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RDA in the wilder world

Workshop on SerialsSatellite conference “RDA in the wider world”

OCLC, Dublin (Ohio, USA), August 11th, 2016

Clément OuryISSN International Centreclement.oury@issn.org

@ISSN_IC

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Objectives of the workshop

“Every knowledge is an answer to a question”Gaston Bachelard, The building of scientific mind, 1938

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Objectives of the workshop

- Identify set / families of issues for serials cataloguing in RDA

- Identify and list the current practices

• Preferably with real examples

- Issues to be discussed

• Modelling serials in an FRBR/RDA context

• Internationalization of RDA: the serials and ISSN case

• The changing nature of serials

• Serial publications and linked data

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Serials have many issues!

- Serials and other continuing resources have specificities• A specific granularity: a record, multiple issues (not mentioning the articles!)

• Many evolutions through time…

• … of any kind: other editions, mergers, splits, cessations, resurrections…

• …that cannot be anticipated!

- A massive switch to digital publishing• Users now generally access serials online: newspapers as well as scholarly publications

- Serials are international• Country of publication often changes

- Serials are complex objects… hence they are not the favourite resources for model designers!

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Modelling serials in an FRBR/RDA context

RDA is consistent with FRBR…

But is FRBR consistent with serials?

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Does FRBR model fit well with serial publications?

- FRBR Final report, 1998: • “Certain aspects of the model merit more detailed examination (…). In

particular, the notion of “seriality” and the dynamic nature of entities recorded in digital formats merit further analysis”.

- Example of FRBRER modelling: The Wall Street Journal as a serial work

• Eastern and Western editions as two distinct expressions of that same work.

- FRBROO / PRESSOO: a radically different approach• Each title is a work in its own right

- So how to model work/expression/manifestation?

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FRBR-LRM and Serials

- FRBR-LRM (Draft as of July 2016): • “The description of serials is particularly difficult to model, because it does not

limit itself to a description of the past, but is also intended to allow end-users to make assumptions about what the behaviour of a serial will be in at least the near future”.

- “It ensues that any serial work can be said to have only one expression and only one manifestation”… Really?

• Different expression: serial title A’ is a different language edition of title A

• Different manifestation: digital edition of serial title B is the strict equivalent of the printed edition

• It may be true… but for how long?

- No collocation for serial publications?• Except for ceased ones?

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FRBR… and ISSN

- ISSN: an independent set of principles and rules

• The basis: ISSN standard, ISO 3297:2007

• A dedicated body of instructions: ISSN Manual (aligned on ISBD rules)

• Official liaisons between ISSN, ISBD and RDA

- ISSN: two levels

• ISSN-L: a serial title, whatever the carrier

• ISSN: a serial title on a specific carrier (printed / digital on media / online)

• Other (regional, linguistic…) editions are distinguished titles with different

ISSN

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Œuvre

Expression

Manifestation

Item

Item

Manifestation Item

Item

Expression Manifestation Item

FRBR and ISSN models

ISSN

ISSN

ISSN-L

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Key-title: an old-fashioned AAP?

- Key-title: the second identifier of a serial title• Unique and strictly linked to the ISSN number

• Similar to the title proper if title proper is unique in the Register

• Otherwise, a qualifier is added (sometimes several)o E.g.: Libération (Paris. 1940. Reproduction numérique) [ISSN 2420-5907]

- Rules to select the qualifier are pretty strict• Place/date of publication; language/geographic/medium edition statement;

issuing body/publisher

- Main issue relies in identification of major/minor title change

- Note: ISSN Register does not manage authority records• And thus discard any MARC21 [1XX] field in records provided by National

Centres

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Building AAP for Serial works/expressions

- Importance of the “creator” field to design work AAPs• In 2010, only 20% of serial records have creators (almost only corporate bodies)

- Different solutions • [1XX] + [245] if title has a creator and title is unique

• [1XX] + [240] if title has a creator and title is not uniqueo What qualifier to use?

• [245] if no creator and title is unique

• [130] if no creator and title is not unique

- Language translations are expressions• Use of $l in [240] or [130]

- Geographic editions are separate works (use of a qualifier in parenthesis)

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Questions for the focus group

- How to create AAP for serial titles?

- Is collocation possible for serial titles?

- What relationship / difference / concurrence (!) between RDA

AAP and ISSN key-title?

- Should the ISSN system be revised to better address FRBR

issues?

• Should a “meta-ISSN” for a family of titles be designed?

