I was cataloging one of these the other day and faced the same conundrum. I turned to the OLAC best practices document (http://www.olacinc.org/drupal/?q=node/47) which is several years old and needs to be updated for RDA and the new fields, but is still useful.
Following the definitions of the attributes in RDA, I came up with the same 33X fields as you did. The trouble is that for the average person, "video" is nearly synonymous with "two-dimensional moving image," i.e. it denotes a content type rather than a media type. For a media type, "digital" would probably be more enlightening than either "computer" or "electronic". While we're at it, why do we generally not take account of the sound aspects of a 2-dimensional moving image, which can be sounds, spoken word, and/or performed music? In a world where everything is stored digitally and used on a digital device, these categories are going to get very blurry. ------------------------------------------ John Hostage Authorities and Database Integrity Librarian Harvard Library--Information and Technical Services Langdell Hall 194 Cambridge, MA 02138 [email protected] +(1)(617) 495-3974 (voice) +(1)(617) 496-4409 (fax) > -----Original Message----- > From: Resource Description and Access / Resource Description and Access > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Kelley McGrath > Sent: Monday, February 25, 2013 11:38 > To: [email protected] > Subject: [RDA-L] Media type for streaming video > > I had always assumed that the 33x fields for streaming video should > look like this due to the online nature of the resource: > > 336 __ $a two-dimensional moving image $2 rdacontent > 337 __ $a computer $2 rdamedia > 338 __ $a online resource $2 rdacarrier > > However, I was recently reviewing something where the following was > used: > > 336 __ $a two-dimensional moving image $2 rdacontent > 337 __ $a computer $2 rdamedia > 337 __ $a video $2 rdamedia > 338 __ $a online resource $2 rdacarrier > > A little googling found institutions recommending that as well as > > 336 __ $a two-dimensional moving image $2 rdacontent > 337 __ $a video $2 rdamedia > 338 __ $a online resource $2 rdacarrier > > The relevant RDA definitions for media type: > > Video: Media used to store moving or still images, designed for use > with a playback device such as a videocassette player or DVD player. > Includes media used to store digitally encoded as well as analog images > > Computer: Media used to store electronic files, designed for use with a > computer. Includes media that are accessed remotely through file > servers as well as direct-access media such as computer tapes and > discs. > > Leaving aside the problematic nature of the computer media type in RDA > and working with RDA as written, what should the media type(s) for > streaming video be? > > Also worrying to me is the fact that catalogers are interpreting and > applying the these elements in such disparate ways for the same type of > material. What does this lack of consistency mean for our ability to > map these elements to more human-friendly displays? I suppose the more > important elements for mapping to icons, etc. are the content and > carrier types, but I still find it a little unsettling. >
