Cataloging101 foundations frbr - 2019 version

 Robin Fay
This Photo licensed under CC BY
FRBR
ROBIN FAY, TRAINER
CATALOGING FUNDAMENTALS

@GEORGIAWEBGURL
Robin Fay Training 2019
Find me at robinfay.net,
georgiawebgurl.com and
libraryscope.com

Topics
• Changing world of data – social, mobile,
smart, personalized, contextual
• Relationships
• User focused / FRBR User Tasks
• FRBR
• WEMI – work expression manifestation
item
• Cataloging as service
This Photo by Unknown
Author is licensed under
CC BY-SA-NC

Ponder point
How has our work changed in the
last 5? 20 years?
How has the world changed around
us?
Does that have impact on what we
do?

Robin Fay, robinfay.net, 2009/10
The web around us – semantic and social
The web as we know
it (and think of it)
links together
documents (html,
pdf, dynamic
documents created
from databases, etc.)
The Semantic web
links together data.

users ARE CONNECTED IN A METADATA world…
 Semantic Web is a term to used to describe an interconnected virtual world of
data driven by a variety of devices and platforms and diverse ecosystem of data.
Data is interpreted, remixed and repurposed by machines using AI elements,
building new connections through linking to data rather than copying data.
 Data is structured, with a strong focus on relationships, especially via linked
data. The Internet of Things is a common term we are hearing.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

The Semantic Web is making The Internet of Things
happen – it is based upon more precise utilization of
data and is heavily dependent upon
■ The code
■ The metadata and its metadata schemas (rules)
■ The ability for machines (including devices and
home appliances) to talk to each other and make
sense of that communication
Linking data makes this process easier since we do not
have to re-enter data, we can just link to it. Instead of
typing in text (a string), we use a link.
LINKED DATA & SEMANTIC WEB

We have a book by Terry Flanagan.
In MARC, 100 1_ $a Flanagan, Terry.
Flanagan, Terry is a text string. If the name changes, we have to
manually update it. Additionally, if we want to build searches
dynamically (all Terrys who are writers…) text strings make that
much harder.
Or we could link to the authority record. The system could display
the name, while what we see on the code side, is just the link.
Just like a website, our code can be separated more from the
display.
TEXT STRINGS VS. LINKED DATA

BIBFRAME MARC RECORD WITH LINKED DATA
REPLACEMENT EXAMPLES

Robin Fay robinfay.com | LibrarySco
So, we’re kind of still here…
MARC record

Robin Fay robinfay.com | LibraryScope
We have relationships
everywhere – not only in
real life, but online –
each relationship is a
data point and a data
opportunity
Systems are getting
much better at using AI
(Artificial Intelligence,
i.e., the ability for
machines such as
computers to make
sense of data and use it
create contextual
information and provide
meaning (semantic)

Smarter machines

Smarter catalogs

Evolving relationships and dynamic data
 Think about all of the ways your data
changes – your name may change
(nicknames, published name, name
with initial, etc.)
 Think about the different roles that
you have – employee, employer,
supervisor, supervisee, colleague,
librarian, parent, child, sister,
brother… . Each role represents a
relationship.

Let’s ponder relationships

Exercise 1 : relationships in library data
 I have the original movie Star Wars in VHS on my desk. The new
version (edition) is Star Wars: a new hope.
 Let’s ponder the types of contributors, creators, and participants
in the movie and their roles in the making of the film.
 Think about 2-3 relationships/roles in the production of Star wars.
(Use the cover from the previous slide, if you wish)
 Is there a relationship between Star Wars, the VHS tape and Star
Wars: a new hope in BluRay DVD? What about Star Wars, the VHS
tape and the new Star Wars animated show, Star War Rebels?
What about Star Wars the movie and the books?

Exercise 1 : relationships in library data
 The different names of authors
 The different roles of authors
(contributor, co-author, publisher, etc.)
– the relationships.
 The relationships between works – Star
Wars, Star Wars: a new hope and Star
Wars Rebels…
 Under AACR2, we were limited in
creating relationships both in how we
could describe them AND we could
accomplish this in MARC. Authorship was
more limited in scope. Families could not
be creators.
 New ways of looking at the items we
describe…

RDA – building block of our future
RESOURCE DESCRIPTION ACCESS was created with
digital objects in mind; while at the same time not
ignoring traditional materials in libraries, like books and
serials.
RDA has a wider metadata view, in that the groups
working on it, reached out to museums and archives
communities (who often use different metadata schemas
and cataloging rules).
RDA is based upon a semantic web data model FRBR
(Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records)
and 2 supporting frameworks which are still evolving
(FRSAD and FRAD). These models allow the development
of more relationships between records.

