A Comparative Study of Resource Description and Access (RDA) & Cataloging Rules of Manuscripts of Astan-e Quds Razav

The present study aims to determine the status of manuscript description in Astan-e Quds Razavi manuscript database and source description and access standard (RDA).

This research has been done by library-document method and with a comparative approach. The method is used to extract the cataloging elements of the Astan-e Quds Razavi manuscript cataloging and source description (RDA) standard and the descriptive survey method with a comparative approach and a comparative-descriptive survey method was used to examine the degree of conformity of the elements of the bibliographic records of the Astan-e Quds Razavi manuscript database with the standard manuscripts of the description and access (RDA). For this purpose, the bibliographic records of the manuscript of the Astan-e Quds Razavi Library were selected by stratified sampling and matched to the RDA rules through a checklist. This study, while comparing the mentioned, describes the manuscript status in the Astan-e Quds manuscript database and the RDA standard. The study also shows the status of the manuscript description in the Astan-e Quds manuscript database and the RDA standard. Study population is the elements contained in Chapter (1-7) Standard Description and Access to RDA Source (2014) and the elements used in Manuscript Cataloging of Astan-e Quds Library (Bibliographic and Bibliographic Elements of Astan-e Quds Manuscript Database (Updated in 2014) and also Manuscripts Cataloging Rules by Mohammad Vafadar Moradi.

It was determined by a systematic review: of the elements identified in the RDA. (Chapters 1 to 7), 33 elements are appropriate to describe the manuscript. Of these, the 29 elements (77.88 percent of the elements contained in RDA) correspond to the elements used in cataloging Astan-e Quds Razavi. And only 12.12 percent of mismatches were observed. On the other hand, 46 elements are used in cataloging the manuscript of Astan-e Quds Razavi. Of these, 63 percent comply with the elements extracted from the RDA standard. As the cataloging of Astan-e Quds manuscripts is divided into bibliography and prescription, of the 34 percent that contain mismatches, 97.30 percent belong to the typology department.

The findings of the study indicate the proximity of the set of elements and cataloging rules of the Astan-e Quds manuscript to the RDA. Moreover, in terms of explaining the specific features of the manuscript and the details, the RDA has performed poorly than the rules of Astan-e Quds Razavi. Considering that some features of the manuscript are examined and used in the cataloging of Astan-e Quds Razavi which is not specified by any particular element or title, therefore, it was not calculated in the frequency and statistics contained in the research.