FRBR, RDA and the Semantic Web

1. FRBR, RDA and the Semantic Web Gordon Dunsire Presented at Libraries in the Digital Age (LIDA) 2009 Dubrovnik and Zadar, Croatia 25-30 May 2009

2. Overview • Semantic Web and Resource Description Framework • RDA • FRBR • Future developments • Impact on the catalogue record

3. Semantic Web • Library “cataloguers” need assistance to keep up with the eruption of the Web • Caused by computer and communication technologies • Same technologies can provide solutions: the Semantic Web • “… an evolving extension of the [WWW] in which the semantics of information and services on the web is defined.” • Wikipedia, English, 12.46 21 May 2009 • The basic building block is Resource Description Framework (RDF)

4. Resource Description Framework (RDF) • Simple metadata statements in the form of subject-predicate-object expressions, called triples • E.g. “This presentation” – “has creator” – “Gordon Dunsire” • “presentation” and “creator” are metadata structure terms • Classes and properties • “this ...” and “Gordon Dunsire” are metadata content terms • Instances or values

5. Machine-processing • RDF is about making machine-processable statements, requiring • A machine-processable language for representing RDF statements • Extensible Markup Language (XML)  • A system of machine-processable identifiers for resources (subjects, predicates, objects) • Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)  • For full machine-processing, an RDF statement is a set of three URIs

6. Identifiers • Things requiring identification (a URI): • Subject “This presentation” • e.g. its electronic location (URL): http://cdlr.strath.ac.uk/pubs/dunsireg/LIDA2009.pps • Predicate “has creator” • e.g. http://purl.org/dc/terms/creator • Object “Gordon Dunsire” • e.g. URI of entry in Library of Congress Name Authority File: http://errol.oclc.org/laf/nb2001-72552.html • Declaring vocabularies/values as “namespaces” in Semantic Web applications provides URIs

7. Semantic Web applications • RDF Schema (RDFS) • Expresses the structure of metadata classes and properties • Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) • Expresses the basic structure and content of concept schemes such as thesauri and other types of controlled vocabularies • Web Ontology Language (OWL) • Explicitly represents the meaning of terms in vocabularies and the relationships between them (scope, etc.)

8. Library namespaces: RDA • Resource Description and Access • Successor to Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules • DCMI RDA Task Group is declaring RDA vocabularies in Semantic Web formats • Using NSDL Metadata Registry tools • Two types of vocabularies • Metadata entities (elements, attributes) • E.g. “Title”, “Content type” • Represented as RDF Schema • Metadata content (controlled terms) • E.g. “spoken word” (instance of Content type) • Represented in SKOS

9. RDA value in SKOS (part 1) <?xml version="1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?> <rdf:RDF xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core#" xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlns:rdfs="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#" xmlns:skos="http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core#" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:reg="http://metadataregistry.org/uri/schema/registry/"> :<!-- NOTICE: This is a single-concept fragment --> :<!-- Scheme: RDA Content Type --> :<skos:ConceptScheme rdf:about="http://RDVocab.info/termList/RDAContentType"> ::<dc:title>RDA Content Type</dc:title> :</skos:ConceptScheme> XML namespaces SKOS NSDL Registry Vocabulary URI

10. RDA value in SKOS (part 2) Term URI :<!-- Concept: spoken word --> :<skos:Concept rdf:about="http://RDVocab.info/termList/RDAContentType/1013" xml:lang="en"> ::<skos:inScheme rdf:resource="http://RDVocab.info/termList/RDAContentType"/> ::<reg:status rdf:resource="http://metadataregistry.org/uri/RegStatus/1002"/> ::<skos:prefLabel xml:lang="en">spoken word</skos:prefLabel> ::<skos:definition xml:lang="en">Content expressed through language in an audible form.</skos:definition> ::<skos:scopeNote xml:lang="en">Includes recorded readings, recitations, speeches, interviews, oral histories, etc., computer-generated speech, etc.</skos:scopeNote> ::<skos:prefLabel xml:lang="de">gesprochene Worte</skos:prefLabel> <skos:scopeNote xml:lang="de">Umfasst aufgezeichnete Lesungen, Rezitationen, Reden, Interviews, mündliche Überlieferungen usw. und maschinell erzeugte Sprache.</skos:scopeNote> ::<skos:definition xml:lang="de">Inhalt, der durch Sprache in einer hörbaren Form ausgedrückt wird.</skos:definition> :</skos:Concept> Term Definition Registry status term URI Term (German)

