Relaton

Information models

Creator

Categories of creator in Relaton

Creator

General

  • Source: ISO 690, 4.1

  • Serialisation: bibitem/contributor, Person, Organization, Affiliation

ISO 690, 4.1 classifies the various possible roles a creator can have with regard to a resource into six broad categories in order of priority, with more refined classifications typically named for the creator.

These classifications are retained in the Relaton model:

bibitem/contributor/role@type

Provides the broad category of role (author, performer, compiler, adaptor, publisher, distributor). The content of this element is optional, and contains a more specific expression of the creator role.

bibitem/contributor/role/description

Contains one or more specific descriptions of the role of the contributor. The description can be strictly a noun, e.g. "librettist", or it can be a phrase, corresponding to how it will be rendered in a citation ("libretto by"); the choice is at the discretion of the bibliographer, and is determined by how the citation is expected to be rendered (as rendering systems are unlikely to be sophisticated enough to convert the one into the other.)

Role

The Relaton model further refines the ISO 690 model of roles, based on analysis of the 270 creator roles encoded in the MARC bibliographic standard.

The Relaton listing of roles is as follows:

author

creates a Work (ISO 690: "a) creator of work")

editor

finalises a Work; "finalises" is a subclass of "creates" (ISO 690: "c) reviser of work")

adapter

creates a Derived-Work, a Work derived from the initial Work ISO 690: "d) creator of derivative work")

translator, performer, realiser

creates an Expression of a Work (ISO 690: "b) expresser of created work")

translator

creates an Expression of a Work in a novel language

performer

creates an Expression as a novel performance (time-bound realisation of Work), specific to performing arts

realiser

creates Expression, is default (is intended as the catch-all for ISO 690 "b) expresser of created work"):

  • includes bringing someone’s creative vision into fulfilment, and coordinating performance (as opposed to performing):

  • in the performing arts, a performer works front of stage, and a realiser works backstage (e.g. a producer, or a choreographer)

publisher

creates a Manifestation of an Expression, a distinct presentation (ISO 690: "e) publisher of manifestation")

distributor

gives out Items of a Manifestation to an audience (ISO 690: "f) distributor of manifestation")

owner

receives Items of a Manifestation

authoriser

authorises the Work, lends it authority. (This includes includes standards development organisations, software companies, scholarly societies)

enabler

supports, enables, facilitates a Work, an Expression, or a Manifestation. (This includes funders, sponsors.)

subject

referenced in a Work.

Note
 Italicised roles are not currently in ISO 690.
Note

The above description uses the older FRBR distinction between:

  • Works (a family of content identified as the same),

  • Expressions (versions of the content of a Work, including revisions and performers),

  • Manifestations (presentations of an Expression),

  • Items (instances of a Manifestation).

Later bibliographic models such as BIBFRAME conflate Expressions and Manifestations, as the distinction can be difficult to make, but it is useful in defining publishers abstractly.

Selection

Whether subsidiary creators should be included in a bibliographic item, and which creators should be included, is at the discretion of the bibliographer.

Exceptionally, "translator" is differentiated from the other "adaptor" roles, because it is so different from other adaptor roles such as "engraver" or "photographer".

Derivative works

For derivative works, the creator and title of the original resource can be mentioned as a bibliographic note (bibitem/note). However, best practice is to treat the original resource as a distinct related bibliographic item, related through the derivedFrom relation (See Document Relations).

Likewise, different originators of different editions should be modelled by modelling the editions as distinct related items, each with its own distinct editor as contributor. (For example, the later edition given as the main item, and the earlier edition related through a "updatedBy" relation.)

Note
 Although both "composer" and "librettist" are included as authors under ISO 690, 4.1, the two roles are clearly differentiated in ISO 690, 5.7, with the "composer" given priority over the "librettist".
Note
 Inventor and patentee are atypical of the "performer" roles, and could arguably be regarded as author roles instead.

Sponsoring organisations

Sponsoring organisations are conventionally included as distributors, following practice in ISO 690.

Note that in this model, sponsors are no longer conflated with distributors, and SDOs are differentiated from publishers; they are often but not always the same organisation in the case of standards.

