Relations

Categories of document relations in Relaton

Document relations

General

Source: ISO 690, 4.3
Serialisation: bibitem/relation

The model allows specifying relations between bibliographic items, with one related item embedded within the other.

Relation types

bibitem/relation/@type gives the base class of the relation between two bibliographic items.

The base class of relation types is taken from ISO 690 and Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR), and represents generic bibliographical requirements, particularly inclusion in a host item (Host item: includedIn, includes) and translation (Translation: translatedFrom, hasTranslation).

The class of relation types have been expanded substantially to deal with the requirements of standards documents.

In addition, the class has also been designed for extensibility: refinements to the base class can be expressed through bibitem/relation/description, with the understanding that the relation described in that element is a subset of the relation named in bibitem/relation/@type.

Relations can be modelled in a hierarchical fashion, and we attempt to do so in the following; but relations are kept in @type, rather than moved to description, if they are commonplace.

The modelling of relation types draws on the four basic classes of bibliographic entity modelled in FRBR:

Work: a distinct intellectual or artistic creation
Expression: a realisation of a Work (e.g. edition, adaptation)
Manifestation: the physical embodiment of an Expression (e.g. print run; audio vs online vs print)
Item: a single exemplar of a Manifestation

All relations in the following are given with their inverse in italics and brackets, unless the relation is symmetric.

Part-Whole relations

includes

document A includes document B, through a well-defined relation outlined in Host item, and with distinct metadata (including authorship) and bibliographic record (e.g. Chapter in Edited Work, Illustration in Book). (includedIn)

Note	In general, text-based resources have components that can be considered a different kind of resource (`includes`); components of non-textual resources are considered to be of the same type as their host (`hasPart`).

hasPart

document A includes document B, with no distinct metadata (other than extent) or bibliographic record, and all items in document B share the same authorship or corporate authorship (e.g. Chapter, Section, Part, Volume, Issue, Track) (partOf)

merges

document A is the result of merging earlier documents B1, B2, B3… (mergedInto)

splits

document A1, A2, A3… is split off from earlier documents B (splitInto)

FRBR Level relations

In the following, document A is typically an Expression, since expressions are typically what get their own bibliographic entry in catalogues and databases.

Relations in the following are subclassed: this is indicated by indentation.

instanceOf

document B is an instance of document A (e.g. an edition, a format, a single copy: agnostic as to whether B is an Expression, Manifestation, or Item). (hasInstance)

Instances are often used in the Relaton modelling of standards, since concrete documents (FRBR Expressions) are often lumped together as more abstract entities (typically FRBR Works), particularly for the purposes of citation.

Different editions of a standard are often lumped together as a single Work; the different editions of a standard are then modelled as instances of the undated standard. Similarly, translations of a standard are often lumped together as a single Work; the distinct language versions are then modelled as instances of the same, language-independent standard.

Note	This is a generalized relation of the more specific relations `exemplarOf`, `manifestationOf`, and `expressionOf`.

exemplarOf

document B is an Item of document A: document B is a single physical instance of document A. (hasExemplar)

manifestationOf

document B is a Manifestation of document A: document B is an embodiment in a particular medium of the content of document A. (hasManifestation)

Note	This is a generalized relation of the more specific relations `reproductionOf` and `reprintOf`.

reproductionOf

document B is a Manifestation of the same Expression as document A (reproduction): document B presents the same content as document A, and document B has been created to reproduce document A faithfully. (hasReproduction)

Note	This is a generalized relation of the more specific relation `reprintOf`.

reprintOf: document B is a reproduction of document A, involving a new publisher or distributor and mass dissemination, and no overriding concern with reproducing the source manifestation precisely (not necessarily restricted to print media) (hasReprint)

expressionOf

document B is an Expression of document A: document B is a particular realisation of the intellectual or artistic content of the bibliographic item, which is more generically referred to as document A. (hasExpression)

Note	This is a generalized relation of the more specific relations `translatedFrom`, `arrangementOf`, `abridgementOf`, and `annotationOf`.

