Getting Real With RDA

Diane I. Hillmann Director of Metadata Initiatives Information Institute of Syracuse

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association Library Data

Libraries are no longer the first place people come for information

The Internet has changed the way people (including us) behave when seeking information

Our former “granularity consensus” is coming apart

To compete effectively for user attention, we must:

Join the larger world of information, where our users are

Learn how the competition attracts users, draws them in, and takes good advantage of their interest in participating

Find a better balance between protecting privacy and capturing usage behavior

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association Type of Standard Old Standard New Standard(s)? Bibliographic Model None FRBR, FRBRoo Metadata Content AACR2 RDA Metadata Structure MARC21 Bibliographic RDVocab Name Authority MARC21 Authority FRAD Subject Authority MARC21 Authority FRASAR, SKOS Encoding MARC21 XML, XML/RDF

The comfortable certainties we know are coming undone, whether we’re ready or not

We have much experience and insight to offer the larger information world (but not everything we’ve learned is relevant)

We are collectively about the size of the Queen Mary, unable to turn on a dime—this change will take time

Resistance is futile—we are not in charge of this new world, and our options are two: adapt or retire

Is RDA really going to happen?

Is it that different from AACR2?

What about MARC?

When will RDA be implemented? How will RDA be implemented?

How can we best prepare for all this?

What’s this Semantic Web thingy all about, and why do we care?

RDA is a FRBR-based approach to structuring bibliographic data

It’s contains more explicitly machine-friendly linkages (preferably with URIs)

There’s more emphasis on relationships and roles …

… and less emphasis on cataloger-created notes and text strings (particularly for identification)

Also, there’s less transcription (important in an increasingly digital world)

The Textual Guidance (successor to AACR2)

RDA Constituency Review has been completed, decisions about what will be included in the first release have been made

2 nd quarter calendar 2009 – RDA content is finalized

3 rd quarter calendar 2009 – RDA is released

3 rd and 4 th quarters calendar 2009, possibly into 1 st quarter calendar 2010 – Testing by national libraries

1 st and 2 nd quarters calendar 2010 – Analysis and evaluation of testing by national libraries

3 rd -4 th quarters calendar 2010 – RDA implementation ?

RDA Online will include the text and a number of tools

Pricing still not firm, but ALA Publishing is aware of the need for affordability

Among the free tools we should see:

Capability to create “sample records” using various flavors of RDA

XML Schemas to use with RDA data

RSS feeds to keep track of vocabulary changes

Ability to participate in discussion of changes in RDA vocabularies

RDA elements, roles and vocabularies have been provisionally registered

The vocabularies and the text will be tied together in RDA Online

Maintenance of vocabularies will be via the Registry (no synchronization necessary)

Some efforts have begun to consider how MARC21 data can be parsed into FRBR entities and RDA

eXtensible Catalog Project moving strongly in this direction

Unfortunately, we don’t know what OCLC is planning

Discussions about long term maintenance of both RDA and the vocabularies have barely started

The push is already on for multi-language RDA Vocabularies

DCMI/RDA Task Group

See: http://dublincore.org/dcmirdataskgroup/

Set up during the April 2007 London meeting between JSC and DCMI

Gordon Dunsire and Diane Hillmann, co-chairs

Karen Coyle & Alistair Miles, consultants

IFLA Classification and Indexing Section

Gordon Dunsire (Centre for Digital Library Research, University of Strathclyde) will be registering FRBR entities and relationships

Possible inclusion of ISBDs, FRAD, etc., in future

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association RDA Elements Listing 334!

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association RDA Elements Listing 334! Base material

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association Detail: Base Material

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association Detail: Base Material URI

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association RDA Roles Listing

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association RDA Roles Listing Author

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association Detail: RDA Role Author

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association RDA WEMI Relationships

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association Detail: RDA WEMI Relationship

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association RDA Base Material Vocabulary

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association RDA Base Material Vocabulary Skin

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association RDA Base Material: Skin No definition?

From the DCMI/RDA Cataloger Scenarios

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association Jane Cataloger is assigned to work on a gift collection. Her first selection is a Latvian translation of Kurt Vonnegut's "Bluebeard: a novel." She searches the library database for the original work, and finds: * Author : Kurt Vonnegut * Title of the work : Bluebeard: a novel * Form of work : Novel * Original language of the work : English

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association Translated to RDA/XML: Upgraded to RDA/XML with Links: < frbrWork ID= "rda.basic/01”> <rdarole:author> Kurt Vonnegut </rdarole:author> <titleOfTheWork> Bluebeard: a novel </titleOfTheWork> <form OfWork> Novel </form OfWork> <originalLanguageOfTheWork> English <originalLanguageOfTheWork> </frbrWork> < frbrWork ID= "rda.basic/01”> <rdarole:author> http://lcnaf.info/79062641 </rdarole:author> <titleOfTheWork> Bluebeard: a novel </titleOfTheWork> <form OfWork> http://RDVocab.info/genre/1008 </form OfWork> <originalLanguageOfTheWork> http://marclang.info/eng </> </frbrWork>

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association with links to the following expression information : * Language of expression : English * Content type : Text and one manifestation : * Statement designating edition : 1st trade edition * Place of publication : New York * Publisher’s name : Delacorte Press * Date of publication : 1987 * Extent of text : 300 pages * Identifier for the manifestation : [ISBN]0385295901

