Bibliographic Universe Research Articles

Educational supplementary bibliographic relationships from FRBR point of view: A Canadian Case Study

PurposeOne of the aims of library catalogs is to clearly represent the relationships existing between two or more bibliographic entities, enabling users to make sense of these relationships. Educational bibliographic relationships are the relationships between an educational work, such as a textbook, and its related works. The main interest of this study was to understand the nature of the supplementary work-to-work bibliographic relationships among educational works and the constitution of educational bibliographic families in the Canadian context using AMICUS (the Canadian national catalog). A thorough understanding of educational bibliographic relationships is required for understanding the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) supplementary relationships. Design/methodology/approachWe studied the extent and size of educational bibliographic relationships in the bibliographic universe found in the AMICUS catalog. This is an empirical investigation into the nature and extent of educational work-to-work bibliographic relationships by examining title of works, notes and added entries in bibliographic records. The study was carried out between September 1st 2010 and December 22nd 2010 and examines educational bibliographic relationships between Canadian 2009 publications in each class of the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC). In other words, this study poses two main questions: What is the structure of educational supplementary bibliographic relationships in Canadian publications? Do significant differences exist across the ten DDC classes? FindingsResults show that 595 works of the 2009 bibliographic records in the AMICUS catalog contain an educational supplementary bibliographic relationship. Of the Canadian publications with an educational supplementary work-to-work bibliographic relationship that were studied, the rates of educational bibliographic relationships were relatively high in the fields of Science (27%), Technology (22%), Social Sciences (20%), and Language (19%). The results of this study suggest a set of guidelines for the establishment and maintenance of educational bibliographic relationships. Originality/valueThis is the first research to examine the educational bibliographic relationships, as supplementary relationships.

User verification of the FRBR conceptual model

PurposeThis paper aims to build on of a previous study of mental models of the bibliographic universe, which found that the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) conceptual model is intuitive.Design/methodology/approachA total of 120 participants were presented with a list of bibliographic entities and six graphs each. They were asked to choose the graph they thought best represented the relationships between entities described.FindingsThe graph based on the FRBR model was chosen by more than half of the participants and none of the alternatives stood out. This gives further indication that FRBR is an appropriate model of the bibliographic universe from users' standpoint.Research limitations/implicationsThe study only looked at the textual part of the bibliographic universe. Further research is needed for other types of materials.Practical implicationsThis research suggests that there should be a more positive attitude towards implementation of FRBR‐based catalogues.Originality/valueThis is one of only a handful of user studies relating to FRBR, which looks to be the backbone of catalogues for years to come. As such, the results should be of interest to everybody involved with catalogues, from cataloguers to the end‐users.

Arrangement of FRBR Entities in Colon Classification Call Numbers

This article analyzes similarities and differences between Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) entities and their representation in the Colon Classification call numbers. Dealing with lack of organization in library shelves and in the lists of bibliographic records resulting from users’ searches in our present online catalogs, the article discusses the chance to organize bibliographic resources by FRBR entities using the model of the facet formula provided for call numbers in Colon Classification and by means of relevant, ready, and useable extant data. Main results of this analysis are: correspondences between FRBR entities and categories expressed in Ranganathan's bibliographic system can be found; a sound but not completely FRBRized bibliographic arrangement can be reached by call numbers also in catalogs not structurally capable to satisfy the FRBR model; in Ranganathan's classified catalog1 semantic and semiotic cataloging are perfectly integrated, giving access to the bibliographic universe as a whole; facet formula for call numbers could be used as an identifying device.

Matching music: clustering versus distinguishing records in a large database

PurposeDescribing musical pieces, whether sound recordings, scores, librettos, videos, has always involved cataloger interpretation and judgment. There is considerable variation in records created for exactly the same item. And there is never “proof” that two records which seem to describe the same item actually do. This paper aims to address this issue.Design/methodology/approachThis paper describes some of the challenges encountered in developing software for matching music records, and some approaches to making the software reliable.FindingsThe paper finds that matching can be used successfully to create GLIMIR clusters in the WorldCat database. Work is needed in several areas to complete the implementation, but intermediate results are promising.Originality/valueThis implementation will allow end‐user applications to collocate resources, to improve discovery and delivery in a complex bibliographic universe

Foucault and the bibliographic universe: What Really is an author?

