General Element Information

The resource elements in RDA are grouped into the following categories, and understanding those groupings can help you to see patterns in the instructions.

These are the data elements that RDA says are “most often used to identify a resource”.

They help a catalog user to:

• decide whether a record that a particular search has found, is actually for the resource that the user wanted to find, e.g., is this the needed edition, are the contents textual or audio, are they in English or another language or both
• pick between resources that seem similar, but have different characteristics, e.g., large print versus regular print.

These are the data elements that RDA says are most often used to select a particular resource.

They help a catalog user to choose between resources that seem similar, but have different carrier characteristics, e.g., is the font large print or regular print, is the text printed or digital (an eBook), is the story on board pages or cloth pages

These are the data elements that RDA says are most often used to select a particular resource.

They help a catalog user to choose between resources that seem similar, but have different characteristics, based on the actual contents of the resource; e.g., are there illustrations, is the introduction that I need included.

These are the data elements that RDA says are used to find all resources that are:

• associated with a particular agent (person, family or corporate body); or
• related to other resources that might be of interest to the user

The agent elements in RDA are grouped into the following categories, and understanding those groupings can help you to see patterns in the instructions.

These are the data elements that will help a catalog user to:

• decide whether a record that a particular search has found, is actually for the person, family, or corporate body that the user wanted to find
• pick between persons, families, or corporate bodies that seem similar (because they have similar names), but have different characteristics, e.g., place of birth, date of death, etc.

These are the data elements that are used to find persons, families, or corporate bodies that are:

• associated with a particular resource, or
• related to other persons, families, or corporate bodies that might be of interest to the user

These elements have no direct RDA equivalents, but are necessary for MARC records to function properly in a library system that is based on MARC.

Transcribed data must be entered exactly as found on the resource, except for exceptions at 1.7 and 1.8, and, sometimes, order (see the appropriate elements for order instructions); so make wording match, but remember to check for exceptions.

1.7.2: Tidy up capitalization (optional, but preferred by libraries), e.g., change title data to 'sentence case' (capitalize the first word, proper names, and other titles in title data, but see App. A for detailed instructions); also, while we are using MARC, capitalize the first word of the first subfield in a field, but do not capitalize the first word of subsequent subfields in that field, e.g., on source: PRESENCE OF MIND: A Chess Hanrahan Novel BY EDWARD CLINE:

245 10 $a Presence of mind : $b a Chess Hanrahan novel / $c by Edward Cline.

1.7.3: Add punctuation (if needed for clarity), e.g:

245 10 $a Lewis Elmore, crusader

1.7.3: Replace ISBD punctuation (used for separating one element from another, e.g., ':', ';', '/', '.') that is shown on the resource, with other punctuation or with punctuation specified at LCRI 1.1B1 (to prevent confusing that punctuation with the specific meaning of the ISBD punctuation), e.g., on source: … Symposium: Fine Arts in the 80's:

245 10 $a Symposium, Fine Arts in the 80's

1.7.9: Do not use [sic] or [i.e. …], explain inaccuracies in a note, e.g.:

245 10 $a Ecolgical economics series
246 1  $i Title should read: $a Ecological economics series

490 1  $a Linguistic manograph series ; $v number 9
500    $a Series title should read: Linguistic monograph series
830  0 $a Linguistic monograph series ; $v number 9.

B.4: Replace Latin abbreviations in supplied data with their English equivalents, e.g., replace:

• [et al.] with [and others] or [and 6 others] or [and four other authors] etc., or enter all names provided
• [S.l.] with [Place of publication not identified] or [Place of production not identified], etc.
• [s.n.] with [publisher not identified] or [producer not identified], etc.

245 14 $a The claim adjuster's automobile liability handbook / $c Jonathan A. Balasa [and nine others].

264  1 $a [Place of publication not identified] : $b Sunstreak, $c [2012]

264  1 $a Ulaanbaatar : $b [publisher not identified], $c 2006.

Vocabulary terms must be controlled:

• if the vocabulary is closed, use only official terms
• if the vocabulary is open, use official terms if available, and keep track of added terms and use them consistently
• check for typos in all vocabulary terms

• make sure that the intent of the wording is clear
• check for typos
• format data correctly, if data is to be 'normalized'
• do not use abbreviations, except for a very few 'carrier' terms (e.g., for: Dimensions, such as 'in.' or 'ft.'; Durations, such as 'hr.' or 'min.'; Scale, such as 'in.'; etc.)

Verify AAP in an appropriate Authority File

Ensure that that:

• the tag is correct for the data
• the indicators are correct for the data
• the subfield code is correct for the data
• the ISBD punctuation is correct for the data
• the source codes in subfield $2 are correct, where needed
• the coded data is correct
• all required subfields are present

Here are some patterns in the most common elements found in records:

Just in case you want to see them all in one place, here is a table of all RDA elements (for resources) which might help you to see some useful patterns.

All Elements