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association Translated to RDA/XML: Upgraded to RDA/XML with Links: < frbrExpression ID= "rda.basic/07”> <contentType > Text </contentType > <languageOfExpression> English <languageOfExpression> </frbrExpression> < frbrExpression ID= "rda.basic/07”> <form OfWork> http://RDVocab.info/termList/RDAContentType/1020 </ > <languageOfExpression> http://marclang.info/eng </> </frbrExpression>

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association Translated to RDA/XML (with links below): < frbrManifestation ID= "rda.basic/09”> <statementDesignatingEdition > 1st Trade Edition </ > <placeOfPublication> New York <placeOfPublication> <publishersName> Delacorte Press </publishersName> <dateOfPublication> 1987 </dateOfPublication> <extentOfText> 300 pages </extentOfText > <identifierForTheManifestation> [ISBN]0385295901 </> </frbrManifestation> < frbrManifestatiion ID= "rda.basic/09”> <statementDesignatingEdition > 1st Trade Edition </ > <placeOfPublication> http://www.getty.edu/tgn/7007567 </> <publishersName> http://onixpub.info/2039987 </> <dateOfPublication> 1987 </dateOfPublication> <extentOfText> 300 pages </extentOfText > <identifierForTheManifestation> urn:ISBN:0385295901 </> </frbrManifestation>

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association FRBR Group 1 Work Exp: eng Man: eng

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association Jane begins her description by linking to the existing Work entity. She then creates an expression description: * Content type : text * Language of expression : Latvian * Translator : Grigulis, Arvīds She creates an authority record for the translator since none yet existed. She continues by creating a fuller description for the new manifestation, linking to the authority record for the Latvian publisher (what luck, it already existed!). * Title : [in Latvian] * Place of publication : Riga * Publisher’s name : Liesma * Date of publication : 1997 * Extent of Text : 315 pages

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association Translated to RDA/XML: Upgraded to RDA/XML with Links: < frbrExpression ID= "rda.basic/11”> <contentType > text </contentType > <languageOfExpression> Latvian <languageOfExpression> <rdarole:translator> Grigulis, Arvīds </rdarole:translator> </frbrExpression> < frbrExpression ID= "rda.basic/11”> <form OfWork> http://RDVocab.info/termList/RDAContentType/1020 </ > <languageOfExpression> http://marclang.info/lav </> <rdarole:translator> http://lcnaf.info/83219993 </frbrExpression>

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association Translated to RDA/XML (with links below): < frbrManifestation ID= "rda.basic/09”> <title > [in Latvian] </ > <placeOfPublication> Riga <placeOfPublication> <publishersName> Liesma </publishersName> <dateOfPublication> 1997 </dateOfPublication> <extentOfText> 315 pages </extentOfText > </frbrManifestation> < frbrManifestatiion ID= "rda.basic/09”> <placeOfPublication> http://www.getty.edu/tgn/7006484 </> <publishersName> http://onixpub.info/6770094 </> <dateOfPublication> 1997 </dateOfPublication> <extentOfText> 315 pages </extentOfText > </frbrManifestation>

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association FRBR Group 1 Work Exp: eng Man: eng Exp: lav Man: lav

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association FRBR Group 1 FRBR Group 2 Work Exp: eng Man: eng Exp: lav Man: lav Author Publisher Translator

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association FRBR Group 1 FRBR Group 2 FRBR Group 3 Work Exp: eng Man: eng Exp: lav Man: lav Author Publisher Translator Subjects Concepts Objects Events Places

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association FRBR Group 1 FRBR Group 2 FRBR Group 3 Work Exp: eng Man: eng Exp: lav Man: lav Author Publisher Translator Subjects Concepts Objects Events Places Content Vocabularies Media Vocabularies Other Information In the “Cloud” Relationship Vocabularies

Now that the revolution is upon us?

We need to:

Make our data harvestable so that others can use it

Identify our data structures and vocabularies for use on the web

Make our data more “data-like” ( not so much for direct consumption by humans)

Make our systems more “cloud-like”

: Library Data 4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association

4/29/09 New Jersey Library Association Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882 family name fore name date birth date death What important world events happened during his lifetime? Who was writing on science at the same time? Show me a map of important places in his life What can you do with it?

Coordination with JSC (or it’s successor, given the need to move beyond “Anglo-American”) on long-term maintenance planning

We need a lightweight, more participatory process, where change is not a multi-year marathon

Continuing development towards a more Semantic web-friendly RDA (even less reliance on transcription, for instance)

Tool development (at all levels, including ILS vendors)

The bad news: This isn’t like 1981, when there was a “start date” and we knew exactly when to change gears

More bad news: This transition is likely to be a pretty messy one, and last longer than we would like

One unknown is OCLC’s role—at present they seem to be focused on consolidating control over library data and promoting WorldCat as an ILS

The good news: library vendors are starting to wake up and smell the coffee!

Testing what, exactly?

Attempting to determine whether RDA Online in its initial release offers sufficient benefit, compared to current methods, to achieve the objectives that the Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA has stated for the proposed new cataloging code

Based on the analysis of the test results, and considering the cost of implementation, the three US national libraries will determine whether to implement the initial release of RDA

Not clear what a “no” recommendation might imply

20+ diverse test partners will create records, using a 20-25 item test set of resources

Each test partner will produce an RDA record and a record using its currently adopted cataloging code, e.g. AACR2, DACS, VRA, for each resource in the core test set (using different people)