FRBR: Cataloging’s New Frontier

Emily Dust NimsakontNebraska Library CommissionNCompass LiveDecember 15, 2010 Photo credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fanz/160696504/

What is FRBR?

Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records

What is FRBR?

“a conceptual entity-relationship model … that relates user tasks of retrieval and access in online library catalogues and bibliographic

databases from a user’s perspective”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FRBR

“a conceptual entity-relationship model … that relates user tasks of retrieval and access in online library catalogues and bibliographic

databases from a user’s perspective”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FRBR

What’s a conceptual model?

An abstract way of thinking about a particular topic

Not cataloging rules

History of FRBR

Photo courtesy of Orange County Archives http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocarchives/2850534893/

FRBR grew out of a Seminar on Bibliographic Records

held in Stockholm in 1990

A resolution was passed “that a study be commissioned to define

the functional requirements for bibliographic records in relation to the variety of user needs and the variety of

media.”

A resolution was passed “that a study be commissioned to define

the functional requirements for bibliographic records in relation to the variety of user needs and the variety of

media.”

A group was formed in 1991 by International Federation of Library Associations and

Institutions (IFLA) to carry out the study.

The FRBR report was approved in 1997 and published in 1998.

It’s available at http://www.ifla.org/en/publications/functional-requirements-for-bibliographic-records

(Both the 1998 version and the current version)

Related Models

Functional Requirements for Authority Data

Functional Requirements for Subject Authority Data

“a conceptual entity-relationship model … that relates user tasks of retrieval and access in online library catalogues and bibliographic

databases from a user’s perspective”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FRBR

User Tasks

FindIdentifySelectObtain

FISO

User Tasks

“to find entities that correspond to the user’s search criteria”

User Tasks“to identify an entity (i.e., to confirm that the

entity described corresponds to the entity sought, or to distinguish between two or

more entities with similar characteristics)”

User Tasks“to select an entity that is appropriate to the user’s needs (i.e., to choose an entity

that meets the user’s requirements with respect to content,

physical format, etc. ...)”

User Tasks

“to acquire or obtain access to

the entity described (i.e., to acquire an entity

through purchase, loan,

etc., or to access an entity

electronically…)”

“a conceptual entity-relationship model … that relates user tasks of retrieval and access in online library catalogues and bibliographic

databases from a user’s perspective”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FRBR

What’s an entity?

“a thing which is recognized as being capable of an independent existence and which can be

uniquely identified”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity-relationship_model

Entity

Entity

Entity

Entities have attributes.

Entity

Entity

EntityAttribute

Attribute

Attribute

Attribute

Attribute

Attribute

Attribute

Attribute

Attribute

Attribute

Attributes modify entities.

Entities have relationships.

Entity

Entity

EntityAttribute

Attribute

Attribute

Attribute

Attribute

Attribute

Attribute

Attribute

Attribute

Attribute

Relationships are links between entities.

relationship

relationship

FRBR has three groups of entities.

Group 1•Work•Expression•Manifestation•Item

Group 2•Person•Corporate Body

Group 3•Concept•Object•Place•Event•Group 1 & 2 Entities

Group 1 EntitiesThese entities are “products of intellectual or

artistic endeavor.”

They are the things represented by our catalog records.

Photo credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/steventong/3556248355/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjc/3494515480/http://www.flickr.com/photos/greencolander/2160382976/

Group 1 Entities

WorkExpression

ManifestationItem

WEMI

Work

“a distinct intellectual or artistic creation”

Not represented in physical form

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/escapist/730800562/

Expression

“the specific intellectual or artistic form that a work takes each time it is ‘realized’”

Still an abstract concept

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbdbrobot/140068142/

Manifestation

“the physical embodiment of an expression of a work”

Representation of a set of items with the same physical characteristics

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/heidigoseek/115581765/

Item

“a single exemplar of a manifestation”

One physical copy of a bookPhoto credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/steventong/3556248355/

Attributes of Group 1 Entities

Work Expression

ManifestationItem

Title of the work

Language

Dimensions

Inscriptions

Group 2 Entities

These entities are responsible for the production of the Group 1 entities.

They are authors, composers, illustrators, publishers, etc.

