32 Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR)
TABLE OF CONTENTS (for textual content)
1. Introduction
2. Background
3. Entities
3.1 Group 1 Entities
3.1.1 Work
3.1.2 Expression
3.1.3 Manifestation
3.1.4 Item
3.2 Group2 Entities
3.2.1 Person
3.2.2 Corporate Body
3.3 Group 3 Entities
3.3.1 Concept
3.3.2 Object
3.3.3 Event
3.3.4 Place
4. Attributes
4.1 Attributes of a Work
4.2 Attributes of an Expression
4.3 Attributes of a Manifestation
4.4 Attributes of an Item
4.5 Attributes of a Person
4.6 Attributes of a Corporate Body
4.7 Attributes of a Concept
4.8 Attributes of an Object
4.9 Attributes of an Event
4.10 Attributes of a Place
5. Relationship
6. User Tasks
6.1 Find
6.2 Identify
6.3 select
6.4 Obtain
7. Conclusion:
e-Text
Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR)
1. Introduction
Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) is a conceptual model based on Entity-Relationship model that serves as the basis for relating specific attributes and relationships to the various user tasks in consulting bibliographic records. FRBR identifies specific user tasks that bibliographic records are intended to fulfill viz., find, identify, select, obtain. It also recommends a set of elements for inclusion in national bibliographic records.
2. Background
International Conference on Cataloguing Principles (ICCP) was held in 1961 under the auspices of IFLA to re-examine the theory and practice of cataloguing at the international level. International Meeting of Cataloguing Experts (IMCE) held in Copenhagen in 1969 resolved to establish an international standard for bibliographic description. As a result, the International Standard Bibliographic Description for Monographic Publications was published in 1971. The Paris Principles and the ISBDs served as the foundation of various national and international cataloguing codes.
But the tremendous changes in information and communication technology had massive impact on cataloguing world in 1980s onwards. IFLA recognized the changes and identified the following factors:
i. Development of automated systems for the creation and processing of bibliographic data
ii. Growth of large-scale bibliographic databases participating in shared cataloguing programs.
iii. Economic pressures on the libraries and to do more and more “minimal level” cataloguing.
iv. New forms of electronic publishing, and the advent of networked access to information resources
In 1990 a conference was held in Stockholm sponsored by the IFLA Universal Bibliographic Control and International MARC Programme and the IFLA Division of Bibliographic Control, at which these environmental changes were discussed. And a Study group was appointed in 1991
IFLA Study Group on the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records submitted draft in 1996 and was approved by the Standing Committee of the IFLA Section on Cataloguing in September 1997. And FRBR was published in 1998.
The methodology used in FRBR is Entity-Relationship model (E-R model) which has been borrowed from database technology. E-R model is a conceptual model that represents data of an information domain in terms of entities, attributes and relationships. It was proposed by Prof. P.P. Chen in 1976
3. Entities
Entities are the basic objects of E-R model. Whatever exists independently is called entity. It may be a physical object ( for example, a book, a student, an employee) or it may be an object with conceptual existence (for example, a library, a publisher, a university course). FRBR has identified three groups of entities.
3.1 Group 1 Entities: Work, Expression, Manifestation, Item
The entities in the first group (Figure 3.1) represent the different aspects of user interests in the products of intellectual or artistic endeavour. The entities defined as work (a distinct intellectual or artistic creation) and expression (the intellectual or artistic realization of a work) reflect intellectual or artistic content. The entities defined as manifestation (the physical embodiment of an expression of a work) and item (a single exemplar of a manifestation), on the other hand, reflect physical form.
3.1.1 Work
A work is an abstract entity; there is no single material object one can point to as the work. Work is recognised through individual realizations or expressions of the work, but the work itself exists only in the commonality of content between and among the various expressions of the work. For example, Homer’s Iliad as a work does not refer to any particular recitation or text of the work, but the intellectual creation that lies behind all the various expressions of the work.
Examples:
□ w Henry Gray’s Anatomy of the human body
1
□ e text and illustrations for the first edition
1
□ e text and illustrations for the second edition
2
e text and illustrations for the third edition
3
□ ….
3.1.2 Expression
An expression is the specific intellectual or artistic form that a work takes each time it is “realized.” Expression encompasses, for example, the specific words, sentences, paragraphs, etc. that result from the realization of a work in the form of a text, or the particular sounds, phrasing, etc. resulting from the realization of a musical work. The boundaries of the entity expression are defined, however, so as to exclude aspects of physical form, such as typeface and page layout, that are not integral to the intellectual or artistic realization of the work as such. When an expression is accompanied by augmentations, such as illustrations, notes, glosses, etc. that are not integral to the intellectual or artistic realization of the work, such augmentations are considered to be separate expressions of their own separate work(s). Such augmentations may, or may not, be considered significant enough to warrant distinct bibliographic identification.
