RDA is based on FRBR, the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records. FRBR was developed by IFLA in the 1990s to delineate the functions of bibliographic records. It defines core entities like works, expressions, manifestations and items. RDA incorporates FRBR concepts like treating the first author as the primary access point even if there are many authors. Some libraries have given conditional approval to adopt RDA but want changes to simplify language and address issues with using MARC as the encoding format.

1. FRBR: What RDA is based on
FRBR: Functional Requirements of
Bibliographical Records
Buzz Haughton
©2012

2. History of FRBR
• 1990 Stockholm Seminar on Bibliographic Records (IFLA [International
Federation of Library Associations] Universal Bibliographic Control and
International MARC Programme and IFLA Division of Bibliographic
Control)
• “The purpose of this study is to delineate in clearly defined terms the
functions performed by the bibliographic record with respect to various
media, various applications and various user records. The study is to
cover the full range of functions for the bibliographic record in its widest
sense—i.e. a record that encompasses not only descriptive elements,
but access points (name, subject, title, etc.), other “organizing” elements
(classification, etc.) and annotations.
• IFLA also began to define standards for subject headings and authority
records, but those functions have not yet been enacted.

3. • Jo Rowling: Has an idea about a young wizard
while riding the train from Manchester to London
(1990s sometime)
• “Harry Potter” = Work (the idea in Jo’s head)
• From that come ideas for books (7), movies (8),
chess and board games, video games, web
pages (many), = Expressions
• Manifestations = physical or electronic
expressions of the idea of “Harry Potter”
• Items = Individual items that we catalog; the
bibliographic record is usually from the
Manifestation level

4. • Scientists have a notion that the earth is warming
(1970s-1980s sometime) due to human actions,
based on observations
• From that idea (Work) come various Expressions:
ideas for books; web pages; journals; charts;
maps
• These manifest as books, web pages, journals,
charts, maps (Manifestations)
• We catalog Manifestations and Items therefrom

5. FRBR and Cataloging

7. •“Rule of three” in AACR2 is discarded, e.g. if there are twenty-five authors,
the first author is the main entry, and the additional twenty-four are traced in
the 700 MARC field (subject to cataloger’s judgment); this parallels the
arrangement in periodical databases, e.g. PubMed
•Subfield e ($e = Relator term) will be used when appropriate, e.g.
$e editor, $e compiler, $e illustrator, $e performer, $e director, $e
producer, $e translator
(Even though “author” as $e is okay per RDA, LC and other libraries don’t
seem to use it)
•Abbreviations will no longer be used, unless they appear as-is in the item
being cataloged, e.g. 300 $b color illustrations; exception: cm
•Latin terminology, used in AACR2 (e.g. s.l. or s.n. i.e. sine loco or sine
nomine), will no longer be used, replaced by common English words, e.g.
[Place of publication not identified] and [Publisher not identified]
•Some terms will change, e.g. main entry (AACR2) will become primary access
point (RDA) and uniform (AACR2) titles (e.g. Bible, Koran, musical works) will
become preferred (RDA) titles

8. • In RDA, even if something has many authors,
the first author is the item’s primary access
point
• If there are 25 authors, unlike AACR2, the
first author is the primary access point, and
24 added title entries will be entered
(subject to cataloger’s judgment)

10. 245 04 The talented Mr. Ripley / $c an Anthony Minghella film.
336 ## two-dimensional moving image $2 rdacontent
337 ## video $2 rdamedia
338 ## videodisc $2 rdacarrier
110 2# Society of American Archivists.
245 10 Describing archives : $b a content standard / $c Society of
American Archivists.
336 ## text $2 rdacontent
337 ## unmediated $2 rdamedia
338 ## volume $2 rdacarrier
100 1# Nelson, Willie, $d 1933-, $e performer.
245 10 Here we go again : $b celebrating the genius of Ray Charles / $c
Willie Nelson, Wynton Marsalis ; featuring Norah Jones.
336 ## performed music $2 rdacontent
337 ## audio $2 rdacontent
338 ## audio disc $2 rdacarrier

11. • In their decision to have US libraries adopt RDA,
LC, NLM and NAL (including the British Library,
Library & Archives Canada, Deutsche
Nationalbibliothek (DNB) and the National
Library of Australia) gave some provisos about
its adoption:
• The US RDA Test Coordinating Committee had
mixed reaction as to whether to use RDA: 34%
yes; 24% yes with changes; 24% ambivalent;
14% no.
• Many of the objections to implementation had to
do with MARC.
• The language used in RDA must be simplified in
parts into readily-understandable English.
• This commencement date is not firm, i.e. it
could be changed as conditions change.

12. 6.27.4.5:
If a variant title for a work is associated with a particular
expression of the work, and the authorized access point
representing the expression has been constructed using
the preferred (AACR: uniform) title for the work and one
or more additions identifying the expression, construct a
variant access point representing the expression using
the authorized access point representing the person,
family or corporate body followed by the variant title
associated that expression.

13. • For an evaluation of the problems involved with using MARC in
the bibliographic universe, see:
http://www.loc.gov/marc/transition/news/framework-051311.html
• MARC has served the cataloging community well over the past
fifty years, but some participants in the RDA test group said
they thought we should adopt a different standard, e.g. XML or
SQL
• OCLC and other bibliographic utilities (like Millennium) are
geared toward MARC, so conversion to another computer
format would be problematic, if conversion were attempted