German Rules Landscape

Institutions                        Members                            Members

                                          Working Level                    Decision Level

                                          (WG Descriptive Cata)      (Cat. Rules Conf.)[3]

To complete the German landscape: Four library networks (Bavaria, North-Rhine-Westphalia, the Southwest with Saxony and the Serials Data Base) will migrate to Horizon at the beginning of 1999. This has been and still is a major factor of rapid progress in rule changes, at least for rule changes that can be carried out automatically.

2 REUSE

REUSE and REUSE+ were projects in which

·      biblographic data were systematically analyzed in several work packages,

·      and codes that underly these bibliographic data were compared.

The close cooperation of rule experts in the US and Germany made the analysis possible. In this context I would like to thank above all Barbara Tillett of LC and Glenn Patton of OCLC.

The close cooperation (and partly personal union) with German rule experts was the prerequisite for realization of rule changes and harmonization.

As time is short I would prefer to summarize the projects from the point of view of rule alignment, and not delineate the methods. The reports of the project can be found under the following URL:

http://www.oclc.org/oclc/cataloging/reuse-project/index.htm

2.1 REUSE

From the standpoint of rules, minor and major differences were defined as follows:

·      Minor rule differences:

·      ISBD: a few alignments will be necessary

·      Main and added entries:

We do have major differences in this context. But regarding the online-world we kept the topic as minor. The Toronto Conference, though, showed the difference. Thus the solution of the German Rules Experts might be of interest.

·      Major rule and format differences:

Headings for persons, corporate bodies and titles are different, in some cases definitions differ and in many cases entities do not match, a few examples:

·      Main differences in headings for persons:

Modern names are similar though there are still some decisive differences:

·      prefixes within a surname are written without any spaces,

·      and above all: identical names are not differentiated by qualifiers

Ancient names differ considerably, as we use the Latin or the original form.

·      Main differences in headings for corporate bodies:

just to mention a few:

·      executive and information agencies are not entered as subdivisions (they are omitted)

·      conferences of organizing corporate bodies are not entered as subdivisions (their publications are entered under the organizing body)

·      geographic names are always entered under the original and official name, etc.

Within the corporate bodies many entities will not be matched.

A comparison of corporate bodies in AACR2r and RAK has been made by colleagues in Cologne based on a check of all RAK examples by LC colleagues in NAF.  See the URL:

URL: http://www.ocl.org/oclc/cataloging/reuse-project/comparison.htm

·      Main differences in headings for titles:

In many cases  in RAK the title is not entered as it occurs in the item, especially as hyphens, slashes, and other marks are concerned - spaces are added or omitted differently.

A major difference is the so-called “Ansetzungssachtitel” - a kind of a filing title for e.g. volume and author statements at the beginning or the end of a title. In case of author statements AACR-catalogers sometimes enter under a uniform title.

·      Multivolume records are treated considerably different:

we use hierachies and links, I’ll refer to this in the next chapter.

·      Romanization in non Latin languages is considerably different.

As a result of their work the REUSE working group proposed a number of actions to be taken immediately in Germany:

·      Active participation of German libraries and library networks in international authority files. In this context differentiation of identical personal names should be mandatory. The entities of corporate bodies should be equalized as well.

·      Changes in the bibliographic record section of RAK:

·      The title proper should be the main title. The title should be entered as it appears in the item.

·      All form titles (as festschrift, treaties, constitutions and “Sammlung” - collected works etc.) should be encoded. An international standardization should be the aim.

·      Multivolume works should be analyzed in a further project (REUSE+). Within this context the hierarchy of separate records for subseries (Abteilungen) should be abandoned.

2.2 REUSE +

In Reuse+  the different types of representations of hierarchical bibliographic structures in the formats USMARC and MAB2 (including the formats of the Goettingen and Constance Library Networks) were to be analyzed.

As the final project report is written in German, with only an English summary currently available, I will give some details and examples.  In German library networks we create records for the whole and the parts, i.e. for every volume of a multivolume work regardless whether the title is distinctive or not. Thus it is done once in the central database as a master record for all participants. Local systems reuse these records.

Thus we dutifully follow AACR in applying hierachies in multivolume works:

AACR 13.6A: Divide the descriptive information into two or more levels. Give at the first level only information relating to the item as a whole. Give at the second level information relating to a group of parts or to the individual part being described. If information at the second level relates to a group of parts, give information to the individual part at a third level.

