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Retrieval That Works: FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records) and OCLC
Eric Childress
OCLC Research
SEALL 2006
Raleigh, NC
8 April 2006
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Outline
Background
FRBR explained
FRBR applied
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FRBR Explained
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FRBR basics
FRBR = Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records
Developed by cataloging experts working under the auspices of IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions)
FRBR is from a document issued by IFLA:
Functional Requirements For Bibliographic Records: Final Report (1998)
FRBR is a conceptual model (not a standard!)
FRBR systematically models the bibliographic universe
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The FRBR Project
Stockholm Seminar on Bibliographic Records (1990)
Issued a resolution calling for the commissioning of a study to define the functional requirements of bibliographic records
IFLA Study Group on the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records
Study (1992-1995): Against the changing environment within which cataloging principles &
standards operate…
Conceptualize a cataloging code- and implementation-agnostic, generalized view of the bibliographic universe
Deliver (1996-1998): A reference (i.e. conceptual) model
A report: Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records: Final Report Münich : K.G. Saur, 1998. [viii, 136 pages. ISBN 3-598-11382-X]
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About the FRBR study…
Primary objectives of the FRBR study:
Provide a clearly defined, structured framework for relating bibliographic data to user needs
Recommend a basic level of functionality for records created by national bibliographic agencies
Modeling the bibliographic universe:
Utilizes an entity-relationship framework:
Entities = a class of things
Relationships = associations among entities
Attributes = characteristics of the entities
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Value of FRBR
FRBR study process and report:
Fresh look at what functions bibliographic records perform
FRBR systematically models the bibliographic universe
Helps us answer important questions:
What information is of the most value to users of the catalog?
How can that most valuable information be used more effectively?
Promises to inspire next generation catalogs, etc.
Illuminates user tasks
Clarifies how catalogs should function
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“The FRBR model is revolutionary. The (computer) catalogue is not seen as a sequence of bibliographic records and a replica of the traditional card catalogue, but rather as a network of connected data, enabling the user to perform seamlessly all the necessary functions.”
-Dr. Maja Žumer. National and University Library, Ljubljana, Slovenia
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FRBR Explained
http://www.biblioteksforeningen.org/komm/katalog/frbr/summary.html
(in Swedish…)
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Four User Tasks:
Find entities that match the search criteria
Identify entities (confirm that the user has found
what they were looking for)
Select an entity that matches the user’s criteria
Obtain access to the entity through purchase, loan, or
through electronic remote access
And, maybe a fifth:And, maybe a fifth:
Navigate
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FRBR defines 3 groups of entities
Group 1: products of intellectual or artistic endeavor that are named of described in bibliographic records
work, expression, manifestation, item
Group 2: entities responsible for the intellectual or artistic content, the physical production and dissemination, or the custodianship of such products
person, corporate body
Group 3: entities that serve as the subjects of intellectual or artistic endeavor
concept, object, event, place
From William Denton (http://www.frbr.org/)
intellectual/bibliographic units
agents
“aboutness”
From William Denton (http://www.frbr.org/)
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Work
Expression
Is realized through
Is exemplified by
Item
ManifestationIs embodied in
A distinct intellectual or artistic creation
The intellectual or artistic realization of a work
The physical embodiment of an expression
A single exemplar of a manifestation
Group 1 Entities
Group 1
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Attributes
A set of characteristics that serve as the basis for formulating queries and interpreting responses
Can be either inherent or externally applied
E.g., inherent: the physical medium and dimension of an object
E.g., externally sourced: assigned identifiers (e. g., thematic catalog numbers for musical compositions)
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Attributes of Group 1 Entities
Work
Work title, form or genre, date, performance medium, intended audience
Expression
Expression title, form of the expression, language of the expression, type of score, scale of a map
Manifestation
Manifestation title, publisher, date of publication, form of carrier, dimensions, manifestation identifier (e.g. ISBN), terms of availability
Item
Location or call number, barcode, provenance, condition, access restrictions on an item
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EQUIVALENT
Cataloging Rulescut-off point
Same work New work
DERIVATIVE DESCRIPTIVE
Parody
Revision
Translation
Criticism
Variations or versions
Editions SummaryAbstractDigest
Annotated edition
Expurgatededition
DramatizationNovelization
Freetranslation
Imitations
Evaluation
Review
Casebook
Commentary
Abridgededition
Arrangement
ScreenplayLibrettoIllustrated
edition
Slightmodifications Adaptations
Change of genre
Original
Same style or thematic content
Microformreproduction
Copy
Exactreproduction
Facsimile
Reprint
Simultaneous“publication”
Same Expression
New Expression
Family of Works
