# /research/events/frbr-workshop/preliminaries.htm

originally: http://www.oclc.org/research/events/frbr-workshop/preliminaries.htm

# Preliminaries

The IFLA FRBR Review Group and OCLC are organizing an invitational workshop devoted to theoretical and practical aspects of FRBR implementation.

The IFLA FRBR model (PDF:664K/144 pp.) is having more and more impact on theoretical discussions on cataloguing issues, but it also is increasingly visible in actual systems, either local or proposed by vendors, that are based either directly or indirectly on either the complete model or just a part of it... In any case, both implementors and theoreticians highlight a number of difficulties in the model, difficulties that arise from:

a) the fact that the model is a conceptual model, not primarily intended for actual implementation, making it necessary to choose between possible interpretations of the same definitions (i.e., to provide operational definitions), to refine some elements that constitute the model (e.g., to make decisions as to what the "title of an expression" is supposed to be), to explicate some details that are left implicit in the model, to provide more detailed mappings between the model and current formats than the UNIMARC mapping available in Annex A of the FRBR Final Report, etc.

b) the fact that, even at a conceptual level, our knowledge and understanding of the model is growing sharper and more demanding along time, and so are our expectations: the FRBR model was totally new when it was circulated for world-wide review in May 1996, and we now look at it with different eyes, as we have had time for assimilating its groundbreaking notions, for assessing the balance between the novelties it contains and the traditional aspects it still shows, for having a glimpse at radically new possibilities for future catalogues on which it leaves a door ajar...

The purpose of this FRBR symposium is therefore not to provide basic notions about FRBR - there will be no "FRBR tutorial" aimed at colleagues who would happen never to have heard about the model before - but to result in an international workshop where implementors, vendors, cataloguers, scholars, teachers, end-users, etc. can share views and expectations, exchange ideas, propose solutions. This is the reason why it is an invitational workshop, rather than an open-to-all conference.

This invitational workshop is intended for people who are involved in or considering a FRBR-related project, who use FRBR in one way or another, who have written or are about to write papers or dissertations on some aspects of FRBR, who have to make decisions in a field related to FRBR, or more generally who work in the field of conceptual modeling for cultural heritage information.

If you are interested and you would like to obtain an invitation, please contact us at: frbrworkshop@oclc.org. Please include a brief statement explaining your interest and how you would like to contribute to the workshop. Attendance is limited to 75 persons.