Thank you for your excellent and thoughtful argument, Thomas. I am just trying to get my head around RDA and how it will apply to the stuff that I catalog most often ... and those things are "kits".
My understanding of what you are saying is that we do not look at the "kit" or "set" as a whole, but we look at the individual pieces, and we make a 336-8 on each of those items? I am trying to imagine this and understand how the computer knows which fields go together ... and more importantly, how this is is useful to the end user. I am thinking of other things that I have cataloged that would fall into the "kit" sort of category. There are these Culture Kits that we collect from various countries. They often have a lot of interesting "stuff" ... as well as a book, a teacher's guide, a poster, a music CD, a DVD about life in that country, etc. Our library has collected a number of these culture kits. The "stuff" in the Africa culture kit, for example, includes: African hut model (Kenya) -- Ndrama drum (Kenya) -- African Batik (Kenya) -- Mask (Ghana) -- Traditional ebony carved comb (Kenya) -- Thumb piano (Kenya) -- Mock elephant hair bracelet (Kenya) -- Kanga (clothing) (Kenya) -- Traditional African wooden stool (Kenya) -- Uyot seed rattle (palm seeds and raffia worn around ankle or wrist) (Nigeria) -- Coconut leaf woven bag (Kenya). So we would have: For content type, we would have: 336 text [for the book and teacher's guide] 336 still image [for the poster] 336 performed music [for the music CD] 336 two-dimensional moving image [for the DVD] 336 tactile three-dimensional form [for the "stuff" = the hut model, the drum, the batik, the mask, the comb, the thumb piano, the elephant hair bracelet, the clothing, the wooden stool, the seed rattle, and the coconut leaf woven bag.] For media type, we would have: 337 audio [for the music CD] [I have a question about the thumb piano, and the rattle, because they also are intended for sound.] 337 video [for the DVD] 337 unmediated [for all the rest of it] For carrier type, we would have: 338 volume [for the book and teacher's guide] 338 audio disc [for the music CD] 338 videodisc [for the DVD] 338 sheet [for the poster] 338 object [for the rest of the "stuff" = the hut model, the drum, the batik, the mask, the comb, the thumb piano, the elephant hair bracelet, the clothing, the wooden stool, the seed rattle, and the coconut leaf woven bag.] (Sorry, this is beginning to sound like "The Twelve Days of Christmas!") I guess, again, my question would be: how does the computer know to put which things together? How does this make it clearer for the end user? And would it not be preferrable to have one term such as "kit" to concisely explain that this is going to be a box of different types of things? Just a few thoughts for a Saturday morning! Thank you for your consideration. Best wishes, Julie On Sat, Sep 10, 2011 at 8:46 AM, Brenndorfer, Thomas < tbrenndor...@library.guelph.on.ca> wrote: > ________________________________ > From: Resource Description and Access / Resource Description and Access [ > RDA-L@LISTSERV.LAC-BAC.GC.CA] On Behalf Of Julie Moore [ > julie.renee.mo...@gmail.com] > Sent: September-09-11 6:02 PM > To: RDA-L@LISTSERV.LAC-BAC.GC.CA > Subject: Re: [RDA-L] Kits > > > >P.S. I am about to catalog a Weight Box, which consists of a wooden box > with 6 pairs of wooden cylinders, > >each pair weighing a different amount. (The child is to figure out which > two pieces weigh the same.) In current > >AACR2 terms, this cannot be considered a "kit", because it is not: "An > item containing two or more > >categories of material, no one of which is identifiable as the predominant > constituent of the item." Therefore, > >for now, it looks like another candidate for the realia bin in AACR2. In > RDA, we need terms that make sense > >to both the catalogers and the users. > >http://www.amazon.com/Kids-Weight-Box-Natural-Finish/dp/B0006PKYZA > > > > > Here's my take on it... > > > > I think each carrier value is only for what's being counted in the Extent, > not to describe the aggregrate of the multi-piece manifestation. That's why > "kit" or "large print" are not appropriate as carriers-- they belong > somewhere else though. > > > > "Object" refers to the unit of extent, and if component pieces are > specified for three-dimensional forms, I think it refers to each one of the > component pieces. > > > > The carrier is what "conveys the content", and the content is defined as > what human senses are involved. With objects, it's primarily sight, seeing > the object in all directions, so "three-dimensional form" is the content > conveyed by each one of the component pieces. However, with many toys, touch > is important, and so one has to look at how "the content is intended to be > perceived, as distinct from a sense through which it might be perceived > incidentally", according to the RDA-ONIX Framework. Tactile > three-dimensional form would also be used with educational toys. > > > > So for a complex toy that also has significant aspects that assist in > learning about textures and sounds: > > > > Extent of three-dimensional form: 1 toy (various pieces) > > Carrier type: object > > Content type: three-dimensional form > > Content type: sounds > > Content type: tactile three-dimensional form > > > > As one can see, it's no longer a matter of devising some blanket term to > fit into the small space for the GMD. The meaning of the GMD was spread too > thin and too confusingly across predominant content and carrier aspects, > with many libraries inventing and appending all kinds of new terms. > > > > For the weight box educational toy. I think no more than the following is > fine: > > > > Extent of three-dimensional form: 1 toy (12 wooden cylinders) > > Carrier: object > > Content: tactile three-dimensional form > > (I don't think the wooden box is relevant-- it's just a container, and > could be mentioned in the Dimensions). > > > > Each cylinder is the "object" referred to in the Carrier element. The whole > kit/realia, single/multiple types of material conundrum doesn't exist in > RDA. I would say the mass of the cylinder is the main content that is > intended to be conveyed, which means touch is the main human sense needed (I > suppose one could say the main content intended for the resource could be > conveyed while blindfolded, making it predominantly a tactile content type). > > > > The Carrier element only covers one aspect of what was in the GMD. What > looks like fun with RDA, is that with toys so many human senses could be > involved, and so the Content Type would likely be more heavily used as > indicating important characteristics of the resource. > > > > Thomas Brenndorfer > > Guelph Public Library > -- Julie Renee Moore Catalog Librarian California State University, Fresno julie.renee.mo...@gmail.com 559-278-5813 "In the end only kindness matters." -- Jewel