AbstractThis poster will present connections that are readily apparent between Michel Foucault's concept of “author” and the “entities” in FRBR. Both Group 1 and Group 2 FRBR Entities have properties that are analogous to Foucault's ideas of authors and the works they produce. Moreover, Foucault addresses important matters concerning the apprehension of the works and how authors (or, as he phrases it, the “author‐function”) are perceived, both directly and as broader notions. FRBR and the entity attributes designated in FRAD have the potential to realize some of the extension of “work” and “author” introduced by Foucault. This poster will include this possible extension

A Practical Application of FRBR for Organizing Information in Digital Environments

This study employs the FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records) conceptual model to provide in-depth investigation on the characteristics of social tags by analyzing the bibliographic attributes of tags that are not limited to subject properties. FRBR describes four different levels of entities (i.e., Work, Expression, Manifestation, and Item), which provide a distinguishing understanding of each entity in the bibliographic universe. In this research, since the scope of data analysis focuses on tags assigned to web documents, consideration on Manifestation and Item has been excluded. Accordingly, only the attributes of Work and Expression entity were investigated in order to map the attributes of tags to attributes defined in those entities. The content analysis on tag attributes was conducted on a total of 113 web documents regarding 11 attribute categories defined by FRBR. The findings identified essential bibliographic attributes of tags and tagging behaviors by subject. The findings showed that concerning specific subject areas, taggers exhibited different tagging behaviors representing distinctive features and tendencies. These results have led to the conclusion that there should be an increased awareness of diverse user needs by subject in terms of the practical implications of metadata generation.

Cataloging Theory in Search of Graph Theory and Other Ivory Towers

This paper summarizes a research program that focuses on how catalogers, other cultural heritage information workers, web/Semantic Web technologists, and the general public understand, explain, and manage resource description tasks by creating, counting, measuring, classifying, and otherwise arranging descriptions of cultural heritage resources within the bibliographic universe and beyond it. A significant effort is made to update the nineteenth-century mathematical and scientific ideas present in traditional cataloging theory to their twentieth- and twenty-first-century counterparts. There are two key elements in this approach: (1) a technique for diagrammatically depicting and manipulating large quantities of individual and grouped bibliographic entities and the relationships between them, and (2) the creation of resource description exemplars (problem–solution sets) that are intended to play theoretical, pedagogical, and IT system design roles.

FRBR implementation and user research

The IFLA Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) conceptual model, published in 1998, focuses on the representation of the bibliographic universe, using an entity-relationship model [1]. It has direct and great impact to the whole area of knowledge organization, especially the description, access, and sharing of bibliographic resources. As a conceptual model, FRBR is subject to various interpretations and implementations. This panel will focus on practical aspects of FRBR and related user studies: FRBR model validation, FRBR user research, FRBR/FAO model implementation and benefits, and RDA vocabulary developments based on FRBR.

Mental models of the bibliographic universe. Part 1: mental models of descriptions

PurposeThe paper aims to present the results of the first two tasks of a user study looking into mental models of the bibliographic universe and especially their comparison to the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) conceptual model, which has not yet been user tested.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employes a combination of techniques for eliciting mental models and consisted of three tasks, two of which, card sorting and concept mapping, are presented herein. Its participants were 30 individuals residing in the general area of Ljubljana, Slovenia.FindingsCumulative results of concept mapping show a strong resemblance to FRBR. Card sorts did not produce conclusive results. In both tasks, participants paid special attention to the original expression, indicating that a special place for it should be considered.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was performed using a relatively small sample of participants living in a geographically limited space using relatively straight‐forward examples.Practical implicationsSome solid evidence is provided for adoption of FRBR as the conceptual basis for cataloguing.Originality/valueThis is the first widely published user study of FRBR, applying novel methodological approaches in the field of Library and Information Science.

Mental models of the bibliographic universe. Part 2: comparison task and conclusions

PurposeThe paper aims to provide some insight into mental models of the bibliographic universe and how they compare with functional requirements for bibliographic records (FRBR) as a conceptual model of the bibliographic universe.Design/methodology/approachTo get a more complete picture of the mental models, different elicitation techniques were used. The three tasks of the paper were: card‐sorting, concept mapping and comparison task. The paper deals with comparison task, which consisted of interviews and rankings, and provides a discussion of the results of the paper as a whole.FindingsResults of the ranking part of the comparison task confirm the findings of concept mapping task. In both cases, while there are individual differences between mental models, on average they gravitate towards FRBR.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a small study and it provides only a glimpse of the implications of using FRBR as a conceptual basis for cataloguing. More FRBR‐related user studies are needed, including similar studies on different groups of individuals and different types of materials, as well as practical studies of user needs and user interfaces.Practical implicationsThe results of this study are the first user‐tested indication of the validity of FRBR as a conceptual basis for the future of cataloguing.Originality/valueThis is the first published paper of mental models of the bibliographic universe and uses a unique combination of mental model elicitation techniques.