To import German data into USMARC should not be difficult as we differ between parts without distinctive titles (so called Bandaufführung) and with distinctive titles (Stücktitel). The last have the same record structure as monographic series, the first could be imported to 505 with or without further information. The difficulty is to extract the information for multivolume works from American records, especially when using the tags 300 and 505, as 505 is used for other information as well (e.g. TOCs, contents works). The information indicating multivolume works now can only be retrieved by the “v”. in 300.

I would like to demonstrate this:

Structure of multivolume works in Germany

1st level:         Collective title record: (item as a whole)

= this record is always made, regardless whether the volumes have distinctive titles or not

                                               author / corporate body

                                                           (links to authority files)

                                               title proper

                                               statement of responsibility

                                               publ. place : publisher

                                               notes etc.

2nd or further level

subseries volume record[5]

(if existing)

                                                            title of subseries

                                                           ..

                                                           linkages to volumes

the volumes:

a) volumes with weak,                                                                     b) volumes with

            general or no titles                                                                           distinctive titles

(Bandaufführung)                                                                                (Stücktitel)                                                                 

            authors / corp. bodies                                                 authors / corp. bodies 

(if existing, linked to authority file)                                (if existing, linked to authority file)

            general / weak title (if any)                                           title proper

            statement of responsibiblity                                          statement of responsibiblity

            edition statement                                                         edition statement

            publication year                                                           publication year

            physical description                                                     physical description

            collective title ; volume                                                collective title ; volume

                                               (upward link to collective title record by ID-number)

Structure of multivolume works   -   Examples

·       Records for a multivolume work with weak title         (type a))

OCLC record - one record                                                     Record in the SW LN - 4 records

                                                                                                     1st level, collective title record

001 ocm28254594                                                                      idn 2993008

...                                                                                                  BND 3

100 1 aYarwood, Doreen.                                                         200eYarwood, Doreen

245 14aThe architecture in Europe /cDoreen                       320*_The_ architecture in Europe

             Yarwood                                                                        359 Doreen Yarwood

260  aLondon :bBatsford,1992-                                               410 London

300  av.<1-3  > ;c25 cm                                                             412 Batsford

...                                                                                                  574 mb   (indicates the multivolume work)

505 1 av.1 The ancient classical and Byzantine world,

              3000... --v.2. The Middle Ages, 650-1550

              -- v.3 Classical architecture, 1420-1800                    2nd level - 1st volume

                                                                                                     idn 2993032

                                                                                                     ...

                                                                                                     440 442 (2993008) _The_ architecture in Europe ; 1

                                                                                                            445 The ancient classical and Byzantine world,                                             3000... - 1992. - VII, 166 S. : zahlr. Ill., Kt.

                                                                                                     ...

                                                                                                     574 od  (indicates that it is a volume record type a),                                            without a distinctive title)

                                                                                                     records for the 2nd and 3rd volume are equivalent

·       Records for a multivolume work with  a distinctive title (type b))

In this case a monographic series which is treated identically as finite multivolume records in most German LN

OCLC - 1 record                                                                      Southwest German LN - 2 records

                                                                                                     Record for the collective title:

001 ocm13063011                                                                      idn 642075

...                                                                                                  ...

100 1 aBrazier, Paul.                                                                  ...

245 10aArt history in education :ban annotated ..              320* Studies in education

             .. /cPaul Brazier ; introduction ...                                ...

260 aLondon ...,c1985                                                               410 London

300 acii, 72 p. ;c22cm                                                                574 se   (Indicator for an - infinite - series)

...                                                                                                 

490 1 aStudies in education,x0458-2101 ;                              Record for the part:

              vnew ser. 15                                                                

...                                                                                                  idn 1395340

830 0a aStudies in education (London, England)                ...

              ;vnew ser. 15                                                                200*Brazier, Paul

                                                                                                     320 Art history in education

                                                                                                     335 an annotated ...

                                                                                                     359 Paul Brazier

                                                                                                     410 London

                                                                                                     412 Heinemann Educational Books

                                                                                                     425 XII, 72 S.

                                                                                                     440 442 (0642075) Studies in education ; N.S., 15

                                                                                                     ...

The context of the project includes statistical material from OCLC concerning the occurence of variant fields for multivolume records: a statistical evaluation regarding the usage of the combinations USMARC tag 300 (including the v. for volume) with tag 505,  or tag 490 with 8XX. In both types tag 245 is used in different ways. In the first case tag 245 contains the collective title and in the second case mostly the distinctive title is put in tag 245. The group could not recognize a reliable pattern in which way the subfields of tag 245 for the part of an multivolume work are used and what is the difference of using the combination 300 with 505 by multivolume items, which do not have distinctive titles.

