Searching by Work vs. Searching by Version on BUDA

Users coming to the new BDRC site will immediately encounter two new terms: Work and Version (for an in-depth discussion of Works and Versions, and how to use them to improve your searches, see this blog post.). The default search is a version search. Like the basic search you are used to on tbrc.org, the version search will retrieve publication info, scans, and outlines.

A Version is a specific representation of a Work. This includes physical instances of a text (blockprints, manuscripts, etc.) as well as digital ones (e-texts, and scans). Searching by Version yields search results that include thumbnails for the scanned images of each version, which will help you select the resource you need. In addition, the RID numbers (e.g. W28948) used to identify items on tbrc.org remain the same on bdrc.io. This means that if you have the specific RID for a text you view regularly on tbrc.org you will be able to find the same text on bdrc.io by searching for that RID on bdrc.io.

The notion of a textual "version" entails the existence of a text that can be instantiated in one or more versions. For example, the BDRC archive has multiple versions of the Mani Kabum; including several manuscripts, a version published by a Bhutanese lama, photos of a woodblock print from Derge, and even a copy in paperback format. These individual versions all have unique origins and textual variations but are all closely related representations of a text. In the new BDRC system, the text underlying one or more versions is designated as a Work. 

A Work record contains information that is general to all its Versions. This includes information like topic and author.

The distinctions between Work and Version are based on the BIBFRAME 2.0 metadata model, which is becoming standard throughout the world. Using this model will allow us to generate more complex metadata, while also making our collection interoperable with a growing number of institutions worldwide.