translatedFrom: document B is an Expression of document A in a different language than the source Expression of A (translation). This includes dubbed and subtitled versions of a film. (hasTranslation)
arrangementOf: document B is an arrangement Expression of document A. Document B has the same intellectual or artistic content as document A, and document B has been created to realise that content through different resources than document A. (hasArrangement)

arrangementOf is typically understood to involve the realisation of a musical work with different instruments or voices than the original. This includes adding parts or an accompaniment.
abridgementOf: document B is an abridged Expression of document A. Document B presents a subset of the intellectual or artistic content of document A, but is still intended as a complete work, presenting a shortened version of the source Expression of A. (hasAbridgement)
annotationOf: document B is an annotated Expression of document A. Document B incorporates part or all of document A, and which enhances document A with explanatory commentary not present in the source Expression of A (annotation). (hasAnnotation)

Revision relations

FRBR uses Revision to refer to the updating of the content of a source Expression to form a new Expression, in ways that do not involve changing language (translation), resources/instrumentation (arrangement), or extent (abridgement, annotation). So a Revision updates the content of an Expression, but is not a new Abridgement, Translation, Arrangement, or Annotation; an Abridgement, Translation, Arrangement, or Annotation can be based on a specific Revision; and an Abridgement, Translation, Arrangement, or Annotation can have multiple Revisions of their own.

Revision includes not only an author updating the content of their own work, but a third party updating that content, often after the author has deceased (indicated bibliographically as "Revised by") It also includes a scholar reconstructing the author’s text on the basis of available evidence, including previous editions where available (indicated bibliographically as "Edited by"; hence we can distinguish Cox’s, Edmond’s, Lobel & Page’s and Voigt’s editions of Sappho, all done in the 20th century). Annotation is most commonly seen in the context of such scholarly editions, so annotationOf should be reserved for cases where the Expression does not provide its own version of the textual content of the Work it is annotating. This is somewhat rare, and FRBR does not model annotations as distinct from revisions.

draftOf

document B is a specific unpublished or revision of document A; it may also be the first, unpublished expression of document A. Document A may be a Work or an Expression (e.g. a draft may be specific to an edition or translation). Document A need not itself be published. (hasDraft)

editionOf

document B is a published revision of document A, or the first published Expression of document A. Document A is a Work, or else document A is an Expression with the same language, instrumentation, and substantially the same extent as B (i.e. translations, arrangements, abridgements, annotations can have editions; editions cannot have editions). (hasEdition)

updates: document B is an edition of the same Work as document A, and is subsequent to document A; A is an Expression. Unlike the obsoletes relation, the document B may still remain valid after the document A appears. (However by default in the standards world, it does not.) (updatedBy)
obsoletes: document A supersedes document B, being applicable or valid in more or newer domains than document B. (The two documents are not necessarily Expressions of the same Work.) (obsoletedBy)

Note

Documents often have notions of corrections and other minor adjustments to content, which are not modelled bibliographically as distinct editions. This distinction or lack of distinction is captured in Relaton through the edition element; the hasEdition relation still applies to such minor variants of the text, whether they are considered distinct editions or not.

Derived relations

In the following, the two related items belong to distinct works, but the creation of document B is determined in some way by document A.

derivedFrom

document A is derived from document B, depending on it for at least some of its content; includes classes not otherwise specified, such as parodies (derives)

describes

document A is a description of document B (describedBy).

Note	This is a generalized relation of the more specific relation `catalogues`.

catalogues: document A is a catalogue including a description of document B, expected to be a bibliographic record (cataloguedBy)

hasSuccessor

document A is succeeded by document B in a sequence. Document A has ceased fulfilling some function, and document B has assumed that function in its stead. Typically applies when document A is a periodical publication which has ceased publication, and document B is a new periodical publication, designated as the continuation of document A (i.e. continuation of journal). (successorOf)

adaptedFrom

document A is a reworking of document B to make it suitable for a different audience (FRBR Adaptation: includes paraphrase, free translation, musical variations) or medium (FRBR Transformation: includes dramatisation, novelisation, versification, screenplay). In music, an adaptation changes the musical content, whereas an arrangement changes the instrumental and vocal resources of the work. (hasAdaptation)

adoptedFrom

document A is adopted in response to document B. Document B has its content derived from document A, and has been adopted in response to it by a distinct authorising body. (adoptedAs)

Note	Typically document B is a national standard body’s counterpart to an international standard. In this case document A and document B have potentially the same content, but have distinct institutional authorship and application.