A term difference is to be stated in the usage of “series” which is obviously applied for finite multivolume works as well as for ongoing monographic series. We differentiate between multivolume (finite) works and monographic (ongoing) series.

A further problem are the differences of specific coded terms (monographic component part, monographic series, multipart item) which makes it difficult to convert the bibliographic information of the coded fields of USMARC into the German context.

Sally McCallum describes several models of linking-concepts[6] for multilevel structured items in USMARC by using tag 773 and 774 in addition to the known tags and combinations of these. New are the ideas to make a link from the particular volume to the collective title by the record identification number and to integrate more than one level.

In conclusion the German Reuse-Project-Group suggests:

Concerning the German formats (MAB2 and other German formats):

·      to revise the deep hierachical structure in German data models and to integrate all levels in the volume record,

·      to standardize the different structures for multivolume works and series in German systems,

·      to align the English expression “series” in RAK,

·      to reduce the physical volume record statement on the bibliographical area in cases like the German encyclopedia “Brockhaus” (vol 1-21).

Concerning the USMARC-Format:

·      to use an indicator in tag 505 which indicates a multivolume item, if possible,

·      to examine the usage of the tag 245 in combination with 300 and 505 or in combination with 490 and 800,

·      to examine Sally McCallum’s draft and the possibility of introducing a linking structure in American network systems.

Concerning the international discussion platform:

·      to standardize coded terms on an international scale,

·      to standardize ongoing publications on the basis of the Hirons/Graham paper.

3 What happened after REUSE

The lucky personal union and the close connection and cooperation of the German project participants and expert members in the Working Group, the Conference and the regional networks certainly had a positive influence on a quick realization of all measures that had to be taken. And last but not least, in cases of doubt as far as AACR2r, LCRI or practices in American networks are concerned, our American colleagues in LC and OCLC and others have always been of utmost help in providing support.

Major steps towards rule alignment on the one side and towards harmonization with online requirements on the other have been made in the meantime.

Shortly before Easter the Cataloging Rules Conference decided upon the first six resolutions prepared by the Working Group Descriptive Cataloging:

They are:

3.1 Titles

The first resolution refers to titles:

·      The RAK term “Titel” comprises the title (Sachtitel) and the statement of responsibibity. The Conference accepted the reduction of the term according to international usage.

·      The title proper will be the primary title. The Ansetzungssachtitel (filing title) will be an additional title and will be used in rare cases. The title generally will be entered as it appears in the item (exceptions have to be defined).

3.2 Encoding of form titles and conference terms

The encoding of certain terms is supposed to improve the OPAC searching and at the same time to simplify the international exchange as codes provide a multilingual bais:

·      The German form titles Festschrift, Vertrag (treaty) and Verfassung (constitution) will be encoded. The dates of treaties and constitutions will be entered in an authorized form in a different tag, not as qualifiers.

·      The encoding of “Sammlung - Collection” (partly equivalent to the uniform title of Works though not differentiated according to Collected Works, Selection etc.) is referred back to the Working Group. The Conference sees no need to use that term in online catalogs.

·      All conference proceedings will be encoded as “conferences” regardless wether they are named or unnamed. The qualifiers will be replaced: the conference place will be entered under a different tag and should be linked with the Authority File of Corporate Bodies in Berlin to provide all the references as well. The numbering and the year will be entered - in an authorized form -  in a new tag.
Thus we allow the user to search a conference, in a certain year at a certain place not knowing any title or named or unnamed corporate body.
The Working Group has to revise the rules for conference proceedings in this context. So far named and unnamed conferences are treated differently: the first are entered monographically, the second as serials. Conferences of organizing corporate bodies so far are not entered subordinately. The publications are entered under the parent corporate body. I am not sure if an agreement can be reached in the Working Group and the Rules Conference. At least the encoding will improve the exchange.

·      Exhibitions will be encoded in the same way. With the revision of the conference rules we hopefully will introduce the LCRI regulation concerning exhibitions, i.e. to enter exhibitions as corporate bodies if they are named and ongoing. This will be a considerable reduction for German Catalogers.

·      All language qualifiers (of uniform titles and collected works) will be entered in separate tags according to ISO 639-2 - the Alpha 3 code.

3.3 Prefixes in names

In RAK the prefix and the surname are treated as one filing word (without any spaces). Even names in titles were entered in the same manner. This has led to many confusions for patrons and catalogers as well. The Working Group proposed a change and it was accepted. It’s a harmonization with AACR as well. We expect that corrections in our Name Authority File can be made automatically.

