Tag: RDA

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RDA Tip of the Week: Relationships

Many fields in RDA records now include relator terms to describe more precise relationships between entities in a consistent way. Some relators appear in a subfield at the end of the field:

100 1_ ǂa Green, John, ǂd 1977-, ǂe author.
700 1_ ǂa Bourguignon, Laurence, ǂe translator.

Some appear at the beginning of the field:

700 1_ ǂi Based on (work): ǂa Key, Watt. ǂt Fourmile.
700 1_ ǂi Abridgement of (expression): ǂa Hughes, Laurence P. ǂt Two.

There may even be two relator terms in one field:

100 1_ ǂa DeSerranno, Daniel, ǂd 1968- ǂe author, ǂe illustrator.
700 1_ ǂa Brooks, James L., ǂe director, ǂe producer.

Some relationships do not need extra relator terms in a MARC record, as they are already precisely described by MARC fields and indicators; for example, 7XX with second indicator 2:

700 12 ǂa Martel, Yann. ǂt Life of Pi.

indicates that the work in that field is contained in the main work described in the record.

Encoding these relationships is causing some difficulty now (some catalogs consider “Cai, Luo, ǂe author” to be a different person from “Cai, Luo”, for example) but they will be increasingly useful in a linked data environment.

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RDA Tip of the Week: Words and letters as pagination

In an RDA record, when page numbers are spelled out in words, record the pagination using the numeric equivalent. For example, if the page numbers go from “four” to “eighty-two”, record the extent as:

    82 pages

There are no brackets in this field! Extent of text (RDA 3.4.5) is recorded, not transcribed, so it contains the number of pages with no indication that it is spelled out (though you can mention it a note if it seems important).

A sequence of letters is different from spelled out numbers, though; if pages are numbered with letters (like A-R), record that range of letters:

    A-R pages

This is also different from pre-pages with Roman numerals. For example, for a book that is numbered in two sequences i-xi, 1-299, record the extent:

    xi, 299 pages

If those Roman numerals are just part of the main sequence (i-ix, 10-299), ignore the that the form of numbering has changed:

    299 pages
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Memoria de Mario : a deshoras y siempre con Mario Benedetti / Juan Cruz Ruiz. (OCLC #862740886)

This piece has an elastic band around it because it’s not actually bound; it’s just a stack of papers, each folded in half. The current (AACR2) record has the extent as

84 loose folded p. : ǂb ill.

though that should probably be an [84]. The (backs of the) pages are numbered in Spanish words: cuatro, seis, … ochenta y dos (so maybe even [82]).

RDA 3.4.5.2 says to record pages that are numbered in words using their numeric equivalent, so that would be:

82 pages

I would probably mention the loose/folded aspect in a note; some libraries may bind the piece, so it doesn’t seem like an essential descriptor, unless one is doing rare book cataloging. RDA’s “volume (loose leaf)” term appears to be more for updating loose-leaf volumes.

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RDA Tip of the Week: 33X ǂa or ǂb ?

RDA MARC records include the new 336/337/338 fields to record Content Type, Media Type and Carrier Type respectively. Each of these fields can use a term (like “text” in ǂa) and/or a shorter code (like “txt” in ǂb) for this information:

336 __ ǂa text ǂb txt ǂ2 rdacontent
337 __ ǂa unmediated ǂb n ǂ2 rdamedia
338 __ ǂa volume ǂb nc ǂ2 rdacarrier

If there are multiple types of content or carriers, the field should be repeated, possibly with a ǂ3 indicating which part you referring to:

336 __ ǂa performed music ǂb prm ǂ2 rdacontent
337 __ ǂa audio ǂb s ǂ2 rdamedia
338 __ ǂa audio disc ǂb sd ǂ2 rdacarrier
336 __ ǂa text ǂb txt ǂ2 rdacontent ǂ3 liner notes
337 __ ǂa unmediated ǂb n ǂ2 rdamedia ǂ3 liner notes
338 __ ǂa volume ǂb nc ǂ2 rdacarrier ǂ3 liner notes

Documentation varies on whether both ǂa and ǂb should be recorded in the same field. In practice, I commonly see both in the same field even in DLC records, but also see only the term used quite a bit.

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RDA Tip of the Week: No brackets in notes

In a bibliographical references note in an RDA record, page numbers should never be surrounded by square brackets, even when the pages mentioned do not actually have numbers printed on them. For example:

504 __ ǂa Includes bibliographical references (pages 204-208) and index.

