Burying MARC to give life to BIBFRAME: are cataloguers in

Africa ready for the new baby in the court of the 4IR

Nomusa Zimu-BiyelaIGBIS FORUM: 29-30 August 2019

Leriba Hotel, Centurion, South Africa

Contents• Introduction and background• Statement of the problem• Aim of the study• Research methodology• Findings• Recommendations• Conclusion• References

Introduction and background• What is the 4IR?

• Klaus Schwab-German Engineer & Economist Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

• Represents technology embedded within societies and in the human bodies (World Economic Forum, 2016).

Introduction and background

Introduction and background

Library Responses in South Africa (UJ Colloquim, 2018) • Professor Johannes Cronje (Dean of Informaticsand Design at the Cape University of Peninsula)affirmed, the 4th Industrial Revolution is with us.

• Libraries should be looking forward to thetransition into the 5th Industrial Revolution andhow they can shift from “knowing the collectionto knowing their networks”

Transition from MARC to BIBFRAME

Who is BIBFRAME?

•BIBFRAME 2.0 model (Bibliographic Framework) is an initiative to evolve bibliographic description standards to a Linked Data model (Library of Congress, 2011).

IGBIS Conference (2017), Marco McKenzie

Linked Data (Adapted from McKenzie, 2017)

Linked Data (Adapted from Cagnazzo, 2017)

FRBR & RDA• Two models that came prior BIBFRAME:FRBRRDA (Steele, 2018)

• FRBR - conceptual entity-relationship-based model (IFLA);

• User-centric and hierarchical than MARC and the card catalog;

• Key concepts are WEMI: work, expression, manifestation & item

RDA• RDA standard was introduced in June 2010, to replace AACR2 (Steele, 2018).

• Uses vocabulary relevant in creating bibliographic data for the Semantic Web (Steele, 2018).

• RDA recognizes the relationships between entities and harnesses bibliographic data to make it more discoverable on the Semantic Web (Steele, 2018)

Linked Data Basic Principles (Marco McKenzie, 2017)

•Any entity in the Web must have a unique identifier defined by a URI

•URIs used for identification and discoverability•URIs must provide useful information in a standard format (RDF)

•The information returned must explicitly express the relationship or the concept or thing

Structure of BIBFRAME

• Three key concepts in BIBFRAME 2.0 model are:

Agents (authors, publishers, illustrators, composers and others);Subjects (what is the work about), and; Events (occurrences such as recordings)

(Steele, 2018; Xu, Hess & Akerman, 2018)

What is the structure of BIBFRAME?•BIBFRAME organises information into three core classes/levels:

Work (authors, languages, subjects; Instance (physical entity such as book, CD, DVD); and Item (holdings or item record)

Who are the pioneers/drivers of BIBFRAME?• 2011/2012 Library of Congress launched BIBFRAME (Steele, 2018; Xu, Hess & Akerman, 2018)

• Compatible with XML-based encoding standard that is flexible and suitable for the Semantic Web

Why BIBFRAME? Why, the burying of MARC?

• Strong rivalry - Roy Tennant • 2002 published article – advocates “MARC must die”

(Steele, 2018; Xu, Hess & Akerman, 2018) • It is of proprietary nature – promotes the use of vendor

software (Steele, 2018; Xu, Hess & Akerman, 2018) • The linear and static nature limits its use in the Semantic

Web (Casalini, 2016; Heinrich, 2007).• Library catalogue is self-contained data silo,with no

connection to the data on the Web

Why BIBFRAME? Why, the burying of MARC?•MARC is not popular outside the library community.

•BIBFRAME provides framework for sharing semantically rich data in a Web-friendly environment.

• It will allow libraries to be part of the Web Data or Linked Data.

MARC vs BIBFRAME (McKenzie, 2017)

Bundles records neatly as a record

Eliminates duplication of information

Independently understandable The relationship between records are crucial

Aggregates info about the Conceptual Work and its physical carrier

Uses Controlled identifiers for things

Web Entry Point

Transition into BIBFRAME (The How)?• Understanding of CROSSWALKS/MAPPINGS of MARC fields that are in compliance with the specifications of the new model, BIBFRAME is critical.

• Are cataloguers/metadata specialists in Africa ready for the new baby in the court of the 4IR?

Statement of the problem• Frederick (2016) opines that cataloguing is rapidly

evolving. As we progress from MARC, AACR2 to RDA, RDF and Linked Data of the Semantic Web, it is increasingly becoming complex . The transition is demanding fast and steep learning curve from the cataloguers and metadata specialists.

• Cagnazzo (2017), although various institutions have applied Linked Data to their resources, but they are still in minority and a considerable lack of expertise was noted, despite the advantages of Linked Data in increasing the visibility, discoverability and interoperability functionalities

Are cataloguers in Africa ready to boldly fly to the network cloud ???

Are the CATS in Africa ready to bury MARC???

