[dxwg] Requirement: There needs to be a property in the profile where the rules for the descriptive content can be provided. This would apply to the entire profile. [ID42] (5.42)

kcoyle has just created a new issue for https://github.com/w3c/dxwg:

== Requirement: There needs to be a property in the profile where the rules for the descriptive content can be provided. This would apply to the entire profile. [ID42] (5.42) ==
This requirement is based on a use case that reflects practice primarily in libraries, but in some cases also in archives and museums.

For the last 50 years, libraries have used a specific data standard called "MARC".[1] That data standard includes a single data element to indicate the cataloging rules that were used to create the metadata. The element is called "descriptive cataloging form."[2]

18 - Descriptive cataloging form
# - Non-ISBD
a - AACR 2
c - ISBD punctuation omitted

A new data standard called BIBFRAME[3] includes this same information as one element of administrative data[4] for the bibliographic description (aka: record). The property is called "descriptive conventions":

Property: | descriptionConventions
Label: | Description conventions
Definition: | Rules used for the descriptive content of the resource description.
Used with: | AdminMetadata
Expected Value: | DescriptionConventions

In both cases, there is one value for each "record". 

Note that the "conventions" or "rules" are in part (as Phil said) style guides, but also contain detailed instructions for making decisions. Many such decisions are not validatable, but must be left to the human cataloger to make a decision within her context, and there often is "no right answer". The current rules used by many Western libraries are over 1000 pages in length.[6] Unfortunately there isn't an open access version but I could supply examples (warning: they'd be lengthy) if anyone wishes. 

[1] http://www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic/
[2] http://www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic/bdleader.html
[3] http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/docs/index.html
[4] http://id.loc.gov/ontologies/bibframe.html#c_AdminMetadata
[5] http://id.loc.gov/ontologies/bibframe.html#p_descriptionConventions
[6] https://www.amazon.com/RDA-Resource-Description-Print-2015-Revision/dp/0838913466/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528843589&sr=8-1&keywords=resource+description+and+access

Please view or discuss this issue at https://github.com/w3c/dxwg/issues/255 using your GitHub account

Received on Tuesday, 12 June 2018 22:53:26 UTC