part-format, and a new way of consistently naming librettos.
Abstract: The development of Resource Description & Access (RDA) (1) as a replacement code for the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2d edition, 1998 revision (AACR2),(2) stemmed from repeated calls to revise the cataloging rules to better accommodate the ever-evolving types of resources that libraries acquire. For example, the papers presented at a meeting of experts in 1997 at the International Conference on the Principles and Future Development of AACR explored various contentious topics, such as content versus carrier, issues related to seriality, and the definition of a work.(3) In 2004, the Committee of Principals for AACR appointed an editor to create an initial draft of AACR3, to take these and other issues into account. At that point, no one foresaw the final direction the new code would take. It evolved over six years with changes in name, organization, content, and the vision for how cataloging records can interoperate with other data on the Internet as we move into the future. This article explores the development of RDA in relation to current cataloging standards, with a particular emphasis on the impact its implementation will have on description and access for music materials. After reviewing RDA's foundations and how stakeholders were involved in RDA development and review, the article highlights unique aspects of RDA, how its data can be used within and beyond MARC, and explores some significant changes from AACR2. The concluding sections focus on RDA testing, revision, and implementation. RDA'S FOUNDATIONS In spite of the changes throughout its development, RDA remains deeply rooted in Anglo-American cataloging traditions while also aligning with newer international conceptual models, such as the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) (4) and the Functional Requirements for Authority Data (FRAD).(5) In addition, the International Federation of Library Association's (IFLA) recent "Statement of International Cataloguing Principles,"(6) under development concurrently with RDA, informed the new code's overall objectives and principles. RDA DEVELOPMENT AND REVIEW Interested stakeholders, including specialized communities, have played a significant part in RDA's development. Members of MLA's Bibliographic Control Committee reviewed each draft, providing detailed comments on issues related to description and access for music resources. MLA's suggestions and examples were often incorporated into RDA.(7) A CONTENT STANDARD RDA, unlike AACR2, is strictly a content standard. It contains few rules about punctuation, order, and formatting. Display and encoding standards, such as ISBD: International Standard Bibliographic Description (8) and MARC21 bibliographic and authority formats9 are relegated to appendices; they are not integrated into the instructions or examples. RDA'S ORGANIZATION AND PHILOSOPHY While many of the AACR2 rules migrated to RDA, they no longer appear in the same order or context, forcing catalogers to look at the instructions differently. RDA's organization follows the framework laid out by FRBR and FRAD, grouping instructions by entity and describing separate data elements and their attributes. Because of this structure, RDA does not organize instructions by the ISBD areas of description, nor does it contain separate chapters that lay out the rules for descriptive cataloging by format. Rather, all instructions relating to a particular element, such as title, are grouped together and apply to all resources. These organizational changes will enable RDA to remain flexible as library resources evolve; existing instructions can be extended to new formats in a way that was not possible under AACR2. In a variation on AACR2's levels of description, RDA specifies which elements are core, or essential, to include when describing a resource or identifying a person or corporate body. In some cases, core elements are conditional. …
TL;DR: This study presents a qualitative examination of the applicability of several taxonomies of bibliographic relationships to sheet maps and reveals that while many of the relationship categories in these systems apply well tosheet maps, some are not applicable at all while others may apply with some redefinition.
Abstract: This study presents a qualitative examination of the applicability of several taxonomies of bibliographic relationships to sheet maps. Examples of relationships between sheet maps are identified and typed using the systems developed by Tillett and Smiraglia and the taxonomy of relationships described in the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) conceptual model and in Resource Description and Access (RDA). This process reveals that while many of the relationship categories in these systems apply well to sheet maps, some are not applicable at all while others may apply with some redefinition.
TL;DR: The Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) model has been the main framework of reference for the new Italian cataloging rules and is based on a new thorough analysis of the phenomena to be reflected, organized, and made accessible via the catalog.
Abstract: The Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) model has been the main framework of reference for the new Italian cataloging rules. The code puts the work at the center of the catalog and of the rules because users are mostly interested in works and the most wanted works are increasingly available in multiple manifestations. Every work should be identified in the catalog and responsibility relations should be recorded at the proper level. The code is tailored to the specific needs of library cataloging and based on a new thorough analysis of the phenomena to be reflected, organized, and made accessible via the catalog.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The music library community has struggled with the problems associated with providing subject access to musical works for many decades as mentioned in this paper, and the current work of the Music Library Association, which is presently collaborating with the Music Genre/Form Project Group of the Library of Congress to provide unified, a comprehensive genre-heading list, along with appropriate syndetic structures and encoding.