New Work B. TillettDec. 2001
From: http://www.nla.gov.au/lis/stndrds/grps/acoc/tillett2004.ppt
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OCLC FRBR work set algorithm used to cluster related WorldCat records
Original English Translation
Illustratededition
Abridgededition
Adaptation
Expressions
Work¹ Work²
e¹ e² e³ e¹
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An example of a law title
Original
Microformedition
5th edition
Expressions
Work
e¹-e3
m1
e4
Handbook of
the
Law of Torts
William Prosser
(1941)
2nd-4th editions
[Braille]5th edition,
Student edition
e5
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Worldcat
Manifestations
Works
Items
(est: holdings*1.5)
59,879,322
47,423,810
1,531,400,969
35,372,459
28,542,021
1,194,751,352
Total Print books
Works with 1 manifestation:87%
Works withbetween 2 and 5 manifestations:
12%Works with > 5 manifestations:
1%
Works with 1 manifestation:43% of total holdings
Works withbetween 2 and 5 manifestations:
40% of total holdings
Works with > 5 manifestations:17% of total holdings
Manifestations
By Holdings
Works in
WorldCat
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Top 10 works in WC by holdings
10
http://www.tezuka-gu.ac.jp/public/seiken/sub4/frbr_tab5-1.jpg
Complex relationships can exist among works, expressions, manifestations, items
Closely-related resources may form a “super work”
Barbara Tillet (LC) has done analysis on resource-to-resource relationships
From William Denton (http://www.frbr.org/)
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Group 2 – Responsible Entities
Entities responsible for the intellectual or artistic content, the physical production and dissemination, or the custodianship of such products
Group 2 entities:
Person
Corporate Body
And perhaps a third …
Family
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Attributes of Group 2 Entities
Attributes of Group 2 entities:
Person
Names, dates, titles or other designations
Corporate body
Name, number, place, date, other designation
From William Denton (http://www.frbr.org/)
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Group 3 - Subject Entities
Entities that serve as the subjects of intellectual or artistic endeavor
Group 3 entities:
Concept: topical subject heading
Object: name for an object
Event: name for an event
Place: name for a place
Plus the Group 1 and 2 Entities:
Works about Works/Expressions/Manifestations/Items
Works about Persons and/or Corporate Entities
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Attributes of Group 3 Entities
Attributes of Group 3 entities:
Concept
term
Object
term
Event
term
Place
term
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Since the initial FRBR report…
Statement of International Cataloguing Principles Approved by the IFLA Meeting of Experts on an International Cataloguging Code (Frankfurt, 2003)
Adapts and expands the Paris Principles (1961)
Expands scope from:
Textual works to all types of materials
Choice and form of entry to all aspects of bibliographic & authority records
First principle remains: Serve the convenience of the users of the catalogue
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Working the FRBR/FRANAR framework…
All work now under the FRBR Review Group:
Group 1 entities [bibliographic]:
The IFLA Study Group on the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records, 1992-1998
Various follow-on work underway (Clarifying “expression” ; Clarifying FRBR for continuing resources, more…)
Group 2 entities [authorities]:
Functional Requirements and Numbering of Authority Records (FRANAR) Working Group
Group 3 entities [subject access]:
Working Group on Subject Relationships
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FRBR Applied
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Applying FRBR in services
Incorporating the concepts of the FRBR model in systems:
Superior presentation of search results
Esp. in large files – more intuitive clustering
May help streamline library cataloging
Reduces repeated keying of work-related info
Bibliographic & management intelligence
New insights into works (e.g., OCLC’s 1000 list)
Libraries can operate at workset level (e.g., ILL)
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FictionFinder
An OCLC experimental prototype
Supports searching & browsing of fiction materials cataloged in WorldCat
Fiction records — 2.8 million
Unique works — 1.4 million
Total holdings — 130 million
Employs FRBR to:
Build a “work” view & cluster related records
Support the creation of special indexes
OCLC Research team:
Diane Vizine-Goetz (lead)
Roger Thompson
Carol Hickey
Lance Osborne
J.D. Shipengrover
New version:
Available later in 2006
Improved navigation & work-based displays
Alphabetical browse display in redesigned interface
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Nearly 20,000 works retrievedThe record for Don Quixoterepresents 2,300+ editions
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Don Quixote work viewaggregates information from 2,367 editions in 40,212 libraries
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Don Quixote work view limited to Spanish language editions ordered by latest publication date
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Link to OCLC WorldCat Find in a Library Service
Edition (manifestation)record display
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Live Search
OCLC Research prototype
Features:
Quick searches target with each additional keystroke of search term/phrase
Retrieves ordered, FRBR-inspired results (combined with holdings-based ranking)
Narrow-by Dewey attributes (expressed as captions)
OCLC Research Team:
Thom Hickey (lead)
Jenny Toves
Ralph LeVan
Files being prototyped:
Phoenix Public+DDC
LCSH
Search results automatically regenerate as searches are entered
Search categories automatically update as search results update
Narrow by natural facets (“categories”) of any given result set
item data drawn from Phoenix Public’s OPAC
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Questions?
