Info Org: Record Examination 1

For my first assignment in my Organizing Information class, I was asked to look at the records, and determine whether the record was created in AACR2, RDA, or a hybrid of the two. I looked at the records (which where attached via hyperlinks), and decided what type of record it is. 

Record Examination 1

1. Dracula (1939)

The Stanford University Library’s Dracula is a Hybrid Record, because there are both AACR2 and RDA indicators. The AACR2 indicators are the use of “uniform title,” instead of “preferred title,” the “c1999” for “Copyright 1999,”  the use of “Universal” instead of “Universal Studios,” no relationship designators for the people involved in the work, and the use of abbreviations “sd.,” “b&w,” “min.,” and “in.” The RDA indicators are that “videodisk” and “motion picture” both not in brackets, the use of the postal abbreviation for California, the list of related works, that there are no abbreviations in the notes section, and a long list of involved people.

2. Louis Armstrong

The Harvard University Library’s Louis Armstrong : the offstage story of Satchmo is an AACR2 record. The indicators are the use of sentence capitalization in the title, “1st American ed,” the abbreviation “Or” (the postal abbreviation would be OR), the use of “c2003” for “copyright 2003,” the abbreviations “p.,” “ill. (some col.)”, as well as “alk. paper” when describing the hardback edition. There are also no relationship designators, which are unique to RDA.

3. A History of South Africa

The North Western University Library’s A History of South Africa is a Hybrid record. The RDA indicators are the use of as-written capitalization, “fourth edition,” “edited and updated,” “editor” (which a relationship designator – unique to RDA), “Yale University Press,” the postal abbreviation “CT,” and the lack of abbreviations for “pages, illustrations, unnumbered pages, and edition.” The AACR2 indicators are much fewer, but it does use the abbreviation “pbk” when describing what type of book this is.

4. Bootleggers and Beer Barons of the Prohibition Era

The New York Public Library’s Bootleggers and Beer Barons of the Prohibition Era is an RDA Record. The indicators are that the Content, Media, Carrier types are written out, the use of “pages” and “illustrations,” as well as the lack of abbreviations in contents, and that the information found in the contents could be relationship designators (ex. Arthur Flegenheimer : the Bronx Beer Baron). At the top of the PRINTED page, there is “(Book – 2014),” but the word “book” is not in brackets and the Content, Media, and Carrier types also declares that this is a book. I think that this is a result of the MARC coding, in order to help the patrons know that what they’ve found is a book. As “book” is not in square brackets, and the detailed record itself shows the Content, Carrier, and Media types, this is not an AACR2 indicator.

5. Polis and Revolution

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Polis and Revolution : responding to oligarchy in classical Athens is a Hybrid Record. The AACR2 indicators are the use of sentence capitalization in the title, the two publishing locations (one UK, one US), the “Format: Book,” coding, and the use of the abbreviations “p.” and “ill.” The two RDA indicators are that “Cambridge University Press” is spelled out, and that the books is a  “hardback,” instead of the use of an abbreviation.

My teacher commented that one of my arguments for RDA was not correct, but that upon reviewing the class recording, decided that her explanation might not have been as clear as it could have been. Therefore, I received full marks for this project.