Proposal No. 2008-05/2: Identifying work and expression records
1. BACKGROUND
In 2005, MARBI considered a report, Using MARC 21 with FRBR: Record Configurations. One of the objectives of this paper was to clarify the difference between internal record configurations and exchange records. A key point articulated in the report was that while there are numerous ways that a record can be configured internally within a system, an exchange record should be fully understood by itself and is not a dependent record or collection of records.
RDA was reorganized in October 2007 to attempt to better facilitate using some specific relational database models that also underlie the FRBR model. Proposal No. 2008-05/1 (Changes to the MARC 21 Formats to Encode Data using Resource Description and Access (RDA): Introduction and Principles) discusses these models and support for them in MARC. The FRBR/RDA relational models require identifying the level of the record in terms of FRBR Group 1 Entities, i.e. work, expression, manifestation, item.
2. DISCUSSION
While there are currently numerous FRBR implementations that use existing MARC 21 data to provide meaningful displays for users, it is believed that explicit coding in bibliographic and authority records to identify works and expressions will help to facilitate more effective displays and support for user tasks.
2.1 FRBR Group 1 Entities
In FRBR terms, works and expressions are both abstract entities of intellectual and artistic content. More specifically, the entity referred to as work is defined as a distinct intellectual or artistic creation of a work. The entity defined as expression is the intellectual or artistic realization of a work (through a mode of expression such as language).
In FRBR terms, a manifestation is the physical embodiment of an expression of a work. When a work is realized, the resulting expression of a work may be physically contained on or in a medium such as paper, video tape, etc. In other words, a manifestation can be viewed as the container for an expression of a work.
Works and Expressions as Authority records.
The name/title authority records and title authority records which we create today represent the FRBR entities defined as works and expressions.
Manifestations as Bibliographic records.
The bibliographic records that we create today are typically describing manifestations. We use name/uniform title and uniform title access points in these bibliographic manifestation records to identify works and expressions and to collocate resources -- they refer to work and expression data that is carried, however, in the appropriate work and expression records. In an internal system the work or expression references may be only through pointers, a concept that has been used in some internal systems for many years, but in the communications record we carry the data strings in support of simpler database systems that are not relational in that way. This referencing of the work and expression headings in a manifestation record does not, however, turn the manifestation record into a work record or an expression record.
Works and Expressions as Bibliographic records.
The 2005 MARBI report Using MARC 21 with FRBR: Record Configurations analyzed the fields in the MARC authority and bibliographic formats that are needed for work or expression records. No specific decisions were made about which type of record would be used. The point made was that while our tradition has been to make name/uniform title and uniform title (i.e., work and expression records) as authority records, they could have been made as bibliographic records. If they were made as bibliographic records, that would not change in any way the referencing of work or expression data in the bibliographic manifestation record.
Manifestations that do not need independent Work or Expression records.
And finally we need to look at the Type 1 entities for the 80% mentioned in the OCLC study that are lone manifestations and for which uniform titles are not needed. The study undertaken by OCLC indicated that 78% of items in WorldCat consist of a single manifestation. Here the manifestation record is the expression record and is also the work record. In such cases, fields 1XX/245 or field 245 of the bibliographic record serve to identify the work, expression, and manifestation, which are all the same. Again, while these records may be split into any convenient configuration internally, for the MARC communications record the data needs to be together in a single record and information that enables fragmentation in internal systems needs to be in the record.
It is proposed that new field 011 (Entity type) be defined in the MARC 21 bibliographic and authority formats to identify explicitly the work, expression, and manifestation level of the record. Defining a field in both the authority and bibliographic format will provide some flexibility for this information. The absence of field 011 in a bibliographic record is the default for a manifestation record.
If an authority record is for a name/title or title, AND the cataloging rules are RDA, then the authority would be expected to carry a 011 indicating whether it is for a work or for an expression. If the record is a name/title or title record but not RDA, then the 011 work or expression information would be a useful identifier of this type of record. If the record is not for a name/title or title heading and the cataloging rules are RDA, then it would be for another type of entity, e.g., a person.
3. PROPOSED CHANGES
In the MARC 21 formats for bibliographic and authority data, define field 011:
- 011 Work or expression record (NR)
This field identifies whether the record represents a work or an expression.- Indicators
- First – Undefined
- Second- Undefined
- Subfields
- $a – Entity type
Values: work, expression, manifestation - $2 - Source of type terms
- $a – Entity type
- Indicators
4. EXAMPLES
In the following examples, 4.1 examples use the Authority format for name/title and title headings; 4.2 examples use the Bibliographic format for name/title and title records. Both use the Bibliographic format for manifestation records. An agency should do one or the other.
In 4.3, work and expression records are not needed so only a bibliographic record is made.
4.1 Authority records for work and expression and bibliographic records for manifestations.
Example 1:
Authority records for work and expression:
011 ## $awork $2rda
100 1# $aOndaatje, Michael,$d1943-.$tEnglish patient.
011 ## $aexpression
100 1# $aOndaatje, Michael,$d1943-.$tEnglish patient.
$lFrench
Bibliographic record for manifestation:
011 ## $amanifestation (optional to include) $2rda
100 1# $aOndaatje, Michael,$d1943-
240 10 $aEnglish patient.$lFrench
245 13 $aLe patient anglais
Example 2:
Authority records for work and expression:
001 a100
011 ## $awork $2rda
130 #0 $aBible
001 a124
011 ## $aexpression $2rda
130 #0 $aBible.$lEnglish.$sDouai.$f1845
530 #0 $aBible$wg$0a100
Bibliographic record for manifestation -- both independent and contains linking numbers:
001 b467
011 ## $amanifestation (optional to include) $2rda
130 0# $aBible.$lEnglish.$sDouai.$f1845$0a124
245 14 $aThe Holy Bible,$ctranslated from the Latin Vulgate
4.2 Bibliographic records for works, expressions, and manifestations:
Example 1:
Bibliographic records:
011 ## $awork $2rda
100 1# $aOndaatje, Michael,$d1943-
240 0# $aEnglish patient
011 ## $aexpression $2rda
100 1# $aOndaatje, Michael,$d1943-
240 0# $aEnglish patient.$lFrench
011 ## $amanifestation (optional to include) $2rda
100 1# $aOndaatje, Michael,$d1943-
240 10 $aEnglish patient.$lFrench
245 13 $aLe patient anglais
Example 2:
Bibliographic records:
001 b139
011 ## $awork $2rda
130 #0 $aBible
001 b392
011 ## $aexpression $2rda
130 #0 $aBible.$lEnglish.$sDouai.$f1845
830 #0 $aBible$wb139
001 b467
011 ## $amanifestation (optional to include) $2rda
130 0# $aBible.$lEnglish.$sDouai.$f1845$wb392
245 14 $aThe Holy Bible,$ctranslated from the Latin Vulgate
4.3 Resources that do not need Work or Expression records
Example 1:
Bibliographic record:
011 ## $awork $aexpression $amanifestation (optional to
include) $2rda
100 1# $aErickson, John R.
245 10 $aHank the cowdog :$bit's a dog's life