Note	This kind of appropriation of text is not characteristic of literary works.

Note	This is a generalized relation of the more specific relations `identical`, `equivalent`, and `nonequivalent`.

identical: document A is adopted from document B, is equivalent to it in force and scope, and is identical to it in content.
equivalent: document A is adopted from document B, and is equivalent to it in force and scope, but has not undergone significant textual change.
nonequivalent: document A is adopted from document B, but is not equivalent to it in force and scope.

reviewOf

document A is a evaluation of document B. (hasReview)

commentaryOf

document A is a commentary on document B, but does not include substantial text from document B, unlike annotationOf, and so cannot be read independently of document B. (This distinction is a judgement call.) (hasCommentary)

The distinction between distinct works and expressions of the same work is subtle, and can vary culturally. Its major consequence is whether the creator of the derived work is considered a secondary author, and the derived work is still attributed to the original author (in which case it is an Expression), or a primary author, supplanting the original author (in which case it is a new Work). The differentiation made in FRBR (3.2.1) is:

For the purposes of this study variant texts incorporating revisions or updates to an earlier text are viewed simply as expressions of the same work (i.e., the variant texts are not viewed as separate works). Similarly, abridgements or enlargements of an existing text, or the addition of parts or an accompaniment to a musical composition are considered to be different expressions of the same work. Translations from one language to another, musical transcriptions and arrangements, and dubbed or subtitled versions of a film are also considered simply as different expressions of the same original work.

By contrast, when the modification of a work involves a significant degree of independent intellectual or artistic effort, the result is viewed, for the purpose of this study, as a new work. Thus paraphrases, rewritings, adaptations for children, parodies, musical variations on a theme and free transcriptions of a musical composition are considered to represent new works. Similarly, adaptations of a work from one literary or art form to another (e.g., dramatizations, adaptations from one medium of the graphic arts to another, etc.) are considered to represent new works. Abstracts, digests and summaries are also considered to represent new works.

Other relations

related: document A is related to document B in an otherwise unspecified fashion.
complementOf: document A is a complement or supplement of document B (e.g. concordance, teacher’s guide, gloss, addendum, appendix, libretto, incidental music), and provides additional or contextual information to help understand the document. (hasComplement).
cites: document A references document B (isCitedIn)

The following relations are treated as refinements, and are expressed in bibitem/relation/description, not bibitem/relation/type.

The refinements a relation type can undergo are open-ended, and this list may be expanded in the future to encourage interoperability.

updates

corrects: document A updates document B, and the change does not affect the intended meaning (correctedBy)
amends: document A updates document B, and the change is a minor change to the intended meaning (amendedBy)
revises: document A updates document B, and the change is a major change to the intended meaning (revisedBy)

reproductionOf

facsimile: document A is a reproduction of two-dimensional document B (e.g. book, manuscript), which prioritises visual accuracy.
replica: document A is a reproduction of three-dimensional or pictorial document B (e.g. sculpture, oil painting), which prioritises visual and tactile accuracy.

Comparison with other bibliographic relations lists

The Relaton relations are compared with those in

(The directionality of corresponding relations is ignored.)

Table 1. Comparing Relaton bibliographic relations with other related schemes
Relaton	FRBR	BIBFRAME	BIBO	Dublin Core
includes	hasPart (independent)	partOf, hasSeries, hasSubseries		hasPart
hasPart	hasPart (dependent)	partOf		hasPart
splits	is a reconfiguration of (Item only)	splitInto, separatedFrom
merges	is a reconfiguration of (Item only)	mergerOf, absorbed
instanceOf
exemplarOf	is exemplified by	itemOf
manifestationOf	is embodied in	instanceOf		hasFormat
reproductionOf	is a reproduction of, is an alternate to	reproductionOf	reproducedIn
reprintOf	is a reproduction of
expressionOf	is realised through	expressionOf		hasVersion
expressionOf (as generalization)			transcriptOf
translatedFrom	is a translation of	translationOf	translationOf
arrangementOf	is an arrangement of
abridgementOf	is an abridgement of
annotationOf
draftOf	is a revision of
editionOf	is a revision of
updates	is a revision of
derivedFrom		derivativeOf, originalVersion		source
derivedFrom (as generalization)	is a summary of, is an imitation of
describedBy			annotates	description, abstract, tableOfContents
hasSuccessor	is a successor to	precededBy, continues, continuesInPart
adaptedFrom	is an adaptation of, is a transformation of
adoptedFrom
reviewOf			reviewOf
commentaryOf
related		relatedTo		relation
related (as generalization)		dataSource		conformsTo
complementOf	complements, supplements	accompanies, supplementTo, indexOf, findingAidOf		requires
supersedes		replacementOf	affirmedBy (legal), reversedBy (legal), subsequentLegalDecision (legal)	replaces
cites		references	cites	references