3.4 Hierachies

As delineated above in the German exchange format hierarchies for subseries (Abteilungen) within finite multivolume works are entered as separate records. The Conference accepted the abolition of these hierarchies.  This means that subseries statements are entered on the area of the volume statement.

3.5 Entries under persons and corporate bodies

The question of main and added entries has been a very controversial topic - if we remember the aacrconf-list. In Germany most of the catalogers think it doesn’t make any sense in the online world. On the other hand, scholars’ bibliographic citation of a work must be taken into consideration. Thus we found a wonderful compromise - at least to our minds:

·      The first author is marked.

·      The author definition is expanded considerably (all persons that do not have a distinctive function, as e.g. editor.). In cases of doubt the person is an author. In present RAK the author term is defined very narrowly (e.g., if you can assign parts of a work to different authors they are not “authors” anymore).
With this change we have come very close to the AACR definition, and as the first author is marked, the exchange of bibliographic records will be considerably improved.

·      An almost revolutionary decision and extension of the present number of entries was made by the Conference: All authors that appear prominently on the item may be entered, except for authors in anthologies, collections, conference papers etc. (they could be entered as analytics). In former card catalogs the number of entries and cards enlarged a catalog. In OPACs this deserves no consideration - however, authority work has to be done. The information for the patrons was considered to be more useful. The same is recommended for persons with functions. The basic standard for entries is three.  Though this measure exceeds AACR it will not impede the exchange. Perhaps it could be an encouragement?

3.6 Conceptual basis of RAK2 in the context of harmonization

The last resolution I had to present and defend was the conceptual basis of RAK2 (still a working title).

RAK2 persues the following aims:

·      adaption to online conditions,

·      high international compatibility,

·      consideration of economic aspects.

Thus the basic rules will be adapted according to the changes mentioned above.

No changes will be made as far as fundamental international terms are concerned as work, edition etc. We do hope and wait for the Functional Requirements.

Within the section of general rules, statements concerning the card catalogs have to be revised, online instructions have to be introduced. ISBD will be kept as a presentation form, the regulations will not be primarily in online cataloging, though the necessity of reconstruction of an ISBD record has to be ensured.

The codes for entering the title proper are going to be aligned (i.e. as stated on the item).

Entries under names of persons and corporate bodies will not be changed in general, the existing Authority Files do forbid that. On the other hand, if we strive for an international authority file on the basis of what Barbara Tillett calls access control,[7] a general alignment of names is not needed. But the identity of entities is a prerequisite for a common file.

In this context a notable tendency voting has to be stated: We will introduce differentiation of equal names on a voluntary and feasable basis, a major step for German catalogers, but the only means for international authority participation.

We have made adaptions in the case of prefixes as reported before, an adaption which is usefull in Germany as well.

We will try hard to harmonize at least the entities as far as corporate bodies are concerned. The headings for conference corporate bodies will hopefully be harmonized, at least the encoding will improve data exchange.

The headings under formal titles have been improved on the basis of encoding.

And last but not least entries under persons and corporate bodies have been expanded:

·      the first author is marked and the author term is changed closely to that of AACR,

·      the number of headings is increased: American standards will be served, in some cases exceeded.

3.7 Problems left

One problem has not been solved in the projects: the different way of romanization. We should keep this in mind.

If we achieve all the alignments that have been identified many problems still remain. But I think we better get started.

4 Immediate Steps or just Starting the Dream

German rule makers have made a considerable step, at least to our minds. The new code is intended to be almost completed by the end of 1999. Nevertheless this is a very moderate step towards internationality as I mentioned before:

To conclude: our dream of internationality could be started right away and

from the German perspective the steps could look like this:

·      The Germans should realize all proposed code changes.

·      American and German librarians should talk about participation of the German Library and/or German Regional Networks in LCNAF on the basis of access control as soon as possible.

·      Germans would like to talk about a slight alignment in the treatment of multivolume works - possibly not only a German plea  but a European one as well.

·      Data exchange under the new perspectives should be tested.

·      Cataloging on an international scale should be promoted, e.g. :

·      The functional requirements should be integrated in  international cataloging. The Toronto Conference has shown interesting approaches.

·      Ongoing publications should be treated equally worldwide. The Hirons/Graham report (of Toronto) is worth a worldwide discussion. Within this context the key title problem should be solved.

·      A basis for an international discussion forum should be realized to reach the aim of international cataloging as soon as possible.