Glossary
Contents:
0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
0–9
A
accompanying material
Material issued with, and intended to be used with, the resource being cataloged.
adaptation
A new derivative work created by revision of a previously existing work that substantially changes the nature and content of that work.
added title page
A title page preceding or following the title page chosen as the preferred source of information. An added title page may be more general or equally general. A series title page is an example of a more general title page; a title page in another language is an example of an equally general title page. See also series title page and title page.
alternative title
A second or subsequent independent title of a resource that is joined to a preceding title by a conjunction such as “or” in English or its equivalent in another language. See also title.
area
A major section of ISBD bibliographic description, comprising data of a particular category or set of categories. See also element.
B
bibliographic description
A set of bibliographic data recording and identifying a resource, i.e., the description that begins with the title proper and ends with the last note. See also description.
bibliographic format
The number of times the printed sheet has been folded to make the leaves of a book, e.g., folio (one fold giving two leaves), quarto (two folds giving four leaves), etc. See also gathering and signature.
broadsheet
See single-sheet publication.
broadside
See single-sheet publication.
C
cancellation
A substitution for something originally printed. Usually applies to leaves but may apply to portions of leaves, pairs of leaves, or entire gatherings. The replacement leaf, etc., is called the cancel or cancellans (plural cancels or cancellantia). The original leaf, etc., is variously called the cancelled leaf, the uncancelled leaf (if it is still present), the cancelland, or the cancellandum (plural cancellanda).
caption title
Title above a chapter, section, article, or the title beginning a textual resource without a title page. See also title.
carrier
A physical medium in which text, data, sound, images, and other kinds of content are stored.
catchword
A word under the last line of text on a page that repeats the first word on the following page.
chief source of information
See preferred source of information.
chief title
The distinguishing word or sequence of words that names a resource, as given on the title page (or substitute). This definition excludes alternative titles, parallel titles, other title information, and subsidiary title information preceding the chief title on the title page, such exclusion resulting usually in a short title. See also title and title proper.
chronogram
A phrase, sentence, or other text in which the numeric values of certain letters (usually distinguished typographically or visually) express a date when added together.
collection
A group of resources assembled by an agent from a variety of sources.
collective title
A title of manifestation of an aggregate. A collective title is usually different from the titles of the expressions and works that are embodied by an aggregate. See also title.
colophon
A statement at the end of a resource giving information about one or more of the following: the title, author(s), publisher, printer, date of publication or printing. It may also include other information.
conjugate leaves
Two leaves that form a single piece of paper, parchment, etc., in a gathering. See also leaf.
container
A housing that is physically separable from the carrier or group of carriers being housed. See also carrier.
copy
In bibliographic description, a particular instance of a resource produced in multiples. See also item.
corporate body
A collective agent that is composed of persons who are organized for a common purpose or activity.
cover
A source of information in a resource that is a protective binding of a volume.
cover title
A title printed on the cover of a resource as issued. See also title.
D
description
A set of data that records and identifies one or more RDA entities. See also bibliographic description.
device
A design—generally symbolic, emblematic, or pictorial rather than textual—used to identify an agent (e.g., artist, printer, bookseller, publisher). To be distinguished from a logo that renders a name as a stylized, primarily textual design.
docket title
A title written, typed, or printed on a document, or on a label affixed to the document, briefly indicating its contents or subject. Usually found perpendicular to the main text on the verso of the last leaf on a document designed to be folded for filing.
double leaf
A leaf of double size relative to the volume, sewn or tipped in with the fold at one of the outer edges of the volume, with blank pages facing each other, functioning as a single leaf. See also leaf.
E
edition
All copies resulting from a single job of typographical composition or produced from essentially the same master copy.
editor
An agent contributing to an expression of a work by revising or clarifying the content, by selecting and putting together works, or parts of works, by one or more creators; adding introduction, notes, or other critical matter; or preparing an expression of a work for production, publication, or distribution.
element
A specific aspect, characteristic, attribute, or relationship used to describe an RDA entity. See also area.
errata
A list of errors in a printed work discovered after printing and shown with corrections.
expression
An intellectual or artistic realization of a work in the form of alpha-numeric, musical, or choreographic notation, sound, image, object, movement, etc., or any combination of such forms.
extent
The first element of the physical description area. It gives the number and carrier units of the resource being described and, in some cases, other indications of the extent.