Note	Bolded entries indicate non-identical matches where the meaning of mapped values differ. Some may represent one-to-many or partial matches.

Localities

The relation between two bibliographic items may not apply to either the first ("source") item, or the second ("target") item, in their entirety. For that reason, the relation may also specify one more more localities in the target item (localityStack), and one or more localities in the source item (sourceLocalityStack), as constraining the relation.

For example, the following expresses that Chapter 3 of the first edition of Telescopy has been superseded by Chapters 4 and 7 of the second edition.

<bibitem type="book">
  <title>Telescopy</title>
  <edition>1</edition>
  <relation type="obsoletedBy">
    <bibitem type="book">
      <title>Telescopy</title>
      <edition>2</edition>
    </bibitem>
    <sourceLocalityStack>
      <sourceLocality type="chapter">
        <referenceFrom>3</referenceFrom>
      </sourceLocality>
    </sourceLocalityStack>
    <localityStack>
      <locality type="chapter">
        <referenceFrom>4</referenceFrom>
      </locality>
      <locality type="chapter">
        <referenceFrom>7</referenceFrom>
      </locality>
    </localityStack>
  </relation>
</bibitem>

Host item

Of the bibliographic types identified in [bibtype], incollection, inproceedings, and inbook are all inherently related to a host item. Other types also potentially involve relations with host items; for example, the relation between a record track and a record, or a broadcast segment and a broadcast show. The relation between host item and contained item is modelled through includedIn or partOf, depending on whether all included items share authorship or corporate authorship.

The relation between any two items optionally includes a locality element, which indicates which part of the first item is related to the second. (For example, which part of the first item is superseded by the second.) The locality in the relation element can be used with "includedIn" relations, to indicate the extent of the contained item within the host item; but for consistency, it is preferable to use the extent element in the contained item, which has the same meaning.

The expected relations between host and contained items are as follows:

Host	Contained	Relation
book, booklet, manual, techreport	incollection (if has its own title—autonomous item)	includedIn
book, booklet, manual, techreport	inbook (if it does not have its own title, e.g. numbered chapter, page span)	partOf
journal	article	includedIn
proceedings, conference	inproceedings	includedIn
thesis, standard, patent	inbook	partOf
map	map	partOf (atlas) or includedIn (collection)
electronic resource	electronic resource	partOf (multipart work) or includedIn (collection)
broadcast	broadcast (treated as same corporate author)	partOf
music	music (typically involves same author)	partOf
graphic work	graphic work	partOf (multipart work) or includedIn (collection)
film	film (typically involves same author)	partOf
video	video (typically involves same author)	partOf

Host

Contained

Relation

book, booklet, manual, techreport

incollection (if has its own title—autonomous item)

includedIn

book, booklet, manual, techreport

inbook (if it does not have its own title, e.g. numbered chapter, page span)

partOf

journal

article

includedIn

proceedings, conference

inproceedings

includedIn

thesis, standard, patent

inbook

partOf

map

partOf (atlas) or includedIn (collection)

electronic resource

partOf (multipart work) or includedIn (collection)

broadcast

broadcast (treated as same corporate author)

partOf

music

music (typically involves same author)

partOf

graphic work

partOf (multipart work) or includedIn (collection)

film

film (typically involves same author)

partOf

video

video (typically involves same author)

partOf

In general: text-based resources have components that can be considered a different kind of resource; components of non-textual resources are considered to be of the same type as their host.

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>

Sigur Rós. Untitled [Vaka]. In: ( ) [compact disc]. Track 1. Mosfellsbær: Sundlaugin, 2002.

