ANSS Subject and Bibliographic Access Committee
Question/Answer on cataloging issues – October 2013
By Isabel del Carmen Quintana, Harvard University
Question: How will RDA, the new cataloging rules, affect bibliographic records for compilations and collaborations?
Answer:
RDA, Resource Description and Access, is the new set of cataloging rules being adopted by most US Libraries. This code requires the cataloger to assess whether they are cataloging a “compilation” or a “collaboration” and to treat the material differently depending on their decision.
Compilations:
A “compilation” consists of more than one work issued together. There may be compilations by one creator, or by more than one creator. In a compilation, the creator of each work is identified on the piece.
Compilation by a single creator:
Compilations by one creator are identified by the name of the creator and a preferred title. In RDA the “preferred title” for compilations is usually a conventional collective title, such as, “Works” or “Works. Selections” or “Poems. Selections.” Please note that in RDA, we will no longer use “Selections” as a collective title on its own.
This is an example of a compilation by a single creator:
110:2 : Catholic Church.
240:10: Works. |k Selections.
245:10: At the heart of the Church : |b selected documents of Catholic education / |c edited by Ronald J. Nuzzi, Thomas C. Hunt.
Please note that we will no longer add a date at the end of the collective title (in AACR2 this was known as the uniform title.)
Compilations by more than one creator:
Compilations by more than one creator are identified by their preferred title. Most of the time this is the title on the material.
This is an example of a compilation by more than one creator:
245:00: Two American classic novels.
505:0 : The red pony / John Steinbeck – The catcher in the rye / J.D. Salinger.
The cataloger may also add access points for the two works that make up this compilation. However only one additional access point for the first or predominant work is required.
700:12: |i Contains (work): |a Steinbeck, John, |d 1902-1968. |t Red pony.
700:12: |i Contains (work): |a Salinger, J. D. |q (Jerome David), |d 1919-2010. |t Catcher in the rye. (This 2nd access point would not be required for the above example.)
If you have no collective title, the title of the first work becomes the preferred title for the compilation.
For example:
245:04: The red pony / |c John Steinbeck. The catcher in the rye / J.D. Salinger.
700:12: |i Contains (work): |a Steinbeck, John, |d 1902-1968. |t Red pony.
Please note that the title “The red pony” is the authorized access point for the compilation of both works. The authorized access point for the work by John Steinbeck is in the 700, as “Steinbeck, John, 1902-1968. Red pony.”
It is also worth mentioning that in RDA no two works can have the exact same authorized access point. So, if there was another work with the title “Red pony” that did not have a name as part of its authorized access point (in other words, no 1XX), then this compilation would need a 130 with some other data added to the preferred title to make it unique.
For example:
130:0 : Red pony (2013)
245:04: The red pony / |c John Steinbeck. The catcher in the rye / J.D. Salinger.
Another change is that compilations include conference proceedings, anthologies, etc. Any work that consists of a number of different works that are each identified by their own creator would be a compilation.
In many cases therefore, using RDA, a cataloger will be adding full contents notes for these materials. (There are exceptions for poetry anthologies, conference proceedings, and some other “burdensome” materials.) The cataloger may also add additional access points for the first or predominant work in these compilations.
Collaborations:
Now let’s turn to collaborations, which are simpler in many ways, but still a major change from AACR2.
A collaboration is a work in which the authorship of each section is not attributed to individual creators. A work may have 6 authors on the title page, but if the table of contents attributes different chapters to each person, then the work is a compilation. In contrast, a work may have 6 authors on the title page, but if the table of contents does not attribute different chapters to each person, then the work is a collaboration.
Collaborations are identified by the first named creator and the preferred title. So, even if the work has more than 3 authors, the first named creator becomes part of the authorized access point.
For example:
100:1 :Rodriguez de Romo, Ana Cecilia.
245:1 :Protagonistas de la medicina cientifica Mexicana, 1800-2006 / |c Ana Cecilia Rodriguez De Romo, Gabriela Castaneda Lopez, Rita Robles Valencia, Maria Pilar Gonzalez.
There is no requirement to add a table of contents in this case.
To summarize, a cataloger must now look at the material in hand and decide first if it is a compilation or a collaboration.
A compilation by one creator will be identified by the creator’s name and a conventional collective title.
A compilation by more than one creator will be identified by the preferred title for the work in hand. Usually this will be the title of the work in hand, although if this title is already used for a different work, a new title may need to be created using a qualifier.
A collaboration will be identified by the first named creator, even if there are more than three, and even if they are not named on the title page, and the preferred title for the material in hand.
I have covered only some of the changes in how catalogers are now treating these materials. For further information on this topic, please see the power point presentation cited below at: http://www.loc.gov/aba/rda/Refresher_training_dec_2011.html
The information, and the examples, for the question/answer are based on a power point presentation: RDA Special Topics : Compilations & Collaborations / prepared by Ana Lupe Cristan in Dec. 2011, and revised by Kate James in Aug. 2013.
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