[DCRM-L] DCRM(B) revision process

[Laurence S. Creider]

So far most of the comments on the proposal to change the DCRM(B) revision
process have been quite positive, and there are some advantages to the
proposal.  Still, there are a few considerations we need to address as a
group before we go galloping off.

"1. Treat the RDA-compatible DCRM as a single unified text."
Some years back, some of us proposed producing a DCRM(General) with
variations for particular formats.  The proposal was as inviting as is
this one, but we did not know what the needs of the individual formats
were at that point.  We needed to create the various modules and then go
back and create a common manual, not unlike the process with the MARC
formats and the later format integration and the development of the ISBDs.

At this point, several of the modules have not yet been published.  On the
other hand, considerable progress has been made on all of them.  The
questions that the group needs to resolve are, first, do we have
sufficient knowledge that a generalized DCRM can be produced at this
point?  If so, is there a reason to finish the existing modules?

"2. Create the revised DCRM by way of editorial groups that each focus on
a particular area or chapter, drafting guidelines that apply to all format
types."

A clear problem here is that once one gets outside of books, the expertise
is pretty thin on the ground.  Specialists in the cataloging of some of
the formats such as music and maps are going to end up working on several
areas or chapters and will be spread very thin.  We need to develop a
means to deal with this situation.  For example, would it make sense to
have a general group composed of individuals who have expertise primarily
in books and RDA who create a text that tries to consider other formats
and then ask the various editorial teams committees to comment on the
chapters as developed?  Or would another arrangement work better?

"3. Consider issuing the revised DCRM piecemeal, as portions are completed
(asynchronously)."

If "issue" means that use of the portion in records would henceforth be
permitted, this is a very bad idea.  If "issue" means that the portion is
made more widely available, that could be helpful as individuals find
further things that need to be addressed.  The reason that the first idea
is a bad one is that records would become impossibly hybrid as any BSR
would be a moving target.  Hybrid records with AACR-type DCRM description
and RDA access points can be intelligible because there is a clear line
between description and access.  Records created with a combination of
partially AACR-compliant DCRM and partially RDA-compliant DCRM in
continually changing proportions will be very confusing and will make
shared cataloging difficult.

Let us not say "yes" or "no" without careful consideration of some of the
practical implications of this proposal.  I look forward to the discussion
on Saturday a.m. at BSC.  I only hope I can get to the room in McCormick
in decent time without getting lost. :-)

Larry
-- 
Laurence S. Creider
Head, Archives and Special Collections Dept.
University Library
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM  88003
Work: 575-646-4756
Fax: 575-646-7477
lcreider at lib.nmsu.edu