Eric Childress
Consulting Project Manger
OCLC Research
http://www.oclc.org/research/staff/childress.htm
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Resources on FRBR
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IFLA-related FRBR resources
IFLA FRBR Review Group
http://www.ifla.org/VII/s13/wgfrbr/wgfrbr.htm
Functional requirements for bibliographic records : final report / IFLA Study Group on the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records ; Approved by the Standing Committee of the IFLA Section on Cataloguing. Münich : K.G. Saur, 1998.
viii, 136 pages. ISBN 3-598-11382-X
also online: http://www.ifla.org/VII/s13/frbr/frbr.htm
• FRBR Bibliography:
http://www.ifla.org/VII/s13/wgfrbr/bibliography.htm
• FRBR in 21st century catalogues (Workshop held at OCLC)
http://www.oclc.org/research/events/frbr-workshop
• Statement of International Cataloguing Principles
http://www.loc.gov/loc/ifla/imeicc/source/statement-draft_jan05.pdf
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Selected additional resources
Boston, Tony, Bemal Rajapatirana and Roxanne Missingham “Libraries Australia: Simplifying the Search Experience” (2005)
http://www.nla.gov.au/nla/staffpaper/2005/boston1.html
Denton, William. “FRBR and Fundamental Cataloguing Rules.” (2003)
http://www.miskatonic.org/library/frbr.html
Tillett, Barbara, What is FRBR?: A Conceptual Model for the Bibliographic Universe (2004)
http://www.loc.gov/cds/FRBR.html
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OCLC FRBR-related activities
OCLC Resarch FRBR page: http://www.oclc.org/research/projects/frbr/
OCLC Research projects:
Audience Level http://www.oclc.org/research/projects/audience
Curiouser http://www.oclc.org/research/projects/curiouser
OCLC FRBR Algorithm http://www.oclc.org/research/projects/frbr/algorithm.htm
Fiction Finder http://fictionfinder.oclc.org/
xISBN http://www.oclc.org/research/researchworks/xisbn/
Top 1000 titles http://www.oclc.org/research/top1000
OCLC production services:
Open WorldCat http://www.oclc.org/worldcat/open
FRBR-inspired FirstSearch WorldCat (coming in 2006)
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OCLC Research Presentations on FRBR
Diane Vizine-GoetzFictionFinder: Don Quixote to Graphic Novels (PPT:1.4MB/24slides)WebWise 2006, 17 February 2006, Los Angeles,California (USA)
Eric ChildressWhat's FRBR? (PowerPoint:1.1MB/43 slides)Central Ohio Chapter, American Society of Information Science & Technology, 21 July 2005, Columbus, Ohio (USA)
Brian Lavoie and Roger C. Schonfeld (Ithaka)A Systemwide View of Library Collections (PowerPoint:300K/35slides)CNI Spring 2005 Task Force Meeting, 4-5 April 2005, Washington, DC (USA)
Thom Hickey FRBR: Algorithms and Applications (PowerPoint:1.17MB/40slides)California Library Association pre-conference Institute, 12 November 2004, San Jose, California (USA)
Edward T. O'NeillFunctional Requirements for Bibliographic Records: OCLC's Experience Identifying and Using Works (PowerPoint:26MB/35 slides)FRBR Workshop, 8–9 July 2004, Frankfurt (Germany)
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Other FRBR tools, activities, etc.
AusLit http://www.austlit.edu.au/about/metadata
FRBR Blog http://www.frbr.org/
LC FRBR Display Tool
http://www.loc.gov/marc/marc-functional-analysis/tool.html
RLG’s RedLightGreen http://www.redlightgreen.org/
VisualCat (Denmark) http://www.portia.dk/pubs/VisualCat/Present/VisualCatOverview20050607.pdf
VTLS http://www.vtls.com/Corporate/FRBR.shtml