Examples

Ramsey, J. K., & McGrew, W. C. (2005). Object play in great apes: Studies in nature and captivity. In A. D. Pellegrini & P. K. Smith (Eds.), The nature of play: Great apes and humans (pp. 89-112). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

<bibitem type="incollection">
  <title>Object play in great apes: Studies in nature and captivity</title>
  <date type="published"><on>2005</on></date>
  <contributor>
    <role type="author"/>
    <person>
      <name>
        <surname>Ramsey</surname>
        <formatted-initials>J. K.</formatted-initials>
      </name>
    </person>
  </contributor>
  <contributor>
    <role type="author"/>
    <person>
      <name>
        <surname>McGrew</surname>
        <formatted-initials>W. C.</formatted-initials>
      </name>
    </person>
  </contributor>
  <relation type="includedIn">
    <bibitem>
      <title>The nature of play: Great apes and humans</title>
      <contributor>
        <role type="editor"/>
        <person>
          <name>
            <surname>Pellegrini</surname>
            <formatted-initials>A. D.</formatted-initials>
          </name>
        </person>
      </contributor>
      <contributor>
        <role type="editor"/>
        <person>
          <name>
            <surname>Smith</surname>
            <formatted-initials>P. K.</formatted-initials>
          </name>
        </person>
      </contributor>
      <contributor>
        <role type="publisher"/>
        <organization>
          <name>Guilford Press</name>
        </organization>
      </contributor>
      <place>New York, NY</place>
    </bibitem>
  </relation>
  <extent type="page">
    <referenceFrom>89</referenceFrom>
    <referenceTo>112</referenceTo>
  </extent>
</bibitem>

Demosthenes. Speeches 50-59. Translated from the Greek by Victor BERS. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2003.

<bibitem type="book">
  <title>Speeches 50-59</title>
  <date type="published"><on>2003</on></date>
  <contributor>
    <role type="author"/>
    <person>
      <name>
        <completename>Demosthenes</completename>
      </name>
    </person>
  </contributor>
  <contributor>
    <role type="translator"/>
    <person>
      <name>
        <surname>Bers</surname>
        <forename>Victor</forename>
      </name>
    </person>
  </contributor>
  <contributor>
    <role type="publisher"/>
    <organization>
      <name>University of Texas Press</name>
    </organization>
  </contributor>
  <language>en</language>
  <relation type="translatedFrom">
    <bibitem>
      <title>Speeches 50-59</title>
      <language>grc</language>
    </bibitem>
  </relation>
  <place>Austin</place>
</bibitem>

ROGET, Peter Mark. Roget’s Thesaurus. Revised by Susan M. LLOYD. Burnt Mill, Harlow, Essex: Longman Group Limited, 1982 [1852].

<bibitem type="book">
  <title>Roget's Thesaurus</title>
  <date type="created"><on>1852</on></date>
  <date type="updated"><on>1982</on></date>
  <date type="published"><on>1982</on></date>
  <contributor>
    <role type="author"/>
    <person>
      <name>
        <surname>Roget</surname>
        <forename>Peter</forename>
        <forename>Mark</forename>
      </name>
    </person>
  </contributor>
  <contributor>
    <role type="editor">revised</role>
    <person>
      <name>
        <surname>Lloyd</surname>
        <forename>Susan</forename>
        <forename>M.</forename>
      </name>
    </person>
  </contributor>
  <contributor>
    <role type="publisher"/>
    <organization>
      <name>Longman Group Limited</name>
    </organization>
  </contributor>
  <place>Burnt Mill, Harlow, Essex</place>
</bibitem>

WINSBACHER KNABENCHOR. All' Lust und Freud'. Frankfurt: Bellaphon, 1983.

<bibitem type="music">
  <title>All' Lust und Freud'</title>
  <date type="published"><on>1983</on></date>
  <contributor>
    <role type="performer"/>
    <organization>
      <name>Winsbacher Knabenchor</name>
    </organization>
  </contributor>
  <contributor>
    <role type="author">composer</role>
    <person><name><completename>Gastoldi, Giovanni Giacomo</completename></name></person>
  </contributor>
  <contributor>
    <role type="author">composer</role>
    <person><name><completename>Isaak, Heinrich</completename></name></person>
  </contributor>
  <contributor>
    <role type="author">composer</role>
    <person><name><completename>Othmayr, Caspar</completename></name></person>
  </contributor>
  <contributor>
    <role type="author">composer</role>
    <person><name><completename>Demantius, Christoph</completename></name></person>
  </contributor>
  <contributor>
    <role type="publisher"/>
    <organization>
      <name>Bellaphon</name>
    </person>
  </organization>
  <medium>
    <carrier>audio disc</carrier>
  </medium>
  <place>Frankfurt</place>
</bibitem>

Personal names

Names may be modelled either broken up into their constituent components (prefix, forename, initials, surname, addition), or as a complete name string. The latter is useful if (contrary to the recommendation of ISO 690, 4.1) language-specific conventions for ordering of name components are to be observed; e.g. “James CLARK, John COWAN, MURATA Makoto”.