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Serials, RDA and internationalization

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The ISSN: a dedicated network for continuing

resources- ISSN: standard and network created in 1975

- An identifier for all kind of continuing resources

- A decentralized assignment process• 89 National Centres

• Assignment associated to the production of a reference bibliographic record

- A unique point of access to ISSN information: the ISSN Register• Maintained and distributed by the ISSN International Centre

- Around 1.9 million records• With an increase of 75,000 / year (30% for online resources)

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The ISSN network today

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ISSN Network and RDA

- Within the Network: every level of adoption (or non-adoption)

of RDA

• 12 countries sending records with 336-338 and/or 264 fields

- ISSN Manual regularly updated to adapt to RDA practices

• ISBD remains the underlying standard

• But some fields are added: e.g. content/media/carrier types

• And some exceptions when RDA and ISSN rules conflict (e.g. for

abbreviations)

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Publishers and serials records

- Online publication have let publishers to be more involved in metadata management

- RDA/ONIX framework: a point a cooperation between publishers and libraries

- Publishers and/or access providers (discovery tools, etc.) may provide records to libraries

• And/or information on articles

- Libraries may retrieve bibliographic records from libraries in other countries

• Hence following other bibliographic standards

• Within the ISSN network: transfer of record responsibility when the nationality of the publisher changes

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Questions for the focus group

- About relationship with publishers / service providers

• What kind of records do they provide?

• Is possible to retrieve them in your catalogues? What conflict with RDA

standards?

• How do you manage article information?

- About ISSN data

• Do you use ISSN data / do you retrieve information from the Register?

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The changing nature of serials

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The universe of continuing resources

Continuing resources

“Publication, in any medium, that is issued over time with no predetermined conclusion”

Serials

“Continuing resource in any medium, issued in a succession of discrete parts, usually bearing numbering, that has no predetermined conclusion”

Newspapers MagazinesScholarly journals

Monographic series

Annual reports

Blogs

Ongoing Integrating resources

“Resources that are updated over time and with no predetermined conclusion, for which

the updates are integrated into the resources and do not remain discrete”

Websites DatabasesLoose-leaf

publications

ISSN manual 0.2, section 0.2

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Fuzzy borders

- Theoretically, it is simple• Serials and ongoing integrating resources are applied the same rules

• Except that description is based on the latest iteration o Use of [247] field in MARC21 to record earlier titles

• And that changes do not result in a new recordso By the way, it’s not consistent with ISSN rules!

- Practically, it is a bit more challenging• Some resources are hybrid, e.g. newspaper websites

• Some resources change: an online serial evolves into a database

• Which leads to inconsistencies: a serial resource on print may be linked to an ongoing integrating resource online

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Questions for the focus group

- How to distinguish between serials and ongoing integrating

resources?

• And how to manage “hybrid” material?

- How to catalogue ongoing integrating resources?

• And records the title/creator changes?

- How to catalogue new kinds of documents (if any)?

• Databases? Websites? Blogs?

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Serial publications and linked data

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PRESSOO: an ontology for continuing resources

- FRBROO: object-oriented version of FRBR

- PRESSOO : FRBROO for serials and other continuing resources• “An ontology which aims to represent the underlying semantics of

bibliographic information about continuing resources, and more specifically about periodicals”

- FRBROO chosen as the reference standard• For its object-oriented approach: convenient for linked data

• More suitable than FRBRER to express the dynamic nature of serials

• As it allows interoperability with other cultural fields (as a CIDOC-CRM extension).

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Addressing the specific issues of continuing resources

- A specialized data model to represent serials and ongoing

resources

• “features” (frequency, medium...)

• changes that affect them over the time (continuations, absorptions,

splits...)

• relationships they can have with other serials (linguistic editions...)

- Prepared by ISSN IC and the BnF

• Endorsed by IFLA cataloguing section and intended to become an

IFLA standard

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How to use PRESSOO?

- High-level model against which practical rules should be assessed

• E.g. examination of PRESSOO by RDA WG on Aggregates

- A “toolbox”: a complete set of classes of properties to describe

continuing resources

• Which are derived from the ISSN Manual

• Suitable for object-centric and event-centric modelling

- A complete ontology to publish a linked dataset

• In conjunction with CIDOC-CRM and FRBROO

• As experimented in ROAD

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A continuing resource

still being publishing

according to PRESSOO

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Periodical, issue,

article in PRESSOO

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The RDA Aggregates Working Group

- An aggregate: “a manifestation embodying multiple distinct expressions”• A very wide range of resources: augmentations, parallel editions, anthologies… and

continuing resources

- RDA AWG: • Better distinguish aggregate resources (is it different from whole/part resources?)

• Review the modelling proposed in the Final report of the RDA WG on Aggregates and in FRBROO (and look at draft FRBR-LRM)

• Check compliance of current RDA rules – notably the creation of AAP for expressions

• Potentially propose new relationships to face identified issues

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Questions for the focus group

- Does your institution publish bibliographic information as

linked data?

• If yes, is information on serials included?

- What models/standards/formats are in use?

• And how are serials modelled?

- Is this information re-used by third parties?

• And how? What is your feedback?

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Thank you for your participation!