Article Reviews

Bibliographic Citation:
Miller, L. (Spring 2011). Resource Description and Access (RDA): An
introduction for reference librarians. Reference & User Services
Quarterly, 50 (3) pp.216-222. Retrieved on 10 March 2015 from
http://media.proquest.com.ezaccess.library.uitm.edu.my/

RDA was published in June 2010 and has been undergoing test s at select
libraries. In this article, the researcher was explained about the reference
librarians will learn why RDA was developed, what differences they will see,
and how RDA contributes to a new world of library information. RDA has been
prepared to accept the place of AACR2. The development of RDA is a large
issue for catalogers but it has been implications to reference librarians too.
From this article, the researcher was mentioned near the importance of
cataloguing codes, the reasons of development new cataloguing codes, the
benefits of RDA towards users, reference librarians and catalogers and the
argument over the RDA.
At the former historic period, libraries were using their own catalog cards
but it was shifted in the early 1900s, when the Library of Congress began
selling card sets that consists of authors, title and subject to other libraries.
With this sold cards meant one less that had been created locally and this
was an early example of shared cataloging. In the 1960s, MARC format had
been developed and libraries were started making catalog using electronic
forms. MARC makes works of librarians become easier due to the catalogue
records can be exchanged among computers and after the presence of
internet in early 1990s, the catalog records can be partaken in all around the
universe. The presence of AACR2 help library catalog becomes uniform that
meant every cataloger are using the same cataloging codes. AACR2 had
been produced in 1978. Most of the library collections are printed materials.
Thus, when the presence of internet in early 1990s, the library collections
become variety formats such as CD-ROM, DVD, diskette and all. In this
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example, the librarians need to struggle more to create the catalog codes to
the assortment of electronic formats. Although AACR2 was revised to suit the
description of other spiritualists, it remains a print-oriented standard, and
formulae for describing other media are a kind of afterthought attached to
the formulae for describing printed books.
From time to time, every person can afford to buy a personal computer
and all of the people can pass across the globe. Thus, the expectations of
library users to library are changed and users became accustomed to
retrieving large sets of effects from simple keyword searches and eventually
viewed library catalogs as difficult to habituate. To meet the demands of
users nowadays, a troupe which is Google is performing its rule to grab all of
the users use its search engine which is Google Search to collect and retrieve
information in just minutes. To compete with this search engine, the librarian
is thinking about a new technology that can help users to find more
information about the library collection plus the information can be
presented using the conceptual figure that can make users become more
impressive and attractive to view the information. In 1997, Functional
Requirements for Bibliographic Record (FRBR) had been made. FRBR is
usually identified as a new conceptual model of the bibliographic universe.
FRBR defines four user tasks: find resources that match the users stated
search criteria; identify that a resource is the one that the user is looking for
and identify between different resources with similar traits; select a resource
that fills the users needs; and obtain access to the resource. FRBR is based
on the entity-relationship model, a concept from the domain of database
design. This example consists of different entities and relationships between
them. This model compares more complexity to the other relational model
that currently used in library catalogs plus, it presents an opportunity to
better collocate closely-linked resources.
AACR2 has lots of abbreviation and signs that just catalogs know the
substance of them. For example, [s.l.: s.n.]. Both of these abbreviations are
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performing the meaning of Latin words which are sine loco (without a place)
and sine nomine (without a name). Thus, as a users, especially with do not
have any information and any knowledge in the Library Science field, they
must ask helps from the reference librarian about all these signs and
abbreviation. In this example, the reference librarians need to know any
single things and sometimes it makes burden to them. For the new
development of library cataloging codes, RDA, all of signs and abbreviations
are not used anymore. They replaced by [place of publication not identified:
publisher not identified]. Then, from here, the full treatment of reference
librarian will be diminished and the punch line of this RDA is What you
visualize is what you get really ease the users to acquire much information
according to the library materials that they explore. RDA was designed with
users in mind. Users can look for any of the info that they know related to
the works without follow the AACR2 rules previous. For example, according
AACR2, users must know the first three names of authors to search for the
book, but in RDA, any name of authors that relates to the book, users can be
used to search for the material. So, perhaps, by using RDA, users can easily
retrieve for the information related without asking more and more to the
reference librarian. But, this new development needs to be subscribed every
year with the price of $195 for single user. It's called as RDA Toolkit and
every individual thing that related to RDA Toolkit like training catalogers must
be compensated on an individual basis. It will become costly, especially for
the remote areas catalogers and in addition, RDA was designed to work in an
information environment that does not exist so far. The Semantic Web is still
in development and some wondered whether it will fulfill all that is desired.
RDA is the focus of the huge library which is national libraries due to the
implementation cost is quite high. On the other hand, school libraries, extra
libraries, and small public libraries may get themselves have-nots when it
comes to RDA. In closing, the RDA is a good implementation to changes in
cataloging, librarianship, and the broader cosmos, plus, it was projected
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based on the users mind not catalogers mind. Maybe, it will facilitate users
to retrieve more information easily.

Bibliographic Citation:
Coyle, K. (February/March 2010). FRBR, the domain model. Library
Technology Reports. Retrieved on 10 March 2015 from
http://media.proquest.com.ezaccess.library.uitm.edu.my/

The researcher was focused on FRBR, the domain model to apply inside
the library system. The conception of the Functional Requirements for
Bibliographic Records (FRBR), an entity-relation model for library data, is an
essential first step for the transmutation of the textbook-based catalog
record into a true data model. FRBR is a pattern based on database design
that has its attribute, entity and relationship to form a conceptual framework.
In 1991, the IFLA study group determined to produce an entity-relationship
(ER) model. By guiding with this entity from users, the library metadata must
address: find, identify, select and obtain the materials. FRBR collects all of
the related data in the library metadata and organize them in the structured
form like mapping. The entities are shown in three groups. Group 1
represents the resource being reported and has four entities: work,
expression, manifestation, and item; Group 2 represents agents that have
relationships with the Group 1 entities: person, corporate bodies and
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families; and Group 3 represents entities with a topical relationship to the

Group 1 entities. Group 3 adds four new entities-concepts, object, place and
event, but it also includes all of the Group 1 and Group 2 entities since those
can be the subjects of any resource being described. Most of the FRBR
discussions focus on the three groups of entities which are bibliographic
description, agents, and subjects. FRBR makes a concept of visualization.
Visualization of abstract concepts is a fine art and can make all the
difference in how or whether readers understand the thoughts being
submitted. The user view of library data differs from what the catalogers
view. Users seeking information on a topic could visualize the librarys
holdings. It is possible that a library catalog could mimic this user view by
presenting subjects as entities in the catalog, rather than as added entries
on a bibliographic record. FRBR allows making manifest relationships that
have been understated in bibliographic data in the past, and then supply the
related information in a machine-actionable way. From this FRBR, the
navigating capabilities is not solely within the library system, but the entities,
relationships and various attributes, freed from the confines of the
bibliographic record, could begin to interact with data in other nets, letting in
the mother of all networks, the World Wide Web. FRBR is that it permits a
focused discussion to hold office. An advantage of the ER model is it can be
broadened to include additional entities and relationships, often without
disrupting the existing ones. But, FRBR as a recent model and not fully
tested, then, there are so many critics that should be seriously examined
before it needs to go through in the library system itself. In closing, if the
implementation of FRBR becomes successful, it really draws the users due to
the information in the libraries are true and accurate. There are piles of
library materials in the library but not all of the library materials have been
utilized by the users due to one of the reasons, the users do not attractive to
use the library system because it is dense and full with texts. The concept of
visualization will make users become impressive and love to use the library
system due to it ease the searching process in the library.
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