'Cataloguing based on bibliographic axiology', "La catalogazione basata sull'assiologia bibliografica"

The article presents the work of Elaine Svenonius The Intellectual Foundation of Information Organization , translated in Italian and published by Le Lettere of Florence, within the series Pinakes, with the title Il fondamento intellettuale dell’organizzazione dell’informazione . The Intellectual Foundation of Information Organization defines the theoretical aspects of library science, its philosophical basics and principles, the purposes that must be kept in mind, abstracting from the technology used in a library. The book deals with information organization and bibliographic universe, in particular using the bibliographic entities defined in FRBR, at first. Then, it analyzes all the specific languages by which works and subjects are treated. This work, already acknowledged as a classic, organizes, synthesizes and make easily understood the whole complex of knowledge, practices and procedures developed in the last 150 years.

In Praise of the Un-Finished: The IFLA Statement of International Cataloguing Principles (2009)

The Paris Principles (1961) is the most relevant theoretical reference framework in the history of cataloguing; it was taken as the basis for the codes developed worldwide from the mid-sixties. In 2001, it was suggested calling an international meeting to re-examine critically the Paris Principles and to broaden its scope to today's issues. The analysis dealt with the broader bibliographic universe, the greater variety of types of resources, the changes brought about by automation and informatics, the search modes and the languages used by readers who think and act globally, the need to avail of the same strategies to search OPACs, and the need for an architecture built on shared rules. On 2009 IFLA published the Statement of International Cataloguing Principles (ICP). The ICP is built on a highly adaptable conceptual framework and has employed the tremendous diversity of the library and information worlds, both physical and digital. It required strenuous work in the five-year IME ICC (IFLA Meetings of Experts on an International Cataloguing Code) proceedings started in July 2003. ICP replaces and broadens the scope of the Paris Principles from just textual works to all types of materials and from just the choice and form of entry to all aspects of bibliographic and authority data used in catalogues. The new principles meet the needs of a world much changed since 1961, but they are still imperfect, like an unfinished text, especially for the theoretical analysis of the bibliographic description and for the subject indexing nearly absent from the text. Being aware of their imperfection, we feel compelled to improve them.

RDA 구현 시나리오와 서지 제어의 장래에 대한 고찰

정보환경의 변화와 전통적 도서관 목록의 불일치에 대한 문제가 대두면서 영미를 중심으로 한 도서관계에서는 국제목록원칙을 재천명하였고, 올해 말 최종 발표를 앞두고 RDA의 검토가 진행 중이다. JSC는 RDA에 FRBR 개념을 담아내면서도 수 십년간 고수된 MARC을 존속시킬 수 있는 해법을 찾기 위해 다양한 수준의 구현 시나리오를 제시하고 있다. 본 논문에서는 첫 번째, 새로운 서지의 개념 모델인 FRBR과 최근 재천명된 국제목록원칙규범을 살펴보고 이를 기반으로 전개된 RDA의 구성과 특징을 분석하였다. 두 번째, RDA 구현을 위한 3가지 시나리오를 통해 현행 MARC을 변용해 구현할 근접한 서지 제어 체계의 변화 내용과 FRBR 엔티티를 기반으로 시멘틱 웹 구조를 사용하게 될 미래의 목록 작성 작업을 분석하였다. 마지막으로 해외 주요 서지 기관의 대응 현황을 살펴보고 RDA/FRBR과 KCR의 관계, KORMARC의 변용 및 존속 여부, 전거 통제에 대한 대책이 시급한 우리나라 서지 제어 체계의 대응 방향을 제시하였다. Disagreements between the technical environment and the conventional library catalog have caused a re-clarification of International Cataloguing Principles (ICP). Review is under way to finalize the publication of RDA (Resource Description and Access) in late 2009 by the Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA. The impending RDA is based on FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records) which re-explains the bibliographic universe focused on entities, attributes and relationships between resources, but tries to maintain MARC as an encoding format for RDA. In this study, firstly FRBR, ICP and RDA were analyzed. Secondly, we propose 3 scenarios of RDA implementation: the future cataloging system based on the FRBR Entity, using a semantic web structure, and the scenario using the existing MARC format with some small changes. Finally, by examining response patterns of overseas bibliographic institutions, we present a set of urgent issues for future directions of bibliographic contro in Korea which includes, but not limited to, relationship between RDA/FRBR and KCR (Korean Cataloging Rules), continuation of KORMARC and authority control.

Multiple interpretations: Implications of FRBR as a boundary object

AbstractIFLA's Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) is a model of the bibliographic universe. Any brief, critical review of the FRBR literature quickly shows that there is no clear consensus on the nature of the FRBR Group 1 entities. This situation becomes more complicated when one looks at theoretical attempts to operationalize FRBR by researchers and practitioners with different motivations and experience: each has its own flavor. Given the recognition that these different understandings are unlikely to be unified or reconciled, this paper performs an exploratory analