Identification of RDA Relationship Designators in the Metadata Records of the National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI)

INTRUDUCTION: The aim of this study is to find out the relationship designators in the metadata records of the National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI), based on the Resource Description and Access (RDA) standard.
In this study, the content analysis method was used. The study population included metadata records for books in NLAI for four bibliographic families including Quran, Nahj al-Balagha, Shahnameh, and Masnavi (with a total of 28213 records) that were accessible through the NLAI OPAC, named RASA. In this study, the data gathering methods were structured systematic observation and documentary approach. A checklist is used for data gathering, and a matrix is used to display the analyzed data.
FINDINGS:The results of the study showed that among the 544 relationship designators in appendices I, J, & M in RDA Toolkit (that includes 150 designators in appendix I, 346 designators in appendix J, and 48 designators in appendix M), 62 designators for appendix I, 175 designators for appendix J, and 48 designators for appendix M (In total, 285 designators) were detected in the selected NLAI metadata records. No relationship designators were detected in the selected NLAI metadata records in appendix I, for relationship designators related to "Publishers" and "Distributors" (in the Manifestation level), and in appendix J, for "Accompanying Manifestation Relationships". But other types of relationships were found to be existed.
In appendix I, the section of designators for "Publishers" and "Distributors" includes designators for non-book content objects (e.g. movies, radio & television programs, and so on) and don’t fit in the study population of this research, which are records of books. Therefore, it can be concluded that the study population has covered the variety of relationships provided for books in appendix I. The results also indicate the complete coverage of the relationship designators presented in Appendix M (subject relationships). In contrast, the study population does not provide a complete coverage of the relationships presented in appendix J (for "Accompanying Manifestation Relationships"). Finally, some of the limitations and drawbacks in the metadata records of the NLAI OPAC are mentioned.