Abstract: Introduction For many decades music librarians have struggled with the problems associated with providing subject access to musical works. Most U.S. libraries still use the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) to assign subject terms for music materials, even though studies have demonstrated the ineffectiveness of these headings as well as their relative lack of use by users, who now rely primarily on keyword searching to locate music. LCSH has frequently been criticized for its inadequacies, particularly the haphazard nature of its syndetic structure, its many inconsistencies, and its practice of inverting some terms while using others in direct order. Another fundamental issue has centered on "about-ness"--i.e., the topic of any given book, which LCSH has handled very well--versus "is-ness", or what any given musical work actually is--in RDA terms, its content. Because of the criticisms of LCSH for music, members of the U.S. music library community have struggled over the years to rectify the subject-access problems associated with LCSH. This article provides a brief overview of the history of these various endeavors and describes the current work of the Music Library Association, which is presently collaborating with the Music Genre/Form Project Group of the Library of Congress to provide unified, a comprehensive genre-heading list, along with appropriate syndetic structures and encoding. (2) It is hoped that the work of this partnership will result in a thesaurus of genre and form terms that is both practical to apply and easy to use. Early Efforts at Improving Access to Music The road to a music thesaurus has included a number of initiatives throughout the years, each building on the work of previous groups and individuals. Shortly after MLA's founding in1931, music librarians began issuing "provisional lists" of subject heading terms for music based on the card catalogues at the Library of Congress. In 1933 the first of these lists was published, followed two years later by the updated Subject Headings for the Literature of Music, 3rd ed. (1935). Although these lists represented a good-faith effort by music librarians at addressing problems with retrieving music, there were complaints about their inadequacies. In a 1948 article in Notes, Helen E. Bush and David Judson Haykin maintained that music subject headings should focus on two fundamental concerns, the user's approach and the language of the heading. (3) The authors proposed, in essence, a standard vocabulary for music that would be organized in a hierarchical arrangement, with a thoroughly faceted, syndetically structured list of terms. These elements, as you can see, represent the foundation for a well-designed thesaurus. Despite the foresighted principles outlined by Bush and Haykin, it would be almost forty years before the music library community turned its attention to the development of a thesaurus in any systematic fashion. The 1980s: Music Library Association Music Thesaurus Project Working Group I suppose we can thank J. Paul Getty, the billionaire oilman, Anglophile, and avid collector of art and antiquities, for indirectly sparking early interest in creating a thesaurus of music terms by MLA members. In 1983 the J. Paul Getty Trust, the world's wealthiest art institution, assumed editorial directorship of the Art and Architecture Thesaurus, a project that had begun a few years earlier. The AAT then moved to Los Angeles, and is now maintained by the Getty Vocabulary Program, under the aegis of the Getty Research Institute at the magnificent Getty Center. Inspired by the success of the AAT (while envious of the project's substantial funding), MLA established a working group in 1985 to investigate the feasibility of a similar project for music. In its final report, published in a June 1989 article in Notes, the Music Thesaurus Project Working Group outlined the various concerns with existing subject access to music. …
TL;DR: Analysis of emails sent to an e-forum on RDA in the UK in April 2011 found topical concerns were found to be the same as for U.S. RDA testers, although accompanied by "vague concerns" about whether they were acting quickly enough.
Abstract: Methodology: Action research. Analysis of emails sent to an e-forum on RDA in the UK in April 2011. Emails were assigned tags based on contents. Email addresses were analyzed for sector. The resource list co-created by participants was analyzed for format and country of creator(s). Findings: More than 200 people subscribed and received 195 emails sent by 38 individuals about current actions; training; training needs; the hybrid catalog and cataloger judgment; implementation; productivity; the RDA Toolkit; MARC and FRBR. Topical concerns were found to be the same as for U.S. RDA testers, although accompanied by “vague concerns” about whether they were acting quickly enough.
TL;DR: The goal of the RDA test was to assure the operational, technical, and economic feasibility of the new cataloging code in order to help determine whether the national libraries would decide to implement the new code.
Abstract: From July through December 2010, three U.S. national libraries, the Library of Congress, the National Agricultural Library, and the National Library of Medicine, coordinated a test of Resource Description and Access (RDA) that included 23 other test participants representing a broad range of institutions. The goal of the RDA test was to assure the operational, technical, and economic feasibility of the new cataloging code in order to help determine whether the national libraries would decide to implement the new code. The design and methodology of the test, how the data were analyzed, and specific impact of RDA on the serials community were presented.
