UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA
School of Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Studies
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
AIS3711: Bibliographic Description
Assignment 3 — 2026
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
AIS3711
Module Code:
Bibliographic Description
Module Name:
RDA and MARC21 Bibliographic Records
Assignment Topic:
for Monographs
183077
Unique Number:
3
Assignment Number:
16 July 2026
Due Date:
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for AIS3711 — UNISA 2026
, UNISA | AIS3711 Bibliographic Description: RDA & MARC21
Introduction
This assignment produces full bibliographic descriptions for three monographs using Resource
Description and Access (RDA) as the content standard and MARC21 as the encoding struc-
ture applied at the University of South Africa Library and by libraries across South Africa.
RDA is built on the IFLA Library Reference Model, formerly the Functional Requirements
for Bibliographic Records, and it separates the description of a resource into the entities work,
expression, manifestation and item, commonly abbreviated WEMI (RSC, 2016). MARC21 re-
mains the transport format that carries RDA-compliant data between library systems through
numbered tagged fields, indicators and subfields, each subfield introduced by a delimiter shown
in this record as $a, $b, $c and so on (Library of Congress, 2024a).
Each record below follows the standard order of MARC21 fields: the 0XX block for control
numbers, standard identifiers and classification; the 1XX block for the main entry access point;
the 245 field for the title statement; the 25X to 3XX fields for edition, publication and phys-
ical description; the 490/8XX fields for series; the 5XX fields for notes; the 6XX fields for
subject access; and the 7XX fields for added entries (Library of Congress, 2024b). Where the
question did not supply an International Standard Book Number, this has been marked as not
supplied rather than invented, in keeping with the cataloguing principle of accuracy, which re-
quires that a bibliographic record represent only what can be verified from the resource or a
reliable source (RSC, 2016).
Page 2 of 15
School of Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Studies
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
AIS3711: Bibliographic Description
Assignment 3 — 2026
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
AIS3711
Module Code:
Bibliographic Description
Module Name:
RDA and MARC21 Bibliographic Records
Assignment Topic:
for Monographs
183077
Unique Number:
3
Assignment Number:
16 July 2026
Due Date:
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for AIS3711 — UNISA 2026
, UNISA | AIS3711 Bibliographic Description: RDA & MARC21
Introduction
This assignment produces full bibliographic descriptions for three monographs using Resource
Description and Access (RDA) as the content standard and MARC21 as the encoding struc-
ture applied at the University of South Africa Library and by libraries across South Africa.
RDA is built on the IFLA Library Reference Model, formerly the Functional Requirements
for Bibliographic Records, and it separates the description of a resource into the entities work,
expression, manifestation and item, commonly abbreviated WEMI (RSC, 2016). MARC21 re-
mains the transport format that carries RDA-compliant data between library systems through
numbered tagged fields, indicators and subfields, each subfield introduced by a delimiter shown
in this record as $a, $b, $c and so on (Library of Congress, 2024a).
Each record below follows the standard order of MARC21 fields: the 0XX block for control
numbers, standard identifiers and classification; the 1XX block for the main entry access point;
the 245 field for the title statement; the 25X to 3XX fields for edition, publication and phys-
ical description; the 490/8XX fields for series; the 5XX fields for notes; the 6XX fields for
subject access; and the 7XX fields for added entries (Library of Congress, 2024b). Where the
question did not supply an International Standard Book Number, this has been marked as not
supplied rather than invented, in keeping with the cataloguing principle of accuracy, which re-
quires that a bibliographic record represent only what can be verified from the resource or a
reliable source (RSC, 2016).
Page 2 of 15