First vision: A FRBR family of 3 distinct
models working together
• FRBR - Functional Requirements for Bibliographic
Records
• FRAD -Functional Requirements for Authority Data
• FRSAD - Functional Requirements for Subject Authority
Data
 These 3 models were the early conceptual
foundations for Resource Description and Access
(RDA)…

Consider the meaning: FRBR
FRBR is functional
Functional is defined as
of or having a special activity,
purpose, or task; relating to the way in
which something works or operates.
OR
designed to be practical and useful,
rather than attractive.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Consider the meaning: FRBR
• FRBR > functional requirements
• Our required way that BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORDS should
work – function
• How does that happen? Our data model drives how we
describe (catalog) our materials and resources
• So, FRBR is the concept, philosophy, and our vision of
what our records should achieve. It does not tell us
HOW to actually do the work. It does not tell us how to
code records or even what to put into a field.

RDA – an opportunity to reflect
What is the goal of our work?
What do we work with (resources and data)
How should we model and think our data?
Thinking about cataloging, it is a combination of activities
• We describe the item we are cataloging so that our
metadata represents a textual record of that object We
assign subject headings to facilitate search (contextual
meaning)
• We provide authorized access points to provide control
and establish official forms of names
• We develop relationships
• Inventory Control
This Photo by Unknown Author is
licensed under CC BY

FRBR Family of 3 – Oldschoolin’
Group 1 - FRBR
Products of intellectual or artistic endeavor (FRBR)
Work, Expression, Manifestation, Item (WEMI!)
Group 2 - FRAD
Responsible for the content, production or custodianship of
Group 1 (Authorities, FRAD)
Person, Corporate Body, Family
Group 3 - FRAD
Subjects of Group 1 entities (Subject Headings, FRSAD;
includes Group 1 +2)
Concept, Object, Event, Place
licensed under CC BY-NC

… resolve inconsistencies between the three separate models..
The result is a single, streamlined, and logically consistent
model that covers all aspects of bibliographic data and that at
the same time brings the modelling up-to-date with current
conceptual modelling practices.
IFLA LRM was designed to be used in linked data environments
and to support and promote the use of bibliographic data in
linked data environments.
 IFLA = International Federation of Library Associations and
Institutions (IFLA)
INTRODUCING THE IFLA LIBRARY REFERENCE
MODEL (LRM)

A revised framework; collapsing and simplifying the 3:
No more grouping of entities (former Group 1 = central to model:
WEMI
Group 2 entities (Authorities; FRAD; replaced by superclass Agent
+ Collective Agent (corporate bodies, families); redefined
Person (individual) – a hierarchy
Group 3 (Subjects; FRSAD; Concept, Object, Event, and Place –
deprecated)
• Place and Time-span new entities
• Res (super-class of other entities)
Note: super (higher), sub(lower) – hierarchy
INTRODUCING THE IFLA LIBRARY REFERENCE
MODEL (LRM)

Ponder point
Why do we catalog?
What is the purpose of our work?

 So, let’s look at FRBR in more detail..
• Identified User Tasks
Can users
• Find
• Identify
• Select
• Obtain
• Explore* (New for 2019!)
• The resources they want?
• Identified an Entity-Relationship
Model (ERM) for data
• Entity: a thing with an identity
• Entities have attributes
(characteristics)
• Relationships – between
different entities at different levels
– even stronger focus in LRM
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC
BY-SA-NC

• FRBR = Functional Requirements for Bibliographic
Records
• gives us a way to group things in different ways building
relationships between data – by WEMI (Work,
Expression, Manifestation, Item)
• WEMI is a hierarchy from abstract to the actual thing
owned by a library (the well… item!)
• Work and Expression can be somewhat conceptual with
lots of discussion going on; however, you can loosely
think of Work as a concept or idea which is Expressed
(think the act of creation; performance) onto/into a
physical format (can be digital) aka a Manifestation, of
which the library has a copy (Item).
• A Work record is a master record which includes
common attributes (characteristics), like title, author,
subjects.
Putting the Fun in FRBR
Robin Fay Training 2019 FRBR WEMI

FRBR
Additionally, FRBR
recognizes the importance
of being able to navigate,
and we could add other
tasks relevant to specific
users, such as tasks for
rights management or
preservation communities.
(USER Tasks)

FRBR clarifies the purpose of metadata work and provides a
framework for moving forward (navigation is built through linked
relationships).
RDA is the practical guidelines to data entry (and data harvest).
Putting the Fun in FRBR

FRBR and thus RDA focuses more on
relationships
 Between Persons, Families,
Corporate bodies, Works
 Between Names and Persons,
Families, Corporate bodies,
Works
 Between Controlled Access
Points
Abstract
Tangibl
e
Most of us catalog here

FRBRizing our thinking
 Let’s watch a video of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in a FRBR Model
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN0vKCFsXPE

What commonalities do we have in all of the different editions and formats of
Where the Wild Things Are?
Think about the movie, the book, and the Spanish language of the book.
Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are
EXERCISE 2 - WHERE THE WILD THINGS

Commonalities: Title, Author, Subject, Genre, Audience
These are examples of the type of information we would find in Work level record. How we actually
record that information are the RDA guidelines. Which fields we use in RDA in MARC.
Remember, because most of our systems can not use or generate a Work or Expression level record, we
have to include that information in a manifestation level record.
If we had a Work-Expression record above our bib record, information would inherit downward.
Let’s work through our example…
EXERCISE 2 - WHERE THE WILD THINGS

work
Distinct intellectual or artistic creation
Attributes:
title, form, audience, date *(date can be an attribute (characteristic) of
work, expression, or manifestation)
WORK
Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are

EXPRESSION
A realization of a work in the form of
Alphanumeric characters, Musical or choreographic
notation, Sound, Image, Object, Movement, etc.
Attributes:
language, form, date, other distinguishing
characteristic, content, etc.
Where the Wild Things Are in Spanish, in text
Spanish, the language, is an attribute

MANIFESTATION
Physical embodiment of an expression
Attributes:
title, statement of responsibility, publisher, date,
extent, dimensions, etc.
Donde viven los monstruos
published by Alfaguara in 2005,
measures 24 cm.