On Mon, June 17, 2013 2:23 pm, Lapka, Francis wrote:
> I am posting the following message to the BSC list and DCRM-L. I hope many
> of you will take time to offer your thoughts. Please post all comments to
> DCRM-L (so that a discussion might take place in a single location).
>
>
> As we near our meetings in Minneapolis and Chicago, I would like to
> propose some significant changes to our approach on the DCRM(B) revision
> for RDA. The proposal includes a new notion of the organization of an
> RDA-compatible version of DCRM and an alternate approach for arriving at
> that end.
>
>
> 1.       Treat the RDA-compatible DCRM as a single unified text.
>
> 2.       Create the revised DCRM by way of editorial groups that each
> focus on a particular area or chapter, drafting guidelines that apply to
> all format types.
>
> 3.       Consider issuing the revised DCRM piecemeal, as portions are
> completed (asynchronously).
>
>
>
>
> 1. Treat the RDA-compatible DCRM as a single unified text.
>
> One of the defining characteristics of RDA is that it integrates
> guidelines for varying format types (where AACR2 provided separate
> chapters for each). To me, it makes so much sense for DCRM to take the
> same approach, as a single set of guidelines, with format-specific
> instructions running in parallel throughout. Editorially, such a DCRM
> would be a single text. That is, any given guideline might apply to
> resources of multiple format types. Additional guidelines would be added
> where there are format-specific reasons to do so.  Such an approach would
> parallel the organization of rules in RDA.
>
> For the benefit of the user (i.e. the cataloger), however, we could still
> enable a functionality that resembles the current separation of modules.
> That is, we might offer a DCRM interface that allows a cataloger to say
> "Give me just the DCRM rules concerning graphics [or any other module]";
> doing so would filter out all the guidelines that don't apply to graphics.
>  This filtered set of rules could be applied to our online version of DCRM
> or to printable versions (e.g. PDF files). A DCRM that offered such
> functionality would be superior to RDA in this regard, since one of the
> challenges of RDA is the need to wade through all the rules that don't
> apply to the resource in hand. Since we are no longer publishing print
> versions of DCRM (apparently), we have the freedom to offer just such
> innovations, on rbms.info (and perhaps in the Toolkit too?).
>
> To my mind, the benefits of a more unified conception of DCRM are
> numerous:
>
> *         It is in the spirit of RDA, and would mimic the organization of
> the RDA text.
>
> *         From an editorial perspective, it would be easier to maintain a
> single text rather than six texts.
>
> *         For integration with the RDA Toolkit, it would be easier to
> maintain one set of links, rather than six.
>
> *         A significant portion of DCRM guidelines overlap already (i.e.,
> they have little-to-no variation). It doesn't make sense to maintain these
> parallel rules in six different places. Doing so only increases the
> chances of editorial errors and inconsistencies.
>
> *         It would facilitate consistency of principles (and language)
> throughout the DCRM guidelines. Such consistency was one of the primary
> justifications for the creation of BSC's new DCRM Steering Group.
>
> *         A unified DCRM would be more fit to nimbly adjust to changes in
> a base standard.  Our current base standard (RDA) is sure to evolve, and
> major upheavals may follow. In such an environment, it should be easier to
> keep pace with corresponding changes in our DCRM guidelines if those
> guidelines are as unified as possible.
>
>
> 2. Create the revised DCRM by way of editorial groups that each focus on a
> particular area or chapter, drafting guidelines that apply to all format
> types.
>
> It would be possible to work towards a consolidated version of DCRM while
> still working first on a revision of DCRMB (alone). That is, we could
> complete the revision of DCRM(B) for RDA and then create a consolidated
> DCRM by appending other format-specific guidelines (where necessary)
> afterwards. But this wouldn't be my preferred way forward.
> I think it would be most useful to tackle the DCRM for RDA revision with
> an integrated approach from the get-go. Which isn't to say that any one
> editorial group should bear the responsibility for drafting an entire
> unified DCRM for RDA. That would be an impossible burden. Currently, BSC
> editorial groups are divided by module.  I propose that the work of a
> revision of DCRM for RDA should still be divided among multiple groups;
> but rather than dividing by module (format type), we could form groups to
> work on particular areas (i.e. chapters, or parts of chapters, in RDA).
> So, for example, one group might tackle title & statement of
> responsibility (for all formats), while other groups work on imprint,
> extent, or notes (etc.). Each group might have a member to represent the
> specialized concerns of the various format types; and since most of the
> DCRM modules are complete (or nearly so), we could come to the table with
> many of the format-specific issues already worked out (albeit for AACR2
> versions of DCRM).
> I think the challenge of revising DCRM for RDA becomes much less
> foreboding when a given editorial group needs only to focus on a specific
> section of the RDA text. This benefit is especially true considering that
> many of us are still struggling to achieve a complete grasp of RDA, given
> how recently we've made the leap.
> Tackling RDA by chapters (rather than by formats) would also allow us to
> comb through the text more methodically. By contrast, passing through the
> RDA text in waves by format-type would mean that the editorial group for
> every module would have to consider every rule in RDA to decide whether or
> not that rule was pertinent to their scope. That seems like wasted effort.
> Adequate coordination would probably be the biggest challenge of this
> alternate approach; but I think it would be manageable. To some extent,
> BSC itself might serve as the coordinating body; or perhaps our DCRM
> Steering Group would chiefly serve this role.
> 3. Consider issuing the revised DCRM piecemeal, as portions are completed
> (asynchronously).
>
> I wonder if it's completely necessary to have the entirety of DCRM (or
> DCRM(B), for that matter) revised before issuing it. That is, we could
> complete (and issue) parts of the text while continuing work on other
> parts. This issued-in-parts approach becomes a possibility now that we are
> no longer bound to printed versions of the text. The BSR provides a broad
> (and interim) framework for how to treat DCRM with RDA. If we issued the
> revision piecemeal, we could point to the BSR for the portions of the DCRM
> text that had yet to receive full revision (and the BSR itself would, in
> turn, be revised to reflect those guidelines in DCRM for which the
> revision was complete). A piecemeal approach would allow us to target
> areas of DCRM/RDA integration of most pressing concern, while leaving for
> later the parts of DCRM and RDA that are already mostly compatible.
>
> Frankly, I could see how this third point might be more trouble than it's
> worth. It might introduce too much confusion.  I suggest it primarily to
> address the concern that revising all of DCRM at once might take a long
> time. Inevitably, the time required to produce a revised and unified DCRM
> would be longer than that required to revise DCRM(B) alone-but what we
> gain by consolidation would merit the delay.
>
> --
>
> Of course, I realize that all the above is contrary to the plan already
> endorsed by BSC and may represent an excessively radical change. But I
> think that our revision process is still at a sufficiently early stage
> that we could change gears without much wasted effort. Everything that the
> DCRM(B) revision group has worked on to this point (an initial
> rule-by-rule comparison of DCRM(B) with RDA) could be of use in this
> alternate approach.
>
> I'd love to get your thoughts on all of this. If the consensus is that we
> should stick to the approach already charted, that would be fine with me
> too. But if there is general support for this alternate approach (or
> particular aspects of it), I'd be keen to flesh it out or amend it with
> your suggestions, leading up to our BSC meeting in Chicago. If we so
> desire, we could also discuss this approach further during the portion of
> the BSC agenda allotted for the discussion of the DCRM(B) revision.
>
> Best,
> Francis
>
>
> _________________________________
> Francis Lapka, Catalog Librarian
> Yale Center for British Art, Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts
> 1080 Chapel Street, PO Box 208280, New Haven, CT  06520
> 203.432.9672    francis.lapka at yale.edu<mailto:francis.lapka at yale.edu>
>
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