FRBR, RDA and other acronyms: is this the end of cataloguing as we know it? Gordon Dunsire Depute Director, Centre for Digital Library Research University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland Presented to staff of Cambridge University Library, Cambridge 22 Jul 2009

RDA  Resource Description and Access  A new standard for creating bibliographic metadata  Based on the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules  In development since 1841 (Panizzi’s rules for the British Museum)  And FRBR and other more modern stuff  Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records  Developed by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)  Published 1998

User-centred features of RDA (1)  Improves the FRBRizability of catalogues  Covers all types of user  Those who need to find, identify, select, obtain and use information, and manage and organize information bibliographically  Covers all media  Print-based, digital; textual, visual, etc.  Equal, even treatment gives more control to the user in finding and choosing the most appropriate resources

FRBRisation Work Expression 1 Manifestation 1.1 Item Expression 2 Manifestation 2.1Manifestation 2.2 Item 2.1.1Item 2.2.1Item Is realised through Is embodied in Is exemplified by Symphony no.1 LSO performance DVD-A Copy on shelf

User-centred features of RDA (2)  Clearly distinguishes content from carrier  E.g. Moving pictures on DVD; text on CD-ROM  Helpful for users with special needs  E.g. restrict search to non-visual resources  Multinational  Anglo-centricity (and cataloguer-eccentricity) removed  Abbreviations and acronyms avoided  Latinisms removed  Farewell s.n., s.l., et al.  [Still arguing about square brackets!]

User-centred features of RDA (3)  Independent of technical metadata formats  Can be used with MARC, DC (Dublin Core)  And a whole bunch of other acronyms  Gives user familiar metadata regardless of what system is used  Designed for the digital environment  RDA will be published as an online product  So could be incorporated in user help facilities  E.g. How a “preferred title for the work” (uniform title) is derived

Cataloguer-centred features of RDA (1)  Online product designed to interface and integrate with cataloguing modules  Work-flow integration will give step-by-step and contextual access to content rules  Possibility of adding local examples  Possibility of “myRDA”, removing unwanted rules and unused options  LMS vendors being kept informed  Avoidance of repetitive strain injury  Looking for that rule on corporate body main entry in AARC2

Cataloguer-centred features of RDA (2)  More emphasis on cataloguer’s judgment  Guidelines rather than “rules”  Rules grouped by bibliographic element rather than format  Bibliographic elements related to FRBR entities (related to user tasks)  Why am I recording this information?  Authority control included  Generally compatible with AACR

A problem  Humans are very good at processing information  Creation, analysis, synthesis, communication  Some say this is what defines us  We have invented machines to process data  Faster, globally, non-stop  The result is the information eruption  The Web: a continual explosion  Information professionals cannot keep up  We need our machines to process metadata

Semantic Web  “… an evolving extension of the [WWW] in which the semantics of information and services on the web is defined, making it possible for the web to understand and satisfy the requests of people and machines to use the web content.”  Wikipedia, English, Jul 2009  The basic building block is Resource Description Framework (RDF)

Resource Description Framework (RDF)  Simple metadata statements in the form of subject-predicate-object expressions, called triples  E.g. “This presentation” – “has creator” – “Gordon Dunsire”  “presentation” and “creator” are metadata structure terms  Classes and properties  “this...” and “Gordon Dunsire” are metadata content terms  Instances or values

Machine-processing  RDF is about making machine-processable statements, requiring  A machine-processable language for representing RDF statements  Extensible Markup Language (XML)  A system of machine-processable identifiers for resources (subjects, predicates, objects)  Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)  For full machine-processing, an RDF statement is a set of three URIs

Identifiers  Things requiring identification (a URI):  Subject “This presentation”  e.g. its electronic location (URL):  Predicate “has creator”  e.g.  Object “Gordon Dunsire”  e.g. URI of entry in Library of Congress Name Authority File:  Declaring vocabularies/values as “namespaces” in Semantic Web applications provides URIs

RDA in RDF (part 1) : :: RDA Content Type : XML namespaces SKOS NSDL Registry Vocabulary URI

RDA in RDF (part 2) : :: :: spoken word :: Content expressed through language in an audible form. :: Includes recorded readings, recitations, speeches, interviews, oral histories, etc., computer-generated speech, etc. :: gesprochene Worte Umfasst aufgezeichnete Lesungen, Rezitationen, Reden, Interviews, mündliche Überlieferungen usw. und maschinell erzeugte Sprache. :: Inhalt, der durch Sprache in einer hörbaren Form ausgedrückt wird. : Term URI Term Definition Term (German)Registry status term URI

RDA in RDF (part 3) : :: New-Proposed : </rdf:RDF Registry status term URI Registry status term

A short history of the evolution of the library catalogue record

Lee, T. B. Cataloguing has a future. - Audio disc (Spoken word). - Donated by the author. 1. Metadata In the beginning the catalogue card

Author: Title: Content type: Provenance: Subject: Lee, T. B. Cataloguing has a future Spoken word Audio disc Metadata Donated by the author Carrier type: From flat-file record to relational record Name: Biography:... Name authority Term: Definition:... Subject authority Bibliographic description

Author: Title: Content type: Provenance: Subject: Lee, T. B. Cataloguing has a future Spoken word Audio disc Metadata Donated by the author Carrier type: From flat-file description to FRBR record Name: Biography:... Name authority Term: Definition:... Subject authority Bibliographic description Item Manifestation Author: Content type: Subject: Spoken word Expression Work

Lee, T. B. Metadata From FRBR record to extinction! Name: Name authority Term: Subject authority Item Manifestation Expression Work Provenance: Donated by the author Subject: Author: Title: Cataloguing has a future Content type: Spoken word Audio disc Carrier type: Term: RDA content type Term: RDA carrier type Donor: Title: Amazon/Publisher

Where is the record?  Implicit, not explicit  Everywhere and nowhere  A semantic Web will allow machines to create the record just-in-time  We will not have to maintain records just-in-case  The user will have control over the presentation  I want to see an archive or library or museum or Amazon or Google or Flickr or ? display  And by avoiding duplication, we can all get on with describing new stuff...

The hyperdimensional (Tardis) card Lee, T. B. Cataloguing has a future. - Audio disc (Spoken word). - Donated by the author. 1. Metadata Audio shop Lee Museum Spoken word archive W3C Library “TARDIS four port USB hub, for office-bound Time Lords: Open a time vortex on your desk” – Pocket-lint

Linking communities FRBRooCRM ISBDFRBR RDAMARC RDADC RDAFRBR RDAONIX FRBRooFRBR

Everything is connected FRBRooCRMFRBR RDAONIX DC MARC ISBD … at the community (human) and technical (Semantic Web) levels

Thank you  Another identifier   owl:sameAs 