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ISBD Element Sets

The ISBD namespace contains two element sets that provide different levels of semantic constraint for bibliographic description.

Available Element Sets​

ISBD Elements

185 elements

The constrained ISBD element set is a registration of classes and properties from International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD), consolidated edition. These elements are formally defined with specific domains and ranges for use in RDF applications.

ISBD Unconstrained

185 elements

The unconstrained version has the same local URI part, label, and definition as each element in the constrained version, but no domain or range is declared. This provides maximum flexibility for use cases that don't require strict RDF semantics.

Choosing Between Element Sets​

When to use ISBD Elements (Constrained)

  • Building linked data applications
  • Need formal RDF semantics
  • Integrating with other RDF vocabularies
  • Require type safety and validation

When to use ISBD Unconstrained

  • Working with legacy systems
  • Need maximum flexibility
  • Experimental or prototype applications
  • Non-RDF metadata applications

Technical Details​

Namespace URIs​

  • ISBD Elements: http://iflastandards.info/ns/isbd/elements/
  • ISBD Unconstrained: http://iflastandards.info/ns/isbd/unc/elements/

Prefixes​

  • ISBD Elements: isbd:
  • ISBD Unconstrained: isbdu:

Example Usage​

# Constrained element (with domain/range)
@prefix isbd: <http://iflastandards.info/ns/isbd/elements/> .
@prefix rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#> .

<http://example.org/resource/1> 
    isbd:P1001 "The Great Gatsby"@en .
# P1001 has domain: Resource, range: Literal

# Unconstrained element (no domain/range)
@prefix isbdu: <http://iflastandards.info/ns/isbd/unc/elements/> .

<http://example.org/anything> 
    isbdu:U1001 "The Great Gatsby"@en .
# U1001 can be used with any subject/object