RDA vocabularies and concepts

1
RDA vocabularies and concepts

• Gordon Dunsire
• Depute Director, Centre for Digital Library
  Research
• University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland
• Presented to staff of the National Library of
  Scotland, Edinburgh
• 20 Jul 2009

2
Overview

• Part 1 Introduction to RDA
• Benefits to users and cataloguers
• Collaboration with other communities/standards
• Q/A and break
• Part 2 Introduction to the Semantic Web
• Concepts and methods
• Role of the library community
• Q/A and break
• Part 3 Putting it all together
• A short history of the evolution of the catalogue
  record

3
RDA vocabularies and concepts Part
1 Introduction to RDA
4
RDA

• Resource Description and Access
• A new standard for creating bibliographic
  metadata
• Based on the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules
• In development since 1841 (Panizzis rules for
  the British Museum)
• And FRBR and other more modern stuff
• Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records
• Developed by the International Federation of
  Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
• Published 1998

5
User-centred features of RDA (1)

• Improves the FRBRizability of catalogues
• Covers all types of user
• Those who need to find, identify, select, obtain
  and use information, and manage and organize
  information bibliographically
• Covers all media
• Print-based, digital textual, visual, etc.
• Equal, even treatment gives more control to the
  user in finding and choosing the most appropriate
  resources

6
FRBRisation
Work
Symphony no.1
Is realised through
Expression 1
Expression 2
LSO performance
Is embodied in
Manifestation 1.1
Manifestation 2.1
Manifestation 2.2
DVD-A
Is exemplified by
Item 1.1.1
Item 2.1.1
Item 2.2.1
Item 2.2.2
Copy on shelf
7
User-centred features of RDA (2)

• Clearly distinguishes content from carrier
• E.g. Moving pictures on DVD text on CD-ROM
• Helpful for users with special needs
• E.g. restrict search to non-visual resources
• Multinational
• Anglo-centricity (and cataloguer-eccentricity)
  removed
• Abbreviations and acronyms avoided
• Latinisms removed
• Farewell s.n., s.l., et al.
• Still arguing about square brackets!

8
User-centred features of RDA (3)

• Independent of technical metadata formats
• Can be used with MARC, DC (Dublin Core)
• And a whole bunch of other acronyms
• Gives user familiar metadata regardless of what
  system is used
• Designed for the digital environment
• RDA will be published as an online product
• So could be incorporated in user help facilities
• E.g. How a preferred title for the work
  (uniform title) is derived

9
Cataloguer-centred features of RDA (1)

• Online product designed to interface and
  integrate with cataloguing modules
• Work-flow integration will give step-by-step and
  contextual access to content rules
• Possibility of adding local examples
• Possibility of myRDA, removing unwanted rules
  and unused options
• LMS vendors being kept informed
• Avoidance of repetitive strain injury
• Looking for that rule on corporate body main
  entry in AARC2

10
Cataloguer-centred features of RDA (2)

• More emphasis on cataloguers judgment
• Guidelines rather than rules
• Rules grouped by bibliographic element rather
  than format
• Bibliographic elements related to FRBR entities
  (related to user tasks)
• Why am I recording this information?
• Authority control included
• Generally compatible with AACR

11
RDA and ONIX

• ONIX (Online Information Exchange )
• Publishing industry metadata standard
• 2 day workshop, March 2006, British Library,
  London
• RDA Editor, ONIX reps, facilitator
• Followed up via email and tele-con
• RDA/ONIX framework for resource categorization,
  August 2006
• Distinguishes content from carrier (at last!)
• Intention to extend framework
• Status Resources permitting now permitted!

12
RDA and DCMI

• DCMI (Dublin Core Metadata Initiative)
• 2 day meeting, April/May 2007, British Library,
  London
• RDA Editor, reps for RDA, DC and related Semantic
  Web communities
• Established the DCMI RDA Task Group
• Operates via wiki, email, tele-con, meetings at
  DC annual conferences
• Charter To define components of the draft
  standard "RDA - Resource Description and Access"
  as an RDF vocabulary for use in developing a
  Dublin Core application profile.
• Status Ongoing, but nearly complete

13
RDA and FRBR

• FRBR Review Group, August 2007, WLIC (IFLA),
  Durban, South Africa
• New project To define appropriate namespaces for
  FRBR (entity-relationship) in RDF and other
  appropriate syntaxes
• Status Report and recommendations discussed at
  WLIC, Québec City, Canada
• Delayed by IFLA website re-organisation
• FRBR recently extended to Object-oriented FRBR
  (FRBRoo)
• Based on CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (CRM)

14
RDA and FRAD

• Functional Requirements for Authority Data
• Published in May 2009
• Likely to be included in the FRBR namespace
  project
• RDA designed to be FRAD-ready
• Generalities already incorporated, with
  place-holders, etc.
• FRAD Family entity used in RDA
• FRBR only defines person and corporate body
  entities

15
RDA/ONIX framework

• An ontology developed by RDA and the publishing
  community to improve metadata interoperability
• Set of low-level attributes for describing the
  content and carrier of a bibliographic resource
• Controlled vocabularies for some attributes
• Attributes combined to form high-level content
  and carrier types for RDA

16
RDA/ONIX framework example

• RDA content type spoken word
• High-level label for a framework base content
  category
• Category attributes
• Character Language
• SensoryMode Hearing
• ImageDimensionality not applicable
• ImageMovement not applicable
• User what resources have content I can listen
  to?
• OPAC what content types have SensoryMode
  Hearing?
• (Spoken word Performed music etc.)
• then OPAC list bib records with these content
  types!