TL;DR: The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Information Studies (UWMIS) was an early adopter of teaching Master's of Library Science courses online, including cataloging courses.
Abstract: The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee School of Information Studies was an early adopter of teaching Master's of Library Science courses online, including cataloging courses. In this article we discuss features of our curriculum, including translating visual presentations for teaching cataloging in a physical classroom into the virtual environment; incorporating cultural diversity by consciously selecting a wider range of topics in cataloging examples for online classes for online students who are from all over the United States and sometimes the world; the curatorial trichotomy of resource description, cataloging, and collection management; and continuing education for working professionals.
Book•
31 Mar 2012
TL;DR: In this paper, the FRBRization of the catalogue and the RDA standard were discussed, and the birth of RDA and the death of MARC were both discussed in detail.
Abstract: 1. Catalogues and cataloguing standards 2. The FRBRization of the catalogue 3. Bibliographic elements 4. Access points and headings 5. RDA: resource description and access 6. AACR and RDA 7. MARC 21 8. Practical cataloguing: bringing it all together 9. The birth of RDA and the death of MARC? 10. Examples.
TL;DR: Responses to a wide-ranging online survey document the workload, tools, practices, and problems of batch cataloging.
Abstract: Groups of bibliographic records are added to library catalogs with increasing frequency. Batch cataloging requires knowledge of bulk record transfer as well as current cataloging standards. While more efficient than cataloging items individually, batch cataloging requires different skills and creates new challenges. Responses to a wide-ranging online survey document the workload, tools, practices, and problems of batch cataloging. The unique characteristics of electronic resources affect many aspects of batch cataloging. Survey respondents lack consensus on how to share improved batch records, and recent trends in the bibliographic environment seem to make a networked solution less likely.
01 Apr 2012
TL;DR: This book aims to provide a resource for this pragmatic approach, whether for a student seeking to complement their theoretical studies, or for a practitioner seeking to upgrade or update their skills, and does very well what it sets out to do.
Abstract: Welsh, Anne and Batley, Sue. Practical cataloguing: AACR, RDA and MARC 21 London: Facet, 2012. 217 pp. ISBN 978-1-85604-695-4. £44.95'This book was written', the authors tell us in the acknowledgements section, 'at a time of flux in international cataloguing standards'. This inevitably calls to mind the Chinese curse of living in interesting times; and, indeed, the present times, if not exactly cursed, are difficult for anyone trying to teach, or to learn about, cataloguing and resource description. As the new standard, RDA (Resource Description and Access), begins, slowly, incompletely and somewhat painfully, to replace the longstanding AACR (Anglo American Cataloguing Rules), the unavoidable question is what should be taught and learnt.Unusually, the preface to the book is well worth reading, as it gives a commendably full and honest account of the rationale for the book, why it is written as it is, and what its limitations are. It is intended, appropriately enough for a time of flux, as a gap-bridger: between John Bowman's well-known text of 2007, and a forthcoming book by Shawne Miksa (n.d.). While, as the authors point out, reference is made to Bowman's book at various points, this text is self-contained, and it is not necessary to have read, or to refer to, other sources to get value from it.The preface makes interesting points about the demise of cataloguing training in formal education, and its replacement by a more theoretical approach, whereby 'students leave knowing what cataloguing is and how it aids information retrieval. They can recognize what a catalogue record looks like and have an understanding of the principles of knowledge organization' (p. xiii). This leaves a gap for training; for acquiring the skills of how, in practice, to analyse a book, or any other sort of document, and to describe it and provide helpful access points. This book aims to provide a resource for this pragmatic approach, whether for a student seeking to complement their theoretical studies, or for a practitioner seeking to upgrade or update their skills. As someone whose courses very much follow the 'theoretical understanding' approach, and is happy to justify it as the only one appropriate for graduate education at a time when the library/information environment is changing so rapidly, I very much welcome this idea, and see this book as a very useful resource.The authors mention a series of other texts giving more theoretical perspectives, which their book is intended to complement, and specifically mention those of Lois Mai Chan (2007) and Arlene Taylor (2006). I have a liking for the text by Elaine Svenonious (2000) for this purpose, but this is a minor quibble; it is too rare that book authors show any signs of appreciating that there are complementary works, or understanding where their own pet product fits in, still less letting their readers know about them, and these authors should be commended for it.And yes, the book does very well what it sets out to do: giving a practical 'what this means and how to do something about it' account of the theoretical material treated in more detail by the other texts. Though, in this respect too, the book is reasonably self-contained. The first two chapters set the theoretical scene, and remind the reader, in a clear way, free of excessive detail, what the main conceptual aspects are. Chapter 1 deals with the basics of cataloguing principles and rules, invoking Ranganathan, Cutter and Lubetzky, and then giving a potted account of developments of codes since the Paris principles. Chapter 2 covers FRBRization and its implications. This chapter first shows one of the best features of this book: the use of relevant and easily comprehended examples to illuminate the conceptual points. These appear throughout the text, and also in a set of examples at the end of the book. While these chapters do not substitute for any of the more detailed conceptual texts, and the authors go out of their way to avoid making any such claim, they do give all that is necessary by way of background for an understanding of what follows. …
TL;DR: Overarching themes presented in the literature include the merging of library metadata into the Web environment, the continuation of cooperative cataloging in libraries, the role of both controlled and uncontrolled headings in catalog records, and reconsiderations of workflow in light of impending changes to cataloging rules.