Photo credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/audringje/3533601011/http://www.flickr.com/photos/dunechaser/123602414/http://www.flickr.com/photos/quasimondo/99732039/sizes/m/in/photostream/

Group 2 Entities

PersonCorporate Body

Attributes of Group 2 Entities

Person

Corporatebody

Dates

Place

Group 3 EntitiesThese entities are the subjects of Group 1

entities.

They are the things that our resources are about.Photo credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianswan/3496233498/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ysc/2179798100/http://www.flickr.com/photos/manintheorangeshirt/3947383369/

Group 3 Entities

ConceptObjectPlaceEvent

Group 1 EntitiesGroup 2 Entities

Attributes of Group 3 Entities

Concept Object

Place Event

Term for concept

Term for object

Term for place

Term for event

37

Work

Expression

Manifestation

Item

is realized through

is embodied in

is exemplified by

recursive

one

many

Group 1

Image credit: Barbara Tillett, Library of Congress

Relationships Between Entitiesin the Same Group

Relationships Between Entitiesin Different Groups

Image credit: http://www.frbr.org/2006/02/25/more-relationships-between-groups

How is this different from what we’ve been doing?

Does FRBR make a difference?

WorldCat and FRBR

• Works with 1 manifestation = 87%• Works with 2-5 manifestations = 12%• Works with more than 5 manifestations = 1%

Eric Childress,“FRBR and OCLC Research,” April 10, 2006

http://www.oclc.org/research/presentations/childress/2006-0410-uncch-sils.ppt

WorldCat and FRBR

• Works with 1 manifestation = 43% of total holdings

• Works with 2-5 manifestations = 40% of total holdings

• Works with more than 5 manifestations = 17% of total holdings

Eric Childress,“FRBR and OCLC Research,” April 10, 2006

http://www.oclc.org/research/presentations/childress/2006-0410-uncch-sils.ppt

FRBR-ized Catalogs

Worldcat.org

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alapublishing/4265975757/

FRBR-ized Catalogs

xISBN and thingISBN Can be used with current catalogs

FRBR-ized Catalogs

Scherzo, Indiana University

FRBR-ized Catalogs

OLAC Work-Centric Moving Image Discovery Interface Prototype

FRBR-ized Catalogs

AustLit

subscription servicesample results available

FRBR-ized Catalogs

Open Library

FRBR and RDA

RDA

= Resource Description and Access

= new cataloging rules based on FRBR and its

principles

FRBR and RDA

RDA Structure – Recording AttributesSection 1 – Recording Attributes of Manifestation

and ItemSection 2 – Recording Attributes of Work and

ExpressionSection 3 – Recording Attributes of Person, Family,

and Corporate BodySection 4 – Recording Attributes of Concept, Object,

Event, and Place

FRBR and RDA

RDA Structure – Recording RelationshipsSection 5 – Recording Primary Relationships Between a Work,

Expression, Manifestation, and ItemSection 6 – Recording Relationships to Persons, Families, and

Corporate Bodies Associated with a ResourceSection 7 – Recording Subject RelationshipsSection 8 – Recording Relationships Between Works, Expressions,

Manifestations and ItemsSection 9 – Recording Relationships Between Persons, Families,

and Corporate BodiesSection 10 – Recording Relationships Between Concepts, Objects,

Events, and Places

FRBR and RDA

FRBR Resources

Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records: Final Report

http://www.ifla.org/en/publications/functional-requirements-for-bibliographic-recordsWhat is FRBR? http://www.loc.gov/cds/downloads/FRBR.PDFThe FRBR Bloghttp://www.frbr.org/

FRBR Resources

University of Colorado at Boulder FRBR Discussion

http://cucataloging.blogspot.com/2010/05/brushing-up-on-frbr.htmlIFLA’s Guidelines for OPAC Displayshttp://archive.ifla.org/VII/s13/guide/opacguide03.pdf

FRBR Resources

FRBR: A Guide for the Perplexed, by Robert Maxwell

Understanding FRBR: What It Is and How it Will Affect Our Retrieval Tools, edited by Arlene Taylor

Thank you!

Emily Dust NimsakontCataloging Librarian

Nebraska Library Commission

emily.dust.nimsakont@nebraska.gov800-307-2665

www.delicious.com/NLC_Reference/ncompasslive+frbrwww.slideshare.net/nebraskaccess