<bibitem type="music">
  <title>Untitled</title>
  <title type="unofficial">Vaka</title>
  <date type="published"><on>2002</on></date>
  <contributor>
    <role type="author">composer</role>
    <organization><name>Sigur Rós</name></organization>
  </contributor>
  <medium>
    <form>compact disc</form>
  </medium>
  <relation type="partOf">
    <bibitem>
      <title>( )</title>
      <contributor>
        <role type="author">composer</role>
        <organization><name>Sigur Rós</name></organization>
      </contributor>
      <contributor>
        <role type="publisher"/>
        <organization><name>Sundlaugin</name></organization>
      </contributor>
      <place>Mosfellsbær, Iceland</place>
    </bibitem>
  </relation>
  <extent type="track">
    <referenceFrom>1</referenceFrom>
  </extent>
</bibitem>

Translation

Translations are items derived from an item in a different language. Typically in bibliographies, the details of the source item are not provided for a translation, outside of the original author, and possibly the date of publication and the source language title of the original title.

If the information about the source item is limited to these, no relation need be invoked in the title:

the source title can be modelled as an original title variant ([alt-title]);
the author differentiated from the translator as creators ([creator-selection]); and
the date of authorship differentiated from the date of translation ([date]: date[@type="created"] vs date[@type="adapted"]).

However, if any further details of the source item need to be provided (e.g. source language: ISO 690, 4.11), they should be modelled through an overt relation between the source item and the translation.

PRUS, Bolesław. 1912 [1895–1896]. La Faraono [Faraon]. Translated by Kabe (pseud. of Kazimierz BEIN). 2nd revised edition. Paris: Hachette.

Single work representation:

<bibitem type="book">
  <title lang="eo">La Faraono</title>
  <title type="original" lang="pl">Faraon</title>
  <date type="created"><from>1895</from><to>1896</to></date>
  <date type="adapted"><on>1907</on></date>
  <date type="published"><on>1912</on></date>
  <contributor>
    <role type="author"/>
    <person>
      <name>
        <surname>Prus</surname>
        <forename>Bolesław</forename>
      </name>
    </person>
  </contributor>
  <contributor>
    <role type="translator"/>
    <person>
      <name>
        <completename>Kabe</completename>
        <note>pseud. of Kazimierz Bein</note>
      </name>
    </person>
  </contributor>
  <contributor>
    <role type="publisher"/>
    <organization>
      <name>Hachette</name>
    </organization>
  </contributor>
  <edition>2nd revised edition</edition>
  <language>eo</language>
  <place>Paris</place>
</bibitem>

Related work representation:

<bibitem type="book">
  <title lang="eo">La Faraono</title>
  <date type="adapted"><on>1907</on></date>
  <date type="published"><on>1912</on></date>
  <contributor>
    <role type="author"/>
    <person>
      <name>
        <surname>Prus</surname>
        <forename>Bolesław</forename>
      </name>
    </person>
  </contributor>
  <contributor>
    <role type="translator"/>
    <person>
      <name>
        <completename>Kabe</completename>
        <note>pseud. of Kazimierz Bein</note>
      </name>
    </person>
  </contributor>
  <contributor>
    <role type="publisher"/>
    <organization>
      <name>Hachette</name>
    </organization>
  </contributor>
  <edition>2nd revised edition</edition>
  <language>eo</language>
  <relation type="translatedFrom">
    <title type="original" lang="pl">Faraon</title>
    <date type="created"><from>1894</from><to>1895</to></date>
    <date type="published"><from>1895</from><to>1896</to></date>
    <contributor>
     <role type="author"/>
     <person>
       <name>
         <surname>Prus</surname>
         <forename>Bolesław</forename>
       </name>
     </person>
    </contributor>
    <contributor>
      <role type="publisher"/>
      <organization>
        <name>Tygodnik Ilustrowany</name>
      </organization>
    </contributor>
    <language>pl</language>
    <place>Warsaw</place>
  </relation>
  <place>Paris</place>
</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>
        <formatted-initials>Victor</formatted-initials>
      </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>

Document relations

General

Relation types

Part-Whole relations

FRBR Level relations

Revision relations

Derived relations

Other relations

Refinements

Comparison with other bibliographic relations lists

Localities

Host item

Translation