MARC, BIBFRAME, & Their Relationship to RDA Presenter: Karen Snow, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Graduate School of Library & Information Science Dominican University ksnow@dom.edu
In This Session… MARC: History & Problems Extensible Markup Language (XML) Bibliographic Framework Initiative (BIBFRAME)
Machine-Readable Cataloging (MARC) Developed at the Library of Congress during the 1960s by Henriette Avram Originally used as a way for LC to disseminate and print cards more easily & quickly MARC records largely look like electronic cards and function that way as well (more difficult for machines to process “strings” of data) Designed more for human-readability than machine- readability
Machine-Readable Cataloging (MARC) Only used in the library world ISBD punctuation sometimes used to determine the meaning of a subfield Different pieces information in one field/subfield Indicators sometimes needed to determine the meaning of a field
ISBD determining meaning of content 245 10 $a Into the darkness : $b Bob’s journey through the Enchanted Forest / $c Patty Pinecone. 245 10 $a Into the darkness ; $b Bob’s journey through the Enchanted Forest / $c Patty Pinecone.
260 _ _ $a London ; $a New York : $b XYZ Publisher, $c 2003, c2002. Different information in one field/subfield 260 _ _ $a London ; $a New York : $b XYZ Publisher, $c 2003, c2002. Indicators determine meaning 264 _ 1 $a London ; $a New York : $b XYZ Company, $c 2003. 264 _ 2 $a Chicago : $b XYZ Company, $c 2004.
XML EXtensible Markup Language Developed in the 1990s as a more manageable subset of SGML Open-source & non-proprietary Deals with the content and structure of documents rather than visual presentation Widely adopted in publishing, e-commerce, cultural heritage metadata communities, etc….
XML Uses “tags” to demarcate elements that begin & end with angle brackets Opening & closing tags <title> opening tag </title> closing tag <title>The brown bear</title> Does not specify what elements should be used, only how the elements should be tagged
XML vs. HTML HTML Web content is currently formatted for human readers rather than programs The predominant language in which Web pages are written (directly or using tools) Vocabulary describes presentation XML Deals with the content and structure of documents Allows for the creation of discreet, machine-actionable data elements and values
An HTML Example <h1>Agilitas Physiotherapy Centre</h1> Welcome to the home page of the Agilitas Physiotherapy Centre. Do you feel pain? Have you had an injury? Let our staff Lisa Davenport, Kelly Townsend (our lovely secretary) and Steve Matthews take care of your body and soul. <h2>Consultation hours</h2> Mon 11am - 7pm<br> Tue 11am - 7pm<br> Wed 3pm - 7pm<br> Thu 11am - 7pm<br> Fri 11am - 3pm<p> But note that we do not offer consultation during the weeks of the <a href=". . .">State Of Origin</a> games. Source: A Semantic Primer by Antoniou & van Harmelen http://www.ics.forth.gr/isl/swprimer/presentation.htm
Problems with HTML Humans have no problem with this Machines (software agents) do: How to distinguish the therapists from the secretary How determine exact consultation hours They would have to follow the link to the State Of Origin games to find when they take place Source: A Semantic Primer by Antoniou & van Harmelen http://www.ics.forth.gr/isl/swprimer/presentation.htm
An XML Example <company> <treatmentOffered>Physiotherapy</treatmentOffered> <companyName>Agilitas Physiotherapy Centre</companyName> <staff> <therapist>Lisa Davenport</therapist> <therapist>Steve Matthews</therapist> <secretary>Kelly Townsend</secretary> </staff> </company> Source: A Semantic Primer by Antoniou & van Harmelen http://www.ics.forth.gr/isl/swprimer/presentation.htm
XML Allows for the creation of discreet, machine-actionable data elements and values Instead of transcribing data using characters to denote differences between types of data, clear & unique elements can be used to differentiate them 264_1 … $c 1966 <publication date>1966</publication date> 264_4 … $c ©1966 <copyright date>1966</copyright date> 264_1 … $c [1966?] <approximate date>1966</approximate date>
260 _ _ $a London ; $a New York : $b XYZ Publisher, $c 2003, c2002. Different information in one field/subfield 260 _ _ $a London ; $a New York : $b XYZ Publisher, $c 2003, c2002. XML Syntax: <publisherPlace>London</publisherPlace> <publisherPlace>New York</publisherPlace> <publisherName>XYZ Publisher</publisherName> <publicationDate>2003</publicationDate> <copyrightDate>2002</copyrightDate>
XML XML can be “well-formed” without being “valid” Well-formed = conforms to the generic rules for XML as a metalanguage Valid = validated against a document type definition (DTD) or schema (formal, machine-readable documents that define allowable elements or other aspects of the specific XML language)
Bibliographic Framework Initiative “BIBFRAME” Officially launched by the Library of Congress in 2011 A new model for bibliographic data, that will be the basis for an new encoding standard that will replace MARC. Will be XML-based.