Examples:
□ w Ellwanger’s Tennis–bis zum Turnierspieler
1
□ e the original German text
1
□ e the English translation by Wendy Gill
2
□ ….
3.1.3 Manifestation
The entity defined as manifestation encompasses a wide range of materials, including manuscripts, books, periodicals, maps, posters, sound recordings, films, video recordings, CD-ROMs, multimedia kits, etc. As an entity, manifestation represents all the physical objects that bear the same characteristics, in respect to both intellectual content and physical form.
When a work is realized, the resulting expression of the work may be physically embodied on or in a medium such as paper, audio tape, video tape, canvas, plaster, etc. That physical embodiment constitutes a manifestation of the work. In some cases there may be only a single physical exemplar produced of that manifestation of the work (e.g., an author’s manuscript, a tape recorded for an oral history archive, an original oil painting, etc.). In other cases there are multiple copies produced in order to facilitate public dissemination or distribution. In those cases there is normally a more formal production process involved, and a publisher, producer, or distributor takes responsibility for the process.
The boundaries between one manifestation and another are drawn on the basis of both intellectual content and physical form. When the production process involves changes in physical form the resulting product is considered a new manifestation. Changes in physical form include changes affecting display characteristics (e.g., a change in typeface, size of font, page layout, etc.), changes in physical medium (e.g., a change from paper to microfilm as the medium of conveyance), and changes in the container (e.g., a change from cassette to cartridge as the container for a tape). Where the production process involves a publisher, producer, distributor, etc., and there are changes signaled in the product that are related to publication, marketing, etc. (e.g., a change in publisher, repackaging, etc.), the resulting product may be considered a new manifestation. Whenever the production process involves modifications, additions, deletions, etc. that affect the intellectual or artistic content, the result is a new manifestation embodying a new expression of the work.
Examples:
□ w1 Harry Lindgren’s Geometric dissections
□ e1 original text entitled Geometric dissections
□ m1 the book published in 1964 by Van Nostrand
□ e2 revised text entitled Recreational problems in geometric dissections ….
□ m1 the book published in 1972 by Dover
3.1.4 Item
The entity defined as item is a concrete entity. It is in many instances a single physical object (e.g., a copy of a one-volume monograph, a single audio cassette, etc.). There are instances, however, where the entity defined as item comprises more than one physical object (e.g., a monograph issued as two separately bound volumes, a recording issued on three separate compact discs, etc.).
Examples:
□ w Ronald Hayman’s Playback
1
□ e the author’s text edited for publication
1
□ m the book published in 1973 by Davis-Poynter
1
□ i copy autographed by the author
1
The relationships depicted in the diagram indicate that a work may be realized through one or more than one expression (hence the double arrow on the line that links work to expression). An expression, on the other hand, is the realization of one and only one work (hence the single arrow on the reverse direction of that line linking expression to work). An expression may be embodied in one or more than one manifestation; likewise a manifestation may embody one or more than one expression. A manifestation, in turn,may be exemplified by one or more than one item; but an item may exemplify one and only one manifestation.
3.2 Group2 Entities: Person, Corporate Body
The entities in the second group (outlined in bold in Figure 3.2) represent those responsible for the intellectual or artistic content, the physical production and dissemination, or the custodianship of the entities in the first group. The entities in the second group include person (an individual) and corporate body (an organization or group of individuals and/or organizations).
The diagram depicts the type of “responsibility” relationships that exist between entities in the second group and the entities in the first group. The diagram indicates that a work may be created by one or more than one person and/or one or more than one corporate body. Conversely, a person or a corporate body may create one or more than one work. An expression may be realized by one or more than one person and/or corporate body; and a person or corporate body may realize one or more than one expression. A manifestation may be produced by one or more than one person or corporate body; a person or corporate body may produce one or more than one manifestation. An item may be owned by one or more than one person and/or corporate body; a person or corporate body may own one or more than one item.
3.2.1 Person
The entity defined as person encompasses individuals that are deceased as well as those that are living.
Examples:
□ p1 Margaret Atwood
□ p2 William Shakespeare
□ p3 Rabindranath Tagore
□ p4 Anatole France
□ ….
Persons are treated as entities only to the extent that they are involved in the creation or realization of a work (e.g., as authors, composers, artists, editors, translators, directors, performers, etc.), or are the subject of a work (e.g., as the subject of a biographical or autobiographical work, of a history, etc.).
3.2.2 Corporate Body
The entity defined as corporate body encompasses organizations and groups of individuals and/or organizations that are identified by a particular name, including occasional groups and groups that are constituted as meetings, conferences, congresses, expeditions, exhibitions, festivals, fairs, etc. The entity also encompasses organizations that act as territorial authorities, exercising or claiming to exercise government functions over a certain territory, such as a federation, a state, a region, a local municipality, etc. The entity encompasses organizations and groups that are defunct as well as those that continue to operate.
Examples
□ cb1 Museum of American Folk Art
□ cb2 BBC Symphony Orchestra
□ cb3 Symposium on Glaucoma
□ cb4 Kolkata Municipal Corporational Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton
□ ….
3.3 Group 3 Entities: Concept, Object, Event, Place
The entities in the third group represent an additional set of entities that serve as the subjects of works. The group includes concept (an abstract notion or idea), object (a material thing), event (an action or occurrence), and place (a location).
The diagram depicts the “subject” relationships between entities in the third group and the work entity in the first group. The diagram indicates that a work may have as its subject one or more than one concept, object, event, and/or place. Conversely, a concept, object, event, and/or place may be the subject of one or more than one work.
The diagram also depicts the “subject” relationships between work and the entities in the first and second groups. The diagram indicates that a work may have as its subject one or more than one work, expression, manifestation, item, person, and/or corporate body.
3.3.1 Concept
The entity defined as concept encompasses a comprehensive range of abstractions that may be the subject of a work: fields of knowledge, disciplines, schools of thought (philosophies, religions, political ideologies, etc.), theories, processes, techniques, practices, etc. A concept may be broad in nature or narrowly defined and precise.
Examples:
□ c1 Economics
□ c2 Romanticism
□ c3 Cognitive science
□ c4 Linguistics
3.3.2 Object
The entity defined as object encompasses a comprehensive range of material things that may be the subject of a work: animate and inanimate objects occurring in nature; fixed, movable, and moving objects that are the product of human creation; objects that no longer exist.
Examples:
□ o1 Buckingham Palace
□ o2 Taj Mahal
□ o3 Apollo 11
□ o4 The Eiffel Tower
□ ….
3.3.3 Event
The entity defined as event encompasses a comprehensive range of actions and occurrences that may be the subject of a work: historical events, epochs, periods of time, etc.
Examples:
□ e1 The Garment Workers’ Strike
□ e2 World War II
□ e3 The Age of Enlightenment
□ e4 The Nineteenth Century
3.3.4 Place
The entity defined as place encompasses a comprehensive range of locations: terrestrial and extra-terrestrial; historical and contemporary; geographic features and geo-political jurisdictions.
Examples
□ pl1 Howard Beach
□ pl2 The Alacran Reef
□ pl3 The Himalayas
□ pl4 New Delhi
4. Attributes
Each entity has attributes i.e., the properties which describe the entity. For example, a person entity may be described by his name, Date of birth, designation etc.
4.1 Attributes of a Work
The logical attributes of a work defined in FRBR are the following:
title of the work
form of work
date of the work
other distinguishing characteristic
intended termination
intended audience
context for the work
medium of performance (musical work)
numeric designation (musical work)
key (musical work)
coordinates (cartographic work)
equinox (cartographic work)
4.2 Attributes of an Expression
The logical attributes of an expression defined in FRBR are the following:
title of the expression
form of expression
date of expression
language of expression
other distinguishing characteristic
extensibility of expression
revisability of expression
extent of the expression
summarization of content
4.3 Attributes of a Manifestation
The logical attributes of a manifestation defined in FRBR are the following:
title of the manifestation
statement of responsibility
edition/issue designation
place of publication/distribution
publisher/distributor
date of publication/distribution
fabricator/manufacturer
series statement
form of carrier
extent of the carrier
physical medium
capture mode
dimensions of the carrier
manifestation identifier
source for acquisition/access authorization
terms of availability
access restrictions on the manifestation
typeface (printed book)
type size (printed book)
foliation (hand-printed book)
collation (hand-printed book)
publication status (serial)
numbering (serial)
playing speed (sound recording)
groove width (sound recording)
kind of cutting (sound recording)
tape configuration (sound recording)
kind of sound (sound recording)
special reproduction characteristic (sound recording)
colour (image)
reduction ratio (microform)
polarity (microform or visual projection)
generation (microform or visual projection)
presentation format (visual projection)
system requirements (electronic resource)
file characteristics (electronic resource)
mode of access (remote access electronic resource)
access address (remote access electronic resource)
4.4 Attributes of an Item
The logical attributes of an item defined in FRBR are the following:
item identifier
fingerprint
provenance of the item
marks/inscriptions
exhibition history
condition of the item
treatment history
scheduled treatment
access restrictions on the item
4.5 Attributes of a Person
The logical attributes of a person defined in FRBRare the following:
name of person
dates of person
title of person
other designation associated with the person
4.6 Attributes of a Corporate Body
The logical attributes of a corporate body defined in are the following:
name of the corporate body
number associated with the corporate body
place associated with the corporate body
date associated with the corporate body
other designation associated with the corporate body
4.7 Attributes of a Concept
The logical attributes of a concept defined in FRBR are the following:
term for the concept
4.8 Attributes of an Object
The logical attributes of an object defined in FRBR are the following:
term for the object
4.9 Attributes of an Event
The logical attributes of an event defined in FRBR are the following:
term for the event
4.10 Attributes of a Place
The logical attributes of a place defined in FRBR study are the following:
term for the place
5. Relationship
A relationship is an association between or among entities. Relationships serve as the vehicle for depicting the link between one entity and another, and thus as the means of assisting the user to “navigate” the universe that is represented in a bibliography, catalogue, or bibliographic database.
