/research/projects/frbr/default.htm

originally: http://www.oclc.org/research/projects/frbr/default.htm

OCLC Research Activities and IFLA's Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records

FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records) is a 1998 recommendation of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) to restructure catalog databases to reflect the conceptual structure of information resources.

More technically, FRBR uses an entity-relationship model of metadata for information objects, instead of the single flat record concept underlying current cataloging standards. The FRBR model includes four levels of representation: work, expression, manifestation, and item. (See Background section below.)

If fully implemented, FRBR would produce the biggest change cataloging has seen in the last century.

Why OCLC is conducting this research and how it helps libraries

Goals

The goals of OCLC's FRBR projects are to:

Projects

Using an exemplary work as a case study, researchers hope to better understand the relationship between the bibliographic records and the bibliographic objects they represent, and to determine if the information available in the bibliographic records is sufficient to reliably identify FRBR entities.

  1. FictionFinder
  2. xISBN
  3. Algorithm
  4. Extending the Case of Clinker
  5. Case Study: The FRBRization of Humphry Clinker

Publications

Presentations

Workshop

Background

FRBR conceptualizes three groups of entities:

The internal subdivision of Group One entities is important as well. FRBR specifies that intellectual or artistic products include the following types of entities:

FRBR also specifies particular relationships between classes of Group One entities:

In traditional cataloging, bibliographic units are described out of context. With FRBR the items must be described in context in a manner sufficient to relate the item to the other items comprising the work. AACR2 is focused on the physical manifestation while FRBR uses the four-level bibliographic structure outlined above.

For more information about FRBR

IFLA Study Group on the Functional Requirements of Bibliographic Records. 1998. "Functional Requirements of Bibliographic Records: final report." München: K. G. Saur. Available online at http://www.ifla.org/VII/s13/frbr/frbr.pdf. (Downloaded 29 August 2002.)

Delsey, Tom. 2002. "Functional Analysis of the MARC 21 Bibliographic and Holdings Formats." (Paper prepared for the Network Development and MARC Standards Office, Library of Congress.) Available online at http://www.loc.gov/marc/marc-functional-analysis/home.html. (Downloaded 29 August 2002.)

Tillett, Barbara B. 2001. "Bibliographic Relationships." In Relationships in the Organization of Knowledge, Carol A. Bean and Rebecca Green (eds.), Dordrecht; Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 19-35.

Research team