Bibliographic Framework Initiative “…aims to re-envision and, in the long run, implement a new bibliographic environment for libraries that makes "the network" central and makes interconnectedness commonplace.” (read: is attempting to better position the library world for a linked data environment) Primer for BIBFRAME: http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/pdf/marcld-report-11-21- 2012.pdf
BIBFRAME (from BIBFRAME FAQs: http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/faqs/) Instead of bundling everything neatly as a “record” and potentially duplicating information across multiple records, the BIBFRAME Model relies heavily on relationships between resources (Work-to-Work relationships; Work-to-Instance relationships; Work-to-Authority relationships). It manages this by using controlled identifiers for things (people, places, languages, etc). MARC employs some of these ideas already (geographic codes, language codes) but BIBFRAME seeks to make these aspects the norm rather than the exception. In short, the BIBFRAME Model is the library community’s formal entry point for becoming part of a much larger web of data, where the links between things are paramount. (from BIBFRAME FAQs: http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/faqs/) LINKED DATA & RESOURCE DESCRIPTION FRAMEWORK (RDF)
Bibliographic Framework Initiative The BIBFRAME Model is a conceptual/practical model that contains 4 high-level classes, or entities (Work, Instance, Authority, and Annotation) The BIBFRAME Vocabulary has a defined set of elements and attributes that describe resources and their properties
http://bibframe.org/vocab-model/
http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/docs/bibframe-profiles.html
BIBFRAME Primer (2012) - http://www. loc
http://bibframe.org/tools/compare/bibid/16708710
BIBFRAME Vocabulary The BIBFRAME Vocabulary is comprised of the RDF properties, classes, and relationships between and among them.
http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/docs/vocab-conventions.html
http://bibframe.org/vocab-list/
http://bibframe.org/vocab-list/
http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/docs/vocab-conventions.html e.g., Ages 8-12
e.g., http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79006936 http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/docs/vocab-conventions.html e.g., http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79006936
Naming conventions for classes and properties http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/docs/vocab-conventions.html
http://bibframe.org/tools/
http://bibframe.org/tools/compare/
http://catalog.loc.gov
http://bibframe.org/tools/compare/bibid/16708710
http://bibframe.org/tools/editor/
Click on “Save” at the bottom of the page to generate a BIBFRAME view
Possible Implications Replacing MARC with an XML- and RDF-based standard will make our systems more efficient and user-friendly Using standards that are used outside the library community may produce more competition and innovation in systems development
Will RDA elements be part of the BIBFRAME vocabulary? Yes. RDA is an important source of elements in the vocabulary for BIBFRAME, even though it generally aims to be independent of any particular set of cataloging rules. We also expect community profiles to emerge which will accommodate additional elements. (from BIBFRAME FAQs: http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/faqs/)
BIBFRAME bf:tableOfContents = AACR2 1.7B18 – Contents RDA 25.1 – Related Work MARC 505 – Formatted Contents Note
BIBFRAME RESOURCES BIBFRAME website (central hub): http://bibframe.org/ LC’s BIBFRAME website: http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/ BIBFRAME FAQ: http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/faqs/ BIBFRAME discussion list: http://listserv.loc.gov/listarch/bibframe.html
Recommended Reading/Watching BIBFRAME Primer (2012) - http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/pdf/marcld-report-11-21-2012.pdf BIBFRAME Webcasts & Presentations - http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/media/ Nimsakont, E.D. (2014). Beyond MARC: BIBFRAME and the future of bibliographic data. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7e0lzViCRA&feature=youtu.be Tennant, R. (2013). The post-MARC era, part 2: Where the problems lie, parts 1 and 2. Part 1: http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2013/05/roy-tennant-digital-libraries/the-post-marc- era-part-2/ Part 2: http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2013/05/roy-tennant-digital-libraries/the-post-marc- era-part-2-where-the-problems-lie-part-2/ Thomale, J. (2010). Interpreting MARC: where's the bibliographic data? Code4Lib Journal 11. Retrieved from: http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/3832