Relationships may be reflected in bibliographic records in a number of ways. The following types of relationships have in identified in FRBR.
5.1 Relationships Between Work, Expression, Manifestation, and Item
5.2 Relationships to Persons and Corporate Bodies
5.3 Subject Relationships
5.4 Other Relationships Between Group 1 Entities
5.4.1 Work-to-Work Relationships
5.4.2 Expression-to-Expression Relationships
5.4.3 Expression-to-Work Relationships
5.4.4 Manifestation-to-Manifestation Relationships
5.4.5 Manifestation-to-Item Relationships
5.4.6 Item-to-Item Relationships
6. User Tasks
The FRBR model serves as a framework for analyzing the uses that are made of bibliographic data with specific reference to the entity that is the object of the user’s interest, and to the attributes and relationships that are relevant to the task being performed by the user. Each attribute and relationship can be mapped directly to the user tasks they support.
The tasks are defined in relation to the elementary uses that are made of the data by the user. Four generic user tasks have been defined:
6.1 Find
To find entities that correspond to the user’s stated search criteria (i.e., to locate either a single entity or a set of entities in a file or database as the result of a search using an attribute or relationship of the entity);
6.2 Identify
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);
6.3 select
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., or to reject an entity as being inappropriate to the user’s needs);
6.4 Obtain
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 through an online connection to a remote computer).
7. Conclusion:
FRBR is a concptual model in relation to bibliographic universe which has great potentiality to design information retrival system since it is based on user tasks. Resource Description and Access (RDA) – the new cataloguing code has adopted FRBR model. Many FRBR-based systems have already come out, for example, OCLC FictionFinder, Virtua ILS, RedLightGreen, BIBSYS etc. FRBR provides a revolutionary approach to study cataloguing theory and practice. It is hoped that FRBR will greatly influence the catalogues and cataloguers in the coming days.
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8. Bibliographical References:
1.Carlyle, Allyson (2007). Understanding FRBR as a conceptual model : FRBR and the bibliographic universe. Bulletin of the American Society of Information Science and Technology, vol. 33, no.6. (Aug./Sept. 2007). Available at: http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Aug-07/Bulletin_AugSep07.pdf (accessed 16 Sept.2013)
2. Elmasri, R…et al.(2006). Fundamentals of database systems. Delhi : Pearson Education.
3. Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records: Final Report,
IFLA Study Group on the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic
Records (München: K.G. Saur, 1998). Available at: www.ifla.org/VII/s13/frbr/frbr.pdf (accessed 16 Sept.2013).
4. Functional Requirements for Subject Authority Data (FRSAD): A Conceptual Model, IFLA Working Group on the Functional Requirements for Subject Authority Records (FRSAR)
.Available at http://www.ifla.org/files/assets/classification-and-indexing/functional-requirements-for-subject-authority-data/frsad-final-report.pdf (accessed 16 Sept.2013).
5. IFLA Meeting of Experts on an International Cataloguing Code . Statement of international cataloguing principles. Apr. 10, 2008 version.
Available at: http://www.ifla.org/files/assets/cataloguing/icp/icp_2009-en.pdf (accessed 16 Sept.2013).
6. Maxwell, Robert L.(2008). FRBR : a guide for the perplexed. Chicago : American Library Association