F
facsimile
An illustrative content that consists of an exact copy of an original, usually in the same dimensions as the original, especially of books, documents, prints, and drawings. Today the original is often reproduced photographically or digitally; in the past, it was reproduced by engraving or another printmaking process.
fascicle
One of the temporary divisions of a printed resource that, for convenience in printing or publication, is issued in small installments, usually incomplete in themselves; they do not necessarily coincide with any formal division of the work into parts, etc. Usually the fascicle is protected by temporary paper wrappers. It may or may not be numbered. A fascicle is distinguished from a part by being a temporary division of a work rather than a formal component unit.
fingerprint
An identifier for an early printed resource that consists of a sequence of characters from internal sources of information specified by an established scheme.
G
gathering
One or more pairs of leaves that form a distinctive unit for binding purposes. A gathering may consist of a folded sheet, a fraction of a folded sheet, or several folded sheets tucked inside one another. See also bibliographic format and signature.
H
half title
A title of a resource appearing on a leaf preceding the title page. See also title.
I
illustration
Visual elements relating to the content of the resource. For decorative elements that do not illustrate the content of the resource, see ornaments.
impression
All copies of a textual manifestation produced in the course of one printing event; the term is synonymous with “printing.”
inscription
Text hand-lettered on an item prior to acquisition by the repository, especially when for documentation or commemoration.
integral
1. A leaf is integral to a gathering if it is conjugate with another leaf in the gathering. 2. A leaf is integral to a publication if it can be assumed to be present in all copies represented by the bibliographic description. Leaves added after publication by an owner (e.g., extra-illustrated copies) or by a binder are not considered integral to the publication and thus must be described in item-specific notes.
issue
A group of published copies of a textual manifestation which constitutes a consciously planned publishing unit, distinguishable from other groups of published copies by one or more differences designed expressly to identify the group as a discrete unit.
item
A single exemplar or instance of a resource.
J
K
L
leaf
A unit of extent that forms a subunit of a volume; each leaf consists of two pages, one on each side, either or both of which may be blank. See also conjugate leaves and double leaf.
leaf of plates
A plate in a resource that also has one or more leaves or pages of text (whether preliminary text or text proper). Plates may be described in terms of pages of plates if they are numbered as pages or are unnumbered and have illustrative matter on both sides. See also plate.
letterpress
Printing done directly from raised surfaces. Includes printing done from type, from wood blocks (e.g., woodcuts and wood-engravings), and from metal surfaces designed for relief printing (e.g., stereotypes and electrotypes).
M
manifestation
The physical embodiment of an expression of a work.
manuscript
Writings (including musical scores, maps, etc.) made by hand, typescripts, and inscriptions on clay tablets, stone, etc.
map
An illustrative content that consists of a representation, normally to scale and on a two-dimensional medium, of a selection of material or abstract features on, or in relation to, the surface of the earth, another celestial body, or an imaginary place.
monograph
A bibliographic resource that is complete in one part or intended to be completed within a finite number of parts. See also multipart monograph.
monographic series
See series.
multipart monograph
A bibliographic resource complete, or intended to be completed, in a finite number of separate parts. The separate parts may or may not be numbered. Examples of multipart monographs include multipart texts, map sets, and map series. See also monograph.
N
nomen
A label for any RDA entity except a nomen. A nomen includes a name, title, access point, or identifier.
normalization
In a bibliographic description, giving textual information in a form intended to facilitate consistency, readability, or access, rather than giving the information exactly as it appears in the resource being described. Examples of normalization techniques that may be permitted in certain circumstances include changes in capitalization, punctuation, spacing, and spelling.
nonce collection
A volume made up of separately published pamphlets that have been gathered up for reissue by a publisher, usually with a collective title page.
O
ornaments
Decorative elements such as vignettes, head- and tail-pieces, historiated initials, etc., that do not illustrate the content of the resource. For visual elements that illustrate the content of the resource, see illustration.
other title information
A title borne by a resource other than the title proper or parallel or series title(s); also any phrase appearing in conjunction with the title proper, etc., indicative of the character, contents, etc., of the resource or the motives for, or occasion of, its production or publication. The term includes subtitles, avant-titres, etc., but does not include variations on the title proper (e.g., spine titles, sleeve titles). See also title.
