1 Why integrate RDA and FRBR?

One of the main reasons to integrate RDA and FRBR with other standards and frameworks is to improve the user experience and access to library resources. By applying RDA and FRBR principles, you can create more consistent, accurate, and comprehensive metadata records that reflect the different aspects and manifestations of a resource, such as its author, title, format, edition, or language. This can help users find, identify, select, and obtain the resources they need, as well as discover related or similar resources. Moreover, by integrating RDA and FRBR with other standards and frameworks, you can ensure that your metadata records are compatible and interoperable with other systems and platforms, such as catalogs, discovery tools, digital repositories, or web services.

2 How to integrate RDA and FRBR with MARC?

MARC is the acronym for Machine-Readable Cataloging, and it is a widely used standard for encoding and exchanging bibliographic data in libraries. However, MARC was developed before RDA and FRBR, and it has some limitations and challenges for implementing them. For example, MARC does not fully support the expression of FRBR entities and relationships, such as works, expressions, manifestations, and items, or the distinction between primary and secondary relationships, such as authorship and subject. Moreover, MARC is based on a fixed and predefined structure of fields, subfields, and indicators, which may not accommodate the flexibility and granularity of RDA elements and vocabularies. Therefore, to integrate RDA and FRBR with MARC, you need to follow some best practices and conventions, such as using specific fields and subfields to indicate FRBR levels, using authorized access points and controlled terms to represent RDA elements, or using punctuation and delimiters to separate RDA components.

3 How to integrate RDA and FRBR with BIBFRAME?

BIBFRAME is the acronym for Bibliographic Framework, and it is a new standard for representing and linking bibliographic data on the web. BIBFRAME is based on the principles of Linked Data, which is a method of publishing and connecting data using URIs, RDF, and vocabularies. BIBFRAME is designed to be more compatible and aligned with RDA and FRBR than MARC, as it uses four main classes to model bibliographic data: Work, Instance, Item, and Agent. These classes correspond to the FRBR entities of work, manifestation, item, and person or corporate body, respectively. BIBFRAME also uses properties and subproperties to express RDA elements and relationships, such as title, creator, subject, or identifier. Therefore, to integrate RDA and FRBR with BIBFRAME, you need to map your MARC records to BIBFRAME records using tools and converters, such as the Library of Congress BIBFRAME Editor or the MARC2BIBFRAME2 XSLT.

4 How to integrate RDA and FRBR with Linked Data?

Linked Data is a broader concept than BIBFRAME, and it refers to any data that is published and linked on the web using URIs, RDF, and vocabularies. Linked Data can enable libraries to enrich and enhance their bibliographic data with external sources of information, such as authority files, thesauri, or encyclopedias. For example, you can link your RDA elements and FRBR entities to the Library of Congress Name Authority File, the Library of Congress Subject Headings, or Wikipedia. This can improve the consistency, accuracy, and discoverability of your data, as well as provide more context and meaning to your users. Moreover, Linked Data can enable libraries to share and reuse their bibliographic data with other communities and domains, such as museums, archives, or education. This can foster collaboration, innovation, and interoperability across different sectors and disciplines. Therefore, to integrate RDA and FRBR with Linked Data, you need to use standard vocabularies and identifiers, such as RDA Registry, FRBRoo, or ISNI, and follow the best practices and guidelines of the Linked Data community, such as the W3C Library Linked Data Incubator Group.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?