1. MARC, BIBFRAME, & Their Relationship to RDA
Presenter:
Karen Snow, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Graduate School of Library & Information Science
Dominican University

2. In This Session… MARC: History & Problems
Extensible Markup Language (XML)
Bibliographic Framework Initiative (BIBFRAME)

3. 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

4. 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

5. ISBD determining meaning of content
$a Into the darkness : $b Bob’s journey through the Enchanted Forest / $c Patty Pinecone.
$a Into the darkness ; $b Bob’s journey through the Enchanted Forest / $c Patty Pinecone.

6. 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.

7. 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….

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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  <publication date>1966</publication date>
264_4 … $c ©1966  <copyright date>1966</copyright date>
264_1 … $c [1966?]  <approximate date>1966</approximate date>

14. 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>

15. 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)

16. 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.

17. 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: pdf

18. 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:
LINKED DATA & RESOURCE DESCRIPTION FRAMEWORK (RDF)

19. 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

26. BIBFRAME Primer (2012) - http://www. loc

29. BIBFRAME Vocabulary
The BIBFRAME Vocabulary is comprised of the RDF properties, classes, and relationships between and among them.

35.
e.g., Ages 8-12

36. e.g., http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79006936
e.g.,

37. Naming conventions for classes and properties

50. Click on “Save” at the bottom of the page to generate a BIBFRAME view

52. 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

53. 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:

54. BIBFRAME bf:tableOfContents=
AACR2 1.7B18 – Contents
RDA 25.1 – Related Work
MARC 505 – Formatted Contents Note

55. BIBFRAME RESOURCES
BIBFRAME website (central hub):
LC’s BIBFRAME website:
BIBFRAME FAQ:
BIBFRAME discussion list:

56. Recommended Reading/Watching
BIBFRAME Primer (2012) -
BIBFRAME Webcasts & Presentations -
Nimsakont, E.D. (2014). Beyond MARC: BIBFRAME and the future of bibliographic data. Retrieved from
Tennant, R. (2013). The post-MARC era, part 2: Where the problems lie, parts 1 and 2.
Part 1: era-part-2/
Part 2: era-part-2-where-the-problems-lie-part-2/
Thomale, J. (2010). Interpreting MARC: where's the bibliographic data? Code4Lib Journal 11. Retrieved from: