Transcript Proposals for simplification of RDA 2.7-2.10

RDA and the “cascading
vortex of horror”: proposals for
simplification of RDA 2.7-2.10
Alan Danskin
Metadata Standards Manager, British Library
British Library Representative to Joint Steering Committee for
Development of RDA
ISNI: 0000 0001 1825 6037
From JSC Agenda 2014
• 6JSC/ALA/29 Clarifying core element status for “not
identified” elements in the Distribution and Manufacture
Statements (RDA 2.9 and 2.10)
• 6JSC/ALA/Discussion/4 Transcription issues associated
with the Production Statement (RDA 2.7)
• 6JSC/BL rep/1 Simplification of RDA 2.7-2.10
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Overview
• Imprint
• From Panizzi to RDA
• Cascading Vortex of Horror
• Problems with imprint in RDA
• What is to be done?
• Next Steps
• Links
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Panizzi’s 91 Rules
XXVII
Then the place where the book was printed; and in particular
cases, as in the instance of early or very eminent
typographers, the printer's name to be specified. Next the
date : when no date or place is specified, then either or both
to be given, if known to, or conjectured by, the librarian ; but
in these instances to be included in brackets. The form to
follow, whether fol., 4to, 8vo, &c.
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AACR
138. Imprint.
A. Order of elements. The imprint is recorded in the catalog entry in the conventional order of
place, publisher, date.
C. Printer's imprint as a substitute for publisher's imprint. If neither the place of publication nor
the publisher is named in the work and the place of printing and the name of the printer are,
the latter are used in the imprint.
139. Place of publication.
Preliminary note. The place of publication is the place in which the offices of the pub- lisher
are located. It is commonly designated on the title pages of his publications, immediately
preceding or follow- ing his name.
140. Publisher.
A. General rule. The publisher statement appearing on a work is abridged as much as
possible without loss of intelligibility or identification of the publisher.
141. Date.
A. General rule. An imprint date on the title page is always recorded.
F. Date uncertain. If there is no imprint date given in the book and the exact date cannot be
ascertained, a date is supplied....
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AACR2
1.4B. General Rule
1.4B1 In this area, record information about the place, name, and date of all types of publishing,
distributing, releasing, and issuing activities. For unpublished materials, see 1.4C8
1.4B2 Record information relating to the manufacture of the item in this area.
1.4B3 When more than one place, name, or date is recorded in this area, give them in the order
that is appropriate to the item being described.
1.4B4 Give names of places, persons, or bodies as they appear, omitting accompanying
prepositions unless case endings would be affected. Use abbreviations as instructed in appendix
B
1.4B5 If the original publication details are covered by a label containing publication details
relating to a reproduction, reissue, etc., give the publication details of the later publication in this
area. Give the publication details of the original in a note if they can be ascertained readily.
1.4B6 If an item is known to have fictitious publication, distribution, etc., details, give them in the
conventional order. Supply the real publication, distribution, etc., details as a correction if they are
known.
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Changes from AACR2 to RDA
AACR2
RDA
Record
Transcribe
Record shortest form
Generally don’t omit information
Penguin
Penguin Books
Aggregate functions
Publication, Distribution, etc. Area
Separate functions
Production Statement
Publication Statement
Distribution Statement
Manufacture Statement
Chapter 4 Manuscripts
Distinction between published
unpublished resources
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Some issues
• Cascading vortex of horror
• Published and Unpublished resources
• Transcription and identification
• Resource Discovery requirements
• Complexity
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“Cascading vortex of horror…?”*
“Refers to the chain of instructions the cataloguer may be
required to follow in order to satisfy the core requirements,
when a piece of information is not available.”
* Phrase Attributed to Kathy Glennan
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For example…
Publication Statement Edinburgh : Canongate Books , 2013
Publication statement when all components are known.
Publication Statement Edinburgh : [publisher not
identified] , 2013
Distribution Statement Kirkcaldy : Danskin Distribution ,
[2014]
Statements required when core element cannot be identified
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Published and Unpublished resources
Publication
“Products”
Books, Serials, Scores, Commercial
Recordings, etc.
Archives, Manuscripts, artworks,
naturally occurring or manmade
objects, etc.
“Self describing”
Not self describing
Explicit statement by publisher
No statement
Transcription
Transcription …of what?
Explicit statement by publisher
No statement
Authoritative
Dubious, erroneous, unclear
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Transcription and identification
Transcribed note
Imprinted at London by Thomas
Este, the aßigné of William Byrd,
& are to be fold at the houfe of the
fayd T.Este, being in Alderfgate
street, at the figne of the black
Horfe. 1590.
Publication Statement : London : Thomas Este, 1590
Distribution Statement: London : T. Este, [1590]
Manufacture Statement London : Thomas Este, 1590
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Discovery relying on transcribed data
Thomas Este
T. Este 
Thomas Est
Find things printed by T. Este
Thomas Easte
T.E.
T. East
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Discovery relying on controlled data
Thomas Este
T. Este 
Thomas Est 
Find things printed by T. Este
Thomas Easte 
T.E. 
T. East 
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ICP Objectives and Functions of the
Catalogue
The catalogue should be an effective and efficient instrument
that enables a user:
4.1.1. to find a single resource
4.1.2 to find sets of resources representing: …
• all resources defined by other criteria (language, place of
publication, publication date, content type, carrier type,
etc.), usually as a secondary limiting of a search result;
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FRBR User Tasks
FRBR User Task
FIND
Group 1 Entities
W
E
IDENTIFY
M
I
W
E
M
SELECT
I
OBTAIN
W
E
M
I
W
E
M
I
L
L
L
H
L
L
H
M H
H
Attributes of a
manifestation
Place of
publication/distribution
L
Publisher/distributor
Date of
publication/distribution
Fabricator/manufacturer
L
M
M L
L
H
M
M H
L
M
L
Relationships Between a
Manifestation and:
persons/corporate bodies
responsible for
production/dissemination
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M
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RDA and use cases
Manifestation
RDA 21 has PPDM/is PPDM
RDA 9,10,11
Person, Family,
Corporate Body
has property/is property
FIND SETS
Place of PPDM
PPDM Name
Date of PPDM
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FIND
IDENTIFY
SELECT
OBTAIN (ITEM)
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Complexity
4 Statements x 5 elements
54 Pages
186 instructions
Conditional core requirements
Optional additions
Option omissions
Exceptions
Alternatives
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Different from AACR2
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What’s to be done?
1. Separate the IDENTIFY and FIND tasks:
–
Same data cannot support both
2. Replace aggregate elements with simple statement
transcribed from source
–
Production Statement an exception?
3. Use relationships to support collocation
–
How far can we take this?
4. Propose new elements/instructions to fill gaps
–
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What are the wider implications
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Choices
There are different approaches
I have illustrated the main options in two scenarios
Scenario A (lighter touch)
Scenario B (major impact)
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Summary of Scenario A
Transcribe dates in 2.7-2.10
– i.e. do not apply instructions for numbers recorded as words,
etc. at RDA 1.8
Deprecate subordinate elements
– i.e. Place, Name, Date
Define new elements Date of Manifestation & Place of
Manifestation to record controlled form of dates or names of
places
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Example 1; Scenario A
2.8 Publication Statement Imprinted at London by Thomas Este,
the aßigné of William Byrd & are to be fold at the houfe
of the fayd T.Este, being in Alderfgate street, at the
figne of the black Horfe. 1590.
2. ? Place of Manifestation London
2. ? Date of Manifestation 1590
21. 3 relationship to Publisher East, Thomas, 1540? – 1608?
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Summary of Scenario B
• Transcribe dates in 2.7-2.10
– i.e. do not apply instructions for numbers recorded as words,
etc. at RDA 1.8
• Deprecate 2.7-2.10
• New Element 2.7 Issuance Statement
• Deprecate subordinate elements for Place, Name and Date
• Extend model to
– Unconstrain Place entity
– Add Timespan entity
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Example 1; Scenario B
2.8 Issuance Statement Imprinted at London by Thomas Este,
the aßigné of William Byrd & are to be fold at the houfe
of the fayd T.Este, being in Alderfgate street, at the
figne of the black Horfe. 1590.
21. 3 relationship to Publisher East, Thomas, 1540? – 1608?
23.? relationship to Timespan 1590
23.? relationship to Place Sign of the Black Horse, Aldergate
Street, London
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Example 2: Scenario B
2.7 Issuance Statement Published by: Prospect, London.
Printers: Wyndeham (Peterborough) Limited,
21.3
21.5
23.?
23.?
relationship to Publisher Prospect
relationship to Manufacturer Wyndeham Limited
relationship to Timespan Published 2001relationship to Place Published
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Benefits: Scenario B
More consistent instructions on transcription
No aggregate elements
Simpler to apply:
No cascading vortex of horror
Shorter text
Simpler metadata
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Benefits: Scenario B
Richer discovery
Variant terms
Place Entity and Timespan Entity
Attributes, e.g. calendar; script; system of numeration
Wider applications, e.g. Place of Birth; Date of Work
Extensibility
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Scenario B
RDA 23.? has place of publication/is place of publication
Manifestation
RDA 21.3 has publisher/is publisher
has property/is property
RDA 23.? has date of publication/is date of publication
RDA 16 Place
RDA 9,10,11
Person, Family,
Corporate Body
RDA? Time
Span
has property/is property
issuance
statement
(Literal)
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calendar
type
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Simplification: Pages
RDA Reference
Current Text
Scenario A
Scenario B
2.7
11
6
6
2.8
14
6
0
2.9
12
6
0
2.10
13
6
0
2.17.6.
1
1
1
2.17.7
1
1
0
2.17.8
1
1
0
2.17.9
1
1
0
Date of Manifestation
0
2
0
Place of Manifestation
0
2
0
Total
54
32
7
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Simplification: Instructions
RDA Reference
Current Text
Scenario A
Scenario B
2.7
26
22
22
2.8
40
22
0
2.9
43
22
0
2.10
45
22
0
2.17.6
8
8
8
2.17.7
8
8
0
2.17.8
8
8
0
2.17.9
8
8
0
Date of Manifestation
0
7
0
Place of Manifestation
0
7
0
Total
186
134
30
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Wider issues
Substantial changes to instructions
Changes to RDA element set
Changes to MARC 21
Additional subfields and indicators for 264
New fields
Changes to FRBR model
New entity Timespan
Remove constraints from Place
ISDB
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What happens next?
Constituency responses to JSC papers due by 4th October
JSC meets in Washington, D.C. 3-7 November
Minor changes could appear in RDA April 2015 Update
Major issues will need further work, even if agreed
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Links to RDA
Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA
http://rda-jsc.org/rda.html
RDA Toolkit
http://www.rdatoolkit.org/
RDA Registry
http://www.rdaregistry.info/
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Links to papers discussed
• http://rda-jsc.org/docs/6JSC-ALA-29.pdf
• http://www.rda-jsc.org/docs/6JSC-ALA-Discussion-4.pdf
• http://www.rda-jsc.org/docs/6JSC-BL-rep-1.pdf
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Links to IFLA
IFLA Statement of International Cataloguing Principles
http://www.ifla.org/publications/statement-of-internationalcataloguing-principles
Final Report of the IFLA Study Group on Functional
Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR)
http://www.ifla.org/publications/functional-requirements-forbibliographic-records
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