Abstract: This review covers cataloging and classification literature published in 2009 and 2010, including relevant explorations of knowledge organization systems and theory. Only English-language literature is reviewed, though not all of the literature covered is U.S.-based. Overarching themes presented in the literature include the merging of library metadata into the Web environment, the continuation of cooperative cataloging in libraries, the role of both controlled and uncontrolled headings in catalog records, and reconsiderations of workflow in light of impending changes to cataloging rules. Notably, several relevant foundational documents were either completed or revised during the review period.
TL;DR: Throughout the analysis of the Polymath Virtual Library, data aggregation and dissemination of authority records through Linked Open Data are described to enhance relationships and navigability of the site.
Abstract: Throughout the analysis of the Polymath Virtual Library, data aggregation and dissemination of authority records through Linked Open Data are described. The aim of this virtual library is to reunite data, digital texts, and Web resources about Spanish, Hispano-American, Brazilian, and Portuguese polymaths from all times. Authors are the backbone of the system. For each author a MARC 21/Resource Description and Access (RDA) authority record has been created and enriched with biographical data. Specific attributes are categorized to enhance relationships and navigability of the site (profession, occupation, gender, memberships, birth and death dates and places, and languages) and visibility through Europeana and Linked Open Data.
17 Dec 2012
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an in-depth analysis of the proposed new cataloguing code Resource Description and Access (RDA) with a novel perspective relating to its adoption in non-English-speaking countries in Europe.
Abstract: Purpose — This chapter uniquely addresses the topic of introducing a common set of cataloguing rules throughout Europe. While no such development is on the immediate horizon, there are signs that current trends are moving towards that possibility. At first glance, this may appear a trivial development in that ‘European’ standards in many areas are in place and not a source of contention, but in cataloguing, this is not the case.
Design/methodology/approach — The main method used for the research was an in-depth literature review. To gauge the current state of European interest in RDA, an email survey was performed in August 2011, of all the European members of the Standing Committee of the Cataloguing Section of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), and all the European speakers at the ‘RDA in Europe: making it happen!’ conference. This sample was chosen as being those individuals who would be most able to give a view from Europe on current cataloguing developments.
Findings — There is considerable interest throughout Europe regarding RDA and harmonising cataloguing codes, but there may be conceptual problems in that some European national cultures may diverge significantly from a core of rules based on English-speaking countries.
Originality/value — This chapter combines in-depth analysis of the proposed new cataloguing code Resource Description and Access (RDA), which will be adopted by English-speaking countries with a novel perspective relating to its adoption in non-English-speaking countries in Europe.
01 Apr 2012
TL;DR: The second annual benchmark study of library spending plans from Library Resource Guide explores the wide range of spending and priorities decision-making taking place in 2012 budgets for public, academic and special libraries as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The second annual benchmark study of library spending plans from Library Resource Guide explores the wide range of spending and priorities decision-making taking place in 2012 budgets for public, academic and special libraries. Includes year-to-year comparative data. Learn where peer institutions are focusing their scarce investments, based on a study of over 700 participating North American institutions.
TL;DR: This paper explains the entity-relationship model which FRBR presents: the bibliographic entities, their attributes, and the relationships that connect them, and demonstrates how FRBR informs the structure of RDA.
