Filling in the Blanks in RDA or Remaining Blank? The Strange Case of FRSAD

Abstract

Purpose

This chapter covers the significant developments in subject access embodied in the Functional Requirements (FR) family of models, particularly the Functional Requirements for Subject Authority Data (FRSAD) model.

Design/methodology/approach

A structured literature review was used to track the genesis of FRSAD. It builds on work by Pino Buizza and Mauro Guerrini who outlined a potential subject access model for FRBR. Tom Delsey, the author of Resource Description and Access (RDA), also examined the problem of adding subject access.

Findings

FRSAD seemed to generate little comment when it appeared in 2009, despite its subject model which departed from that in previous FR standards. FRSAD proposed a subject model based on “thema” and “nomen,” whereby the former, defined as “any entity used as the subject of a work,” was represented by the latter, defined as “any sign or sequence of signs.” It is suggested in this chapter that the linguistic classification theory underlying the PRECIS Indexing System might provide an alternative model for developing generic subject entities in FRSAD.

Originality/value

The FR family of models underpin RDA, the new cataloguing code intended to replace AACR2.Thus issues with FRSAD, which are still unresolved, continue to affect the new generation of cataloguing rules and their supporting models.

Citation

Poulter, A. (2013), "Filling in the Blanks in RDA or Remaining Blank? The Strange Case of FRSAD", New Directions in Information Organization (Library and Information Science, Vol. 7), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 43-59. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1876-0562(2013)0000007007