(even if the logical page 204 doesn’t actually have that number printed on it)

More generally, the LC-PCC PS for RDA 1.7.1 regarding punctuation in notes says not to use square brackets in any notes except quoted notes. That is, only when you are quoting something that actually has brackets on it, should you include them. For example:

500 __ ǂa "The best book about punctuation, including [, ], <, and >"--Page 4 of cover.

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Teoría y práctica del análisis cinematográfico : la seducción luminosa / Lauro Zavala Alvarado. (OCLC #670478948)

RDA 7.15.1.3 on Recording Illustrative Content says to disregard illustrated title pages and other minor illustrations, but what makes an illustration minor?  Just drop caps, or little flowers between sections?

This particular book has clip art at the start of each chapter, like a film canister, a movie screen, or a director’s chair, but never anything so substantial as a photo of a director, or a still image from a film. If a patron were using the record to help choose a book (Cutter’s 3rd objective of the catalog), recording that the book has illustrations might mislead them, so I chose to disregard.

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Московский метрополитен / О. Емельянов, Л. Карпухин. (OCLC #869836375)

I am puzzled by RDA 3.4.5.9 which describes how to record plates, but also says to disregard unnumbered sequences of plates unless (a) they form a substantial part of the resource, or (b) include a plate that is referred to in a note. In practice, I am continuing to see even small numbers (8, 16) of unnoted plates recorded in the extent. Do you still record them?

This book about the subway system in Moscow was about half made up of plates, so I was able to record the “55 unnumbered pages of plates” without worry.

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RDA Tip of the Week: Copyright when?

Under RDA, Copyright Date is an element separate from Date of Publication and Date of Distribution. When it is recorded in the current MARC standard, it appears in its own 264 field:

    264 _4 ǂc ©2014

Note that this 264 has second indicator 4 (to indicate Copyright Date Notice), the copyright symbol and date appear in subfield c, and that subfield is the only one in this field.

Copyright dates appear in many RDA records, though they are rarely technically required. RDA 2.11 says that Copyright Date is a core element if neither the Date of Publication nor the Date of Distribution is identified. That means, if you have not written anything down for date of publication or distribution, and you have a copyright date available, you must record it as such.

However, LC-PCC PS for RDA 2.8.6.6 includes instructions to supply a publication date using the copyright date when possible, if it makes sense to do so. With the publication date identified, copyright date is no longer core, so need not be recorded!

So why do all of these RDA records have copyright dates in them? I personally feel weird supplying information without indicating why, and the copyright date notice serves as a justifying note. Also, the copyright symbol is more fun to type than c was; snag my macro if you’re having trouble with it.

Even if not core, recording copyright date is allowed, and creates a fuller record. At my library, we have as policy for our RDA original cataloging that we include the copyright date notice when it was used to supply the publication date.

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RDA Tip of the Week: Misleading page numbers

When recording pagination of a “typical” book (sequential page numbers on both sides of pages), record the last numbered page of each page sequence, followed by the term “pages”: (RDA 3.4.5.2)

  • xi, 213 pages
  • 210, 29 pages

If you know that those numbers don’t exactly describe the number of pages, for example:

  • a few pages are unnumbered (common in front matter!)
  • a few page numbers are skipped
  • a few page numbers are repeated

that is fine. As long as the numbers you record give a rough idea of the extent of the book (and no content is actually missing!) such abnormalities do not need to be recorded in the extent, or even noted in the record.

If, however, the number is very misleading, for example:

  • the number on the last page is a typo (such as 119 for 191)
  • pages are printed on both sides but sequentially numbered on one side

this strangeness should be recorded in the extent, for example:

  • 119, that is, 191 pages
  • 101 leaves, that is, 202 pages

(RDA 3.4.5.5)

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RDA Tip of the Week: The Initial Tip

When transcribing initials into descriptive fields, do not leave any space between them. (RDA 1.7.6) Examples:

Title:

  • Meet J.K. Rowling
  • Mosby’s PDQ for LPN

Statement of responsibility:

  • by J.R.R. Tolkien
  • poems by T.S. Eliot

Publisher:

  • A.P.H. Publishing Corporation
  • CNN Politics

When recording the name of a person or family as an authorized access point, there SHOULD be space between initials. (RDA 8.5.6.1) Examples:

  • Milne, A. A. (Alan Alexander), 1882-1956
  • Skinner, B. F. (Burrhus Frederic), 1904-1990

However, if the authorized access point is a corporate body, those initials (even if they are part of a name!) should have no spaces. (RDA 8.5.6.2) Examples:

  • A.W. Calhoun Medical Library
  • ABC Multimedia