11. RDA value in SKOS (part 3) :<!-- Status properties used in this document --> :<skos:Concept rdf:about="http://metadataregistry.org/uri/RegStatus/1002"> ::<skos:prefLabel xml:lang="en">New-Proposed</skos:prefLabel> :</skos:Concept> </rdf:RDF Registry status term URI Registry status term

12. Library namespaces: FRBR • Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records • Metadata format model using entity-relationship structure • Equivalent to class-property structure • FRBR Review Group is declaring FRBR e-r vocabularies in RDFS • E.g. “Work”, “has Expression” / ”is Expression of” • Again, using NSDL Metadata Registry tools • RDFS representation required to link RDA classes to FRBR classes • E.g. “Content type” – “is Attribute of” – “Expression”

13. Future developments (1) • FRBR and DC Scholarly Works Application Profile (SWAP) • SWAP based on FRBR, but with some different terms and definitions • E.g. SWAP:”copy” – OWL:sameAs – FRBR:“item” • E.g. SWAP:”scholarlyWork” – SKOS:broader – FRBR:”work” • FRAD, FRSAR, ISBD and other IFLA standards also considering RDFS and SKOS • LCSH, LCNAF, DDC as well

14. Future developments (2) • RDA/ONIX framework for resource categorization • Ontology (faceted) for creating content and carrier categories • E.g. Basis of the RDA content type vocabulary • Announcement: Extension of the framework to develop an ontology of relationships • Funded by UK’s Joint Information Systems Committee • Covers relationships in RDA, FRBR, FRAD, CIDOC CRM and many others • Plans to declare ontologies in RDF ...

15. A short history of the evolution of the library catalogue record

16. In the beginning ... Lee, T. B. Cataloguing has a future. - Audio disc (Spoken word). - Donated by the author. 1. Metadata ... the catalogue card

17. From flat-file record ... Bibliographic description Name authority Author: Lee, T. B. Name: Biography: Title: Cataloguing has a future ... Content type: Spoken word Carrier type: Audio disc Subject authority Subject: Metadata Term: Provenance: Donated by the author Definition: ... ... to relational record

18. From flat-file description ... Bibliographic description Name authority Author: Name: Lee, T. B. Biography: Title: Cataloguing has a future ... Work Content type: Spoken word Author: Carrier type: Audio disc Subject authority Subject: Subject: Term: Metadata Expression Provenance: Donated by the author Definition: Content type: Spoken word ... Manifestation Item ... to FRBR record

19. From FRBR record ... Work Name authority Author: Name: Lee, T. B. Subject: Subject authority Expression Term: Metadata Content type: Spoken word Manifestation RDA content type Title: Cataloguing has a future Term: Carrier type: Audio disc RDA carrier type Item Term: Provenance: Donor: Donated by the author Amazon/Publisher Title: ... to extinction!

20. Conclusion • FRBR (a metadata structure model) and RDA (a metadata content standard) are closely connected • RDA attributes are mapped to FRBR entities • Declaration of structural components as RDFS classes and properties, and content values as SKOS vocabularies, will make FRBR and RDA compatible with the Semantic Web • FRBR may thus act as a high-level virtual glue for linking metadata in the Semantic Web • The Semantic Web may eventually lead to the extinction of stored catalogue records • Replaced by a completely distributed “one record fits all” • Equivalent to a single, but complex, RDF graph linking all metadata on the Web. • Thank you