Abstract: "Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records," a document issued by the International Federation of Library Association’s Cataloguing Section in 1997, has achieved the status of an important theoretical model of the cataloging process, in effect, a theory of cataloging. It is the foundation on which the new cataloging code, Resource Description and Access (RDA), is based. An understanding of the FRBR model is essential to the understanding and application of RDA. This paper explains the entity-relationship model which FRBR presents: the bibliographic entities (work, expression, manifestation, item), their attributes, and the relationships that connect them. It explains how bibliographic records based on the FRBR model would be structured, and demonstrates how FRBR informs the structure of RDA. It describes the controversies connected with the forthcoming implementation of RDA in March, 2013, and explores the implications of this implementation for the library community.
TL;DR: Some of the most significant changes relevant to catalogers of MARC records are highlighted, which will cover the history of RDA's development, its testing in the United States, and the various issues related to preparation for RDA implementation.
Abstract: For over a decade, the cataloging community has been rethinking how it provides bibliographic access to resources in an increasingly digital environment. This rethinking has led to the development of Resource Description and Access (RDA) and its launch as an online product in June 2010. Grounded in a new conceptual framework, RDA differs from AACR2 in terms of its organization, terminology, and guidelines. This article will highlight some of the most significant changes relevant to catalogers of MARC records. It will also cover the history of RDA's development, its testing in the United States, and the various issues related to preparation for RDA implementation.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The major looming changes in the field--the new cataloguing code RDA; a new system of genre/form and medium terms, to be used as "subjects"; and a not-yet-determined replacement for the encoding system MARC--are the results of a pervasive concern that cataloguing should be focused on the needs of the user.
Abstract: Introduction In the year 2000, the periodical Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association put out a special issue titled Music Librarianship at the Turn of the Century. (2) A. Ralph Papakhian's contribution to that issue, an article simply called "Cataloging," begins with an enumeration of the major developments of music cataloguing in the recent past, going on to consider each of these in more detail. (3) Papakhian begins by saying that the developments he will discuss are the results of the application of computer and networking technologies and of organisational efforts toward cooperative cataloguing in that technological environment. (4) Today, a bit more than a decade after Papakhian's article, the major looming changes in the field--the new cataloguing code RDA; a new system of genre/form and medium terms, to be used as "subjects"; and a not-yet-determined replacement for the encoding system MARC--are the results of a pervasive concern that cataloguing should be focused on the needs of the user. To be sure, we music librarians look constantly toward future technologies, if they show promise of serving us and our patrons better than the technologies of today. Technologies are so varied and so capable, compared to those available even as recently as the year 2000, however, that we are less concerned with what technology can do than we are with deciding which technology can do the best job in a given context. In addition, we examine the data we provide (in catalogue records, for instance) to discover how we might improve what we do, to allow technology to make the best possible use of our work and to enable ourselves to "work smarter," always with a view to giving users the best experience we can offer. Basing catalogue codes on explicitly stated user needs is nothing new, as Jenn Riley, echoing William Denton, points out in a recent article. (5) The full development of a conceptual model based on these needs is the new element. The needs or "User Tasks" were systematically defined in Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records or, as this report has come to be known, FRBR. (6) They were refined in the later publication Functional Requirements for Authority Data (FRAD), (7) and the results of the two studies were incorporated into the new cataloguing code Resource Description and Access or RDA. (8) Development of Catalog Codes The Path to RDA How did the cataloguing community get to the current crossroads, with RDA poised for widespread adoption? In a paper presented at the International Conference on the Principles and Future Development of AACR2 (Toronto Conference) in 1997, Michael Gorman and Pat Oddy sketched the development of cataloguing codes from the nineteenth century until the age of AACR2. They traced the development of English-language cataloguing codes through three "ages": The nineteenth-century age of single-person codes; the twentieth-century age of the "committee code"; and the age of AACR2, the code first published in 1978. The authors pointed out that AACR2 was in fact a radical change from AACR1 and would perhaps more suitably have had a new name, rather than being called the second edition of its predecessor code. (9) Whereas Gorman and Oddy maintained that AACR2 needs only to be tweaked, not modified extensively, Tom Delsey, speaking at the same conference, pointed out logical inconsistencies in the code and features of the environment in which the code must function today that are sufficiently different from the situation in 1978, that the same set of rules cannot be expected to continue to meet needs. (10) He called for a logical analysis of AACR2 to clarify "the assumptions, principles, structures, and conventions that underlie the cataloguing code itself." (11) The results of this analysis were reported in a two-part document, which was complete by 1998. (12) The analytical technique used was derived from systems-development methods, particularly the entity-relationship model popularized in the academic community by Peter Chen and reported in his 1976 work with reference to datasets relevant to business functions. …