If there are multiple contributors named in a role, all contributors are expected to be represented in the bibliographic entry. This reflects practice in electronic bibliographic tools, and renderers may choose to truncate contributors with “et al.” beyond a certain cutoff point. If this information is not available, a dummy contributor can be named with “et al.” as their completename, but this is not preferred.

The formatted-initials component is used if all forenames are replaced by initials. If only the middle name is replaced by an initial, it is still treated as a forename.

Forenames are given an initial attribute if initials are to be assembled on a more granular basis.

BACH, J.S.

<person>
  <name>
    <surname>Bach</surname>
    <formatted-initials>J. S.</formatted-initials>
  </name>
</person>

PICASSO, Pablo

<person>
  <name>
    <surname>Picasso</surname>
    <forename initial="P">Pablo</forename>
  </name>
</person>

KING, Martin Luther, Jr., Rev.

<person>
  <name>
    <prefix>Dr.</prefix>
    <surname>King</surname>
    <forename>Martin</forename>
    <forename>Luther</forename>
    <addition>Jr.</addition>
    <addition>Rev.</addition>
  </name>
</person>

KING, Martin Luther, Jr.

<person>
  <name>
    <completename>KING, Martin Luther, Jr.</completename>
  </name>
</person>

STEWART, John H.

<person>
  <name>
    <surname>Stewart</surname>
    <forename>John</forename>
    <forename>H.</forename>
  </name>
</person>

Organisations

The model caters for both full names and abbreviations of organisations. Subordinate body names are modelled separately from the parent body name; the choice of whether to model parent + subordinate or a single name depends on the degree of independence of the subordinate body, as outlined in ISO 690, 4.1.

St. Thomas University [Florida].

<organization>
  <name>St. Thomas University [Florida]</name>
</organization>

St. Thomas University [New Brunswick].

<organization>
  <name>St. Thomas University [New Brunswick]</name>
</organization>

ACADEMY OF ATHENS. Research Centre for Modern Greek Dialects.

<organization>
  <name>Academy of Athens</name>
  <subdivision>Research Centre for Modern Greek Dialects</subdivision>
</organization>

Pseudonyms and Variant Names

Variant names, and assumed names, can both be modelled as notes on names. However, for greater clarity, and for modelling of the internal structure of the variant or assumed name, a variant name can be modelled, with the same level of detail as default names. The type of variant, or relation between the name and variant, needs to be made explicit in that case. For example pseudonym/pseudonymOf for literary pseudonyms, or username/usernameOf for social media usernames.

Variant names can be applied to personal names, organization names, and organization subdivision names.

TWAIN, Mark [pseud. of Samuel Langhorne CLEMENS]

<person>
  <surname>Twain</surname>
  <forename>Mark</forename>
  <note>pseud. of Samuel Langhorne CLEMENS</note>
</person>
<person>
  <surname>Twain</surname>
  <forename>Mark</forename>
  <variant type="pseudonymOf">
    <surname>Clemens</surname>
    <forename>Samuel</forename>
    <forename>Langhorne</forename>
  </variant>
  <variant type="transliteration">
    <surname language="el">Τουαίην</surname>
    <forename language="el">Μαρκ</forename>
  </variant>
</person>

Anonymous and Varii

Descriptors of authors, such as “Anon” or “Various Authors”, should be given as completename elements. The model does not standardise the designations of authors. As with pseudonyms, the real name of the creator if known can be modelled as a note, or as a name variant.

Anon. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Edited by R. A. WALDRON. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1970.

<bibitem type="book">
  <title>Sir Gawain and the Green Knight</title>
  <date type="published"><on>1970</on></date>
  <contributor>
    <role type="author"/>
    <person><name><completename>Anon</completename></name></person>
  </contributor>
  <contributor>
    <role type="editor"/>
    <person><name><completename>R. A. WALDRON</completename></name></person>
  </contributor>
  <contributor>
    <role type="publisher"/>
    <organization>
      <name>Northwestern University Press</name>
    </person>
  </organization>
  <place>Evanston</place>
</bibitem>

Anon [Thomas Robert MALTHUS]. An Essay on the Principle of Population. 1st edition. London: J. Johnson, 1798.

<bibitem type="book">
  <title>An Essay on the Principle of Population</title>
  <date type="published"><on>1798</on></date>
  <contributor>
    <role type="author"/>
    <person><name><completename>Anon</completename></name></person>
    <variantname type="realname">
      <completename>Thomas Robert MALTHUS</completename>
    </variantname>
  </contributor>
  <contributor>
    <role type="publisher"/>
    <person><name><completename>J. Johnson</completename></name></person>
  </contributor>
  <edition>1st edition</edition>
  <place>London</place>
</bibitem>