Aim of the study•To gain insight about:•BIBFRAME Model and how it differs from MARC model

•cataloguers/metadata specialists’ perceptions regarding the transition of their data from MARC into BIBFRAME

Research methodology

• Literature was reviewed, including the content analysis of PowerPoint Presentations that were presented at the LIASA-IGBIS Conferences/Forums (2017/2018) (Bowen, 2009)

Findings (Competencies)• BIBFRAME Cataloguer • (Cataloguer 3.0)• Database Manager• Data Curator• Web content writer• Discovery Interface designer• Infographic designer• Crosswalk guru• Research analyst

• Discipline-specific competencies; Resource Description Formats; Digital Library Standards;

• Content standards: RDA, AACR2;• Structure standards: Dublin

Core, MODS, MARC, RDA Element Sets, BIBFRAME, EAD, VRA Core;

• Data encoding, format, and exchange standards: MARC, XML, Turtle;

• Value standards: LCSH; DDC (Darries 2017)

Findings• Rasana (2018)• Are cataloguers in • KZN really • Comfortable• With RDA???

• Level of comfort in using the RDA standard by the KwaZulu-Natal Cataloguers

• Very Comfortable 05%• Comfortable 30%• Neutral 38%• Very uncomfortable 05%• Uncomfortable 14%

Findings• Notable that, the Systems Development Manager from Sabinet presented on Linked Data in IGBIS Seminar (2017).

• Are we, as cataloguers in Africa, sufficiently skilled in that subject area???

• Do cataloguers still have a role to play? (Carina, 2017. Presentation entitled: From the old to the new… Towards better resource discoverability).

Findings

Recommendations• To be kept abreast with new developments through:• To be kept abreast with new developments through:In-house discussions and trainings

Workshops; Webinars; Listservs

Experienced Cataloguers to mentor Inexperienced Cats

Cataloguers to create their own training manuals (Rasana, 2018). Increased collaboration including international collaborations

needed (Darries, 2017).

Conclusion•Technological evolvement (4IR), Linked Data, FRBR, RDA and BIBFRAME are here with us.

•CATS to become adaptive species rather than endangered species.

•Collaboration and Upskilling nationally and internationally imperative.

References• BIBFRAME, Bibliographic Framework Initiative (Library of Congress): overview of the BIBIFRAME

2.0 Model. 2016. https://www.loc.gov/bibframe/docs/bibframe2-model.html. Accessed 27 June 2019• Bowen G. 2009. Document analysis as a qualitative research method. Qualitative Research Journal

9 (2):27–40. Available at: www.mendeley.com/research/document-analysis-qualitative-research-method. Accessed15 March 2011.

• Cagnazzo, L.F. 2017. Linked data: implementation, use and perceptions across European National Libraries.Dissertation for the MSc Information and Library Studies. University of Strathclyde, Department of Information Science.

• Casalini, M. 2016. Implications of BIBFRAME and Linked Data for Libraries and Publishers. Paper presented at the proceedings of the Charleston Library Conference. http://dx.doi.org/10.5703/1288284316449.

• Carina 2017. From the old to the new… Towards better resource discoverability. Paper presented at the LIASA-IGBIS Seminar held at Centurion Lake Hotel, Gauteng, South Africa, 8 September.

• Darries, F. 2017. Competencies for Cataloguing and Metadata Librarians. Paper presented at the LIASA-IGBIS Seminar held at Centurion Lake Hotel, Gauteng, South Africa, 8 September.

• De Klerk, T. 2018. Resource Description: Unlocking developing trends and smart technologies. Paper presented at the LIASA-IGBIS Conference/Forum held at Centurion Lake Hotel, Gauteng, South Africa, 16-17 August.

References• Frederick, D.E. 2016. Metadata specialists in transition: from MARC cataloguing to linked data and BIBFRAME

(data deluge column). Library Hi Tech News 4:1-6

• Heinrich, H. 2007. E-journal invasion: a cataloguer’s guide to survival. Oxford: Chandos Publishing.• McKenze, M. 2017. To Linked Data or Link Data: That’s The Question. Paper presented at the

LIASA-IGBIS Seminar held at Centurion Lake, Gauteng, South Africa.• Marais, H. 2017. Resource description and discoverability: trends and challenges : introduction.

Paper presented at the LIASA-IGBIS Seminar held at Centurion Lake Hotel, Gauteng, South Africa, 8 September.

• Rasana, N. 2018. Transition from AACR2 to RDA by certain KZN libraries. Paper presented at the LIASA-IGBIS Conference/Forum held at Centurion Lake Hotel, Gauteng, South Africa, 16-17 August.

• Steele, T.D. 2018. What comes next: understanding BIBFRAME. Library Hi Tech, https://doi.otg/10.1108/LHT-06-2018-0085. Accessed on 04 November 2018.

• Xu, A.; Hess, K & Akerman, L. 2018. From MARC to BIBFRAME 2.0: Crosswalks. Cataloguing & Classification Quartely 56 (2-3): 224-250.

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