17
Vocabulary Mapping Framework (1)

• JISC-funded project to extend the RDA/ONIX
  framework
• Due for completion early November 2009
• Lead by publishing community
• GD is consultant
• Will develop an ontology/categorisation of
  relationships between/among bibliographic
  entities and agent entities (parties)
• E.g. Manifestion is-published-by Publisher Work
  is-created-by Author Work is-derived-from Work
• E.g. Creator gt Author, Collector,
  Illustrator Author Writer etc.

18
Vocabulary Mapping Framework (2)

• Relationship terms from several standards will be
  mapped to the ontology
• CIDOC-CRM, RDA, FRBR, FRAD, MARC21, etc.
• Mappings then provide a hub-and-spoke mapping
  between any pair of standards
• Efficient, as direct pair mappings not required
• Will improve metadata interoperability in
  large-scale, heterogeneous resource discovery
  services
• Ontology, terms, mappings compatible with
  Semantic Web (namespaces, etc.)

19
RDA vocabularies and concepts Part
2 Introduction to the Semantic Web
20
A problem

• Humans are very good at processing information
• Creation, analysis, synthesis, communication
• Some say this is what defines us
• We have invented machines to process data
• Faster, globally, non-stop
• The result is the information eruption
• The Web a continual explosion
• Information professionals cannot keep up
• We need our machines to process metadata

21
Semantic Web

• an evolving extension of the WWW in which
  the semantics of information and services on the
  web is defined, making it possible for the web to
  understand and satisfy the requests of people and
  machines to use the web content.
• Wikipedia, English, 10.08 15 Jul 2009
• The basic building block is Resource Description
  Framework (RDF)

22
Resource Description Framework (RDF)

• Simple metadata statements in the form of
  subject-predicate-object expressions, called
  triples
• E.g. This presentation has creator
  Gordon Dunsire
• presentation and creator are metadata
  structure terms
• Classes and properties
• this ... and Gordon Dunsire are metadata
  content terms
• Instances or values

23
Semantic Web applications

• RDF Schema (RDFS)
• Expresses the structure of metadata classes and
  properties
• Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS)
• Expresses the basic structure and content of
  concept schemes such as thesauri and other types
  of controlled vocabularies
• Web Ontology Language (OWL)
• Explicitly represents the meaning of terms in
  vocabularies and the relationships between them
  (scope, etc.)

24
Machine-processing

• RDF is about making machine-processable
  statements, requiring
• A machine-processable language for representing
  RDF statements
• Extensible Markup Language (XML) ?
• A system of machine-processable identifiers for
  resources (subjects, predicates, objects)
• Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) ?
• For full machine-processing, an RDF statement is
  a set of three URIs

25
Identifiers

• Things requiring identification (a URI)
• Subject This presentation
• e.g. its electronic location (URL)
  http//cdlr.strath.ac.uk/pubs/dunsireg/NLSRDA.pps
• Predicate has creator
• e.g. http//purl.org/dc/terms/creator
• Object Gordon Dunsire
• e.g. URI of entry in Library of Congress Name
  Authority File http//errol.oclc.org/laf/nb2001-7
  2552.html
• Declaring vocabularies/values as namespaces in
  Semantic Web applications provides URIs

26
RDA RDF vocabularies

• Being added to the National Science Digital
  Library metadata registry
• Stored in a database
• Output as RDF(S)/SKOS
• Automatic creation of a URI for each entry
• Base domain http//RDVocab.info
• First part of every RDA vocabulary URI
• Identifies the namespace or collection/set of
  terms

27
RDA value in SKOS (part 1)
lt?xml version"1.0" encoding "UTF-8"?gt ltrdfRDF
xmlns"http//www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core"
xmlnsrdf"http//www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax
-ns" xmlnsrdfs"http//www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-sc
hema" xmlnsskos"http//www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/
core" xmlnsdc"http//purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
xmlnsreg"http//metadataregistry.org/uri/schema
/registry/"gt lt!-- NOTICE This is a
single-concept fragment --gt lt!-- Scheme RDA
Content Type --gt ltskosConceptScheme
rdfabout"http//RDVocab.info/termList/RDAContent
Type"gt ltdctitlegtRDA Content Typelt/dctitlegt lt/
skosConceptSchemegt
XML namespaces
SKOS
NSDL Registry
Vocabulary URI
28
RDA value in SKOS (part 2)
Term URI
lt!-- Concept spoken word --gt ltskosConcept
rdfabout"http//RDVocab.info/termList/RDAContent
Type/1013" xmllang"en"gt ltskosinScheme
rdfresource"http//RDVocab.info/termList/RDACont
entType"/gt ltregstatus rdfresource"http//meta
dataregistry.org/uri/RegStatus/1002"/gt ltskospre
fLabel xmllang"en"gtspoken wordlt/skosprefLabelgt
ltskosdefinition xmllang"en"gtContent
expressed through language in an audible
form.lt/skosdefinitiongt ltskosscopeNote
xmllang"en"gtIncludes recorded readings,
recitations, speeches, interviews, oral
histories, etc., computer-generated speech,
etc.lt/skosscopeNotegt ltskosprefLabel
xmllang"de"gtgesprochene Wortelt/skosprefLabelgt
ltskosscopeNote xmllang"de"gtUmfasst
aufgezeichnete Lesungen, Rezitationen, Reden,
Interviews, mündliche Überlieferungen usw. und
maschinell erzeugte Sprache.lt/skosscopeNotegt lts
kosdefinition xmllang"de"gtInhalt, der durch
Sprache in einer hörbaren Form ausgedrückt
wird.lt/skosdefinitiongt lt/skosConceptgt
Term
Definition
Term (German)
Registry status term URI
29
RDA value in SKOS (part 3)
lt!-- Status properties used in this document
--gt ltskosConcept rdfabout"http//metadataregis
try.org/uri/RegStatus/1002"gt ltskosprefLabel
xmllang"en"gtNew-Proposedlt/skosprefLabelgt lt/sko
sConceptgt lt/rdfRDF
Registry status term URI
Registry status term
30
RDA content type spoken word
The term spoken word can be referenced as the
value of the field content type in any metadata
record using RDF/XML (Semantic Web) xmlnsrdvct
http//RDVocab.info/termList/RDAContentype
lt rdvct1013 gt The field/attribute/element
content type can be referenced in a similar way
to the RDF Schema for RDA elements being
developed by DCMI/RDA
31
More library namespaces

• IFLA bibliographic control standards
• Discussions during WLIC 2008, Québec City
• RDF Schema for entities and relationships from
  Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records
  (FRBR)
• E.g. Work, has Expression / is Expression
  of
• Others are likely to follow
• Functional Requirements for Authority Data (FRAD)
• International Standard Bibliographic Description
  (ISBD)
• ISBD/XML Task Group
• Functional Requirements for Subject Authority
  Data (FRSAD)
• UNIMARC
• Library of Congress taking a similar approach
  with MARC21

32
RDA vocabularies and concepts Part 3 Putting it
all together
33
A short history of the evolution of the library
catalogue record
34
In the beginning ...
Lee, T. B.
Cataloguing has a future. - Audio disc (Spoken
word). - Donated by the author.
1. Metadata
... the catalogue card
35
From flat-file record ...
Bibliographic description
Name authority
Author
Lee, T. B.
Name
Biography
Title
Cataloguing has a future
...
Content type
Spoken word
Audio disc
Carrier type
Subject authority
Subject
Metadata
Term
Provenance
Donated by the author
Definition
...
... to relational record
36
From flat-file description ...
Bibliographic description
Name authority
Author
Lee, T. B.
Name
Biography
Title
Cataloguing has a future
...
Work
Content type
Spoken word
Author
Audio disc
Carrier type
Subject authority
Subject
Subject
Metadata
Term
Expression
Provenance
Donated by the author
Definition
Content type
Spoken word
...
Manifestation
Item
... to FRBR record
37
From FRBR record ...
Work
Name authority
Author
Lee, T. B.
Name
Subject
Subject authority
Expression
Metadata
Term
Content type
Spoken word
Manifestation
RDA content type
Title
Cataloguing has a future
Term
Audio disc
Carrier type
RDA carrier type
Item
Term
Provenance
Donated by the author
Donor
Amazon/Publisher
Title
... to extinction!
38
Where is the record?

• Implicit, not explicit
• Everywhere and nowhere
• A semantic Web will allow machines to create the
  record just-in-time
• We will not have to maintain records just-in-case
• The user will have control over the presentation
• I want to see an archive or library or museum or
  Amazon or Google or Flickr or ? display
• And by avoiding duplication, we can all get on
  with describing new stuff ...

39
The hyperdimensional (Tardis) card
W3C Library
Audio shop
Lee, T. B.
Cataloguing has a future. - Audio disc (Spoken
word). - Donated by the author.
1. Metadata
Lee Museum
Spoken word archive
TARDIS four port USB hub, for office-bound Time
Lords Open a time vortex on your desk
Pocket-lint
40
(No Transcript)
41
Linking communities
FRBRoo
FRBR
RDA
ONIX
FRBRoo
CRM
RDA
FRBR
ISBD
FRBR
RDA
DC
RDA
MARC
42
Everything is connected
FRBRoo
CRM
FRBR
ISBD
RDA
ONIX
MARC
DC
at the community (human) and technical
(Semantic Web) levels
43
Thank you

• Another identifier
• g.dunsire_at_strath.ac.uk
• owlsameAs
• http//errol.oclc.org/laf/nb2001-72552.html