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Les termes des differents types de documents et des matières jouent une role plus important dans les documents électronique que d'ailleurs. En outre, le mechanisme d'entretien des règles de déscription dépend de ces termes, qu'il faut changer ou compléter selon le développement technologique. Cette partie de la conférence veut illustrer les fonction des règles dans cet aspect et aussi indiquer certain problèmes dans leur usage.
Die versschiedenen Bezeichnungen der Sorten von Dokumenten und ihrer physischen Eigenschaften spielen in elektronischen Dokumenten einen wichtigeren Rolle als in anderen Medien. Ausserdem hängt der Lebensdauer der Beschreibungsregeln davon ab, dass jeder Katalogisatör nach Bedarf die neue Terminologie des Faches in Anspruch nimmt. Dieser Vortrag will die Funktionen der Bezeichnungen illustrieren, sowie auch die wichtigsten Problemgebiete ihrer Verwendung.
In general, designations are based on common language, that of the cataloguer, and chosen from a list of preferred terms without respect to designations used on the item. Still, they are used in the body of the descrip-tion where the first option is to quote what is found on the item. For example, "volume" is the term for a unit of a multi-volume monograph catalogued in the United States, even when the item is in German and carries designations as "Teil 1".
What are their more specific roles in the descriptions of electronic resources? First, we have the GMD (1) , usually found directly after the title proper, giving the catalogue user an early warning that the document described is electronic. A little further ahead, the Resource designation (2) occurs as area 3 (or the first one of several parallel areas 3 if the document is also a serial etc.) and gives the catalogue user a better idea of the type of the resource being described. Lastly, area 5, Physical Descrip-tion, uses Specific material designations (3) in their common usage, i.e. to report on the physical carriers.
For economy, (1) and (2) may be combined, presenting the whole concept in Area 3. Also, (2) is optional in electronic resources distributed on physical carriers, and if that option is used, (1) and (3) may be combined in Area 5. By sheer logic, there can be no Area 5 or set (3) for resources available by remote access since there is no physical carrier. The outcome can be that a description of an Internet resource has all its specific desig-nation information in Area 3, which is quite acceptable. On the other hand, a resource for local access may give no clues as to its internal design until the catalogue user reaches Area 5, which is not quite so user-friendly.
Lists of recommended terms are given in Appendix C of the rules. For (1) , the term shall be "Electronic resource" in Area 1 or the word "Electronic" as prefix in Areas 3 or 5. There are no other options. Also, Area 5 shows a very ordinary application of ISBD(G), with the most common of today's carriers.
The list for (2) has three levels, representing a hierarchy. On top, we have just "Data" and "Program" plus the possibility of a combination of the two. The next level exemplifies six kinds of data and three kinds of programs, and on the bottom level most of these groups are further subdivided. So, "Text data" (one part of "Data" ) has the sub-categories "Bibliographic database", "Document", "Journal", "Newsletter" . Among "Application programs" , one specification is "Game" .
However, the cataloguer must remember to read the fine print of the text, 3.1 and 5.1: "When none of these terms is appropriate, an appropriate designation may be supplied ... In
The outcome of it all is very logic and nice:
Journal of molecular medicine. - Electronic journal. - Vol. 74(1996)-. - Berlin : Springer, 1996-
Gröna kartan / Lantmäteriverket. - Electronic map. - Scale 1:50 000. - Gävle : Kartförlaget, 1996-
The first word or data element seen relating to the type etc. tells the user that he or she is up against an elec-tronic resource, which can be a useful first criterion. The next piece tells the user what kind of document it is; if it is a map or a serial, the Media specific area 3 will be repeated to give the special designations directly afterwards. In due course is recorded the physical extent of the carriers.
The problems that arise in the application of this design are of several kinds.
Electronic Beowulf [Electronic resource]. - Interactive multimedia. - [Great Britain?], cop. 1995