ITEM
A single example of a manifestation
Attributes:
item identifier, provenance, marks, etc.
We often think of this as the barcode record.
The copy of Donde viven los monstruos from
Alfaguara in your library’s children’s collection.

What do with all of the other things
associated with books?
 In some systems, we create
connections between other
formats of the same title.
Traditionally, we have not
done a good job of creating
connections between related
works.

HOW DOES THIS HELP OUR PATRONS?
 Patron no. 1 asks for a copy of Caroline Alexander’s English
language translation of the Iliad in a book form.
 A second patron needs an English language translation of The
Iliad in a book form. She doesn’t care who published it, when
it was published, or even who the translator is. In this second
example, there are several volumes (and copies)that would
meet this patron’s needs. She would only need to consult the
expression record and put in a request for that title. She
could also further limit or define her choices for large print
editions, etc.
 When a whole class is assigned to read the Iliad, they would
have more choices. So, when a third student shows up looking
for The Iliad to check out, if the Caroline Alexander’s
translation and the title patron no. 2 checked out, she would
still have options. So, using a WEMI approach would allow our
data to help our patrons, much the way an in-person visit to
consult staff does!

Let’s look at real life examples
licensed under CC BY
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-
NC-ND

FRBR of the Da Vinci CODE

WEMI does not have a place for
holdings records. Holdings records,
although they can be formatted in
MARC fields, are local information,
which does not pertain to the work as
purchased or acquired.
FRBR OF THE DA VINCI CODE

Remember linked data? (See slide 3)
FRBR OF THE DA VINCI CODE

Library catalogs - FRBRIzed
 Projects – FictionFinder: Aggregate bibliographic information above the
manifestation level in FRBR (W-E). Records are clustered into works using the OCLC
FRBR Work-Set Algorithm. Robin Fay Training 2019
https://experimental.worldcat.org/xfinder/fictionfinder.ht
ml

FICTION FINDER
Think about this “master record” in terms of the WEMI model.

FICTION FINDER

Examples of frbr like behavior in an ILS
 Some ILS will pull editions and formats together, while others do not.
FRBResque Others
rely on
facets,
but no
grouping
of actual
titles by
format.Why not support both? Searching and
refinements by format, but also, allow the user
to see all formats and editions for a particular
title (the “work”?) Consider the FRBR User
Tasks in your catalog. Can your users find,

Growing discovery through maximizing data
What can we do to help users
find their resource?
identify appropriate resources?
pick the best resource?
acquire that resource?
Find other related resources?
 How can we facilitate that process through our
cataloging and metadata work?
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Growing discovery
Support FRBR User Tasks in the catalog. Provide context. Provide enough
information with appropriate terminology.

Is there enough
information here to
truly know if you’ve
found what you are
searching for? From
this screen, could a
user successfully
perform the FRBR
User Tasks?

As we think about how we can better meet the
needs of users in our records, we can think
about how we catalog in relation to our
users.
MAKING THE BEST OF WHERE WE ARE

Data Roundup
 The common thread in library catalogs (ILS) –
MARC
 It defines indexing (whether or not a field of
data is actually searched) and then display
(whether that field shows up to the public in
search results).
 RDA is agnostic – it can be expressed in MARC
or other semantic languages.
 WEMI – Work Expression Manifestation and
Item Records can be expressed in MARC using
RDA guidelines or expressed in another
semantic language following RDA guidelines.

Wrapup
 RDA tells us what information to record in the
record and guides us in cataloging.
 MARC tells us which fields to use, which indicators
to use, and which subdivisions.
 Many RDA examples show MARC tags, because
many of us currently use MARC.
 FRBR has no coding associated with it; nor any
rules about how data is recorded. FRBR is a
conceptual model and framework.

Looking to the future – applies the FRBR models to
bibliographic data
BIBFRAME can be expressed in different formats.
Supports linkeddata.
BIBFRAME focuses on the data structure and relationships
of implementing FRBR. RDA is the guidelines for
descriptive content.
 BIBFRAME> Break data into smaller bits - move from a
static flat record to decentralized data with links, links to
build relationships.
 BIBFRAME is looking at IFLA LRM model.
 Can be expressed in MARC or other formats.
THE CROSSROADS OF BIBFRAME

How could thinking about our data in this
way benefit our users?
PONDER POINT

Cataloging101 foundations frbr - 2019 version

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