P
panel
A rectangular section formed by the creases in a single-sheet resource that has been issued folded but is intended to be used unfolded.
parallel title
A title proper in another language or script. An alternative title in another
language or script is treated as part of a parallel title proper. See also title.
perfect copy
A copy of a publication that is physically complete and correctly arranged, as issued.
plate
A leaf, usually containing illustrative content, that does not form part of either the preliminary or the main sequence of pages or leaves. See also leaf of plates.
preferred source of information
The source of bibliographic data to be given preference as the source from which a bibliographic description (or portion thereof) is prepared.
preliminaries
The title page(s) of a resource, the verso of the title page(s), any pages preceding the title page(s), and the cover.
Q
R
RDA entity
An abstract class of key conceptual objects in the universe of human discourse that are a focus of interest to users of RDA metadata in a system for resource discovery. An RDA entity includes an agent, collective agent, corporate body, expression, family, item, manifestation, nomen, person, place, timespan, and work.
recto
1. The page of a resource intended to be read after its facing page (i.e., the right-hand page for left-to-right reading scripts and the left-hand page for right-to-left reading scripts), usually bearing an odd page number if the volume is paginated. 2. The side of a printed sheet intended to be read first. See also verso.
running title
A title, or abbreviated title, that is repeated at the head or foot of each page or leaf. See also title.
S
series
A group of separate resources related to one another by the fact that each resource bears, in addition to its own title proper, a collective title applying to the group as a whole. The individual resource may or may not be numbered. See also subseries.
series title page
An added title page bearing a series title proper and usually, though not necessarily, other information about a series such as statement of responsibility, numeric designation, data relating to publication, title of the resource within the series. See also added title page and title page.
signature
A letter, numeral, symbol, or a group of such characters, printed at the foot of the rectos of the first few leaves of an intended gathering for the purpose of aiding binders in correctly assembling the sections. See also bibliographic format and gathering.
single-sheet publication
A publication printed on a single or composite piece of paper or other material; it may be printed on one or both sides and may be bound or unbound. The content of a single-sheet publication, as here defined, is predominantly textual in nature, though it may contain illustrations that are subordinate or coordinate to the text.
source of information
A source (e.g., title page, colophon, container) of a data value, or content, for an element.
standard number
The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) or any other internationally agreed upon standard number that identifies a resource uniquely.
state
A copy or a group of copies of a printed textual sheet or a publisher’s casing which differs from other copies (within the same impression or issue) of that sheet or casing in any respect which the publisher does not wish to call to the attention of the public as representing a discrete publishing effort.
statement of responsibility
A statement relating to the identification or function of agents responsible for the creation of, or contributing to the realization of, the intellectual or artistic content of a resource.
subseries
A series within a series, that is, a series that always appears in conjunction with another, usually more comprehensive, series of which it forms a section. Its title may or may not be dependent on the title of the main series. See also series.
T
tactile text
A content type consisting of content expressed through a form of notation for language intended to be perceived through touch. Braille text and other tactile forms of language notation are included.
title
A word, phrase, character, or group of characters, normally appearing in a resource, that names the resource or the work contained in it. See also alternative title, caption title, chief title, collective title, cover title, half title, other title information, parallel title, running title, title proper, and variant title.
title page
A page at the beginning of a resource bearing the title proper and usually, though not necessarily, the statement(s) of responsibility and the data relating to publication, distribution, manufacture, etc. The leaf bearing the title page is commonly called the “title page” although properly called the “title leaf.” See also added title page and series title page.
title proper
The chief title of a resource, together with any title information preceding the chief title and any alternative title. This definition excludes parallel titles and any other title information following the chief title. See also chief title and title.
transcription
In a bibliographic description, giving textual information as it appears in the resource being described, but in accordance with rules governing the extent to which the information may be normalized to facilitate consistency, readability, and access.
transposition
In a bibliographic description, transcribing information in an order different from that found in the resource being described.
U
unpublished manifestation
A resource that is created by a producer and not offered for sale or public distribution.
V
variant
Term loosely used in describing a manifestation of an edition, state, impression, etc., showing some visually or bibliographically significant difference from one or more other manifestations of the same edition, state, impression, etc.
variant title
A title associated with a resource that differs from a title recorded as a title proper, a parallel title proper, other title information, parallel other title information, earlier title proper, later title proper, key title, or abbreviated title. See also title.
verso
1. The page of a resource intended to read before its facing page (i.e., the left-hand page for left-to-right reading scripts and the right-hand page for right-to-left reading scripts), usually bearing an even page number if the volume is paginated. 2. The side of a printed sheet intended to be read second. See also recto.
W
work
A distinct intellectual or artistic creation, that is, the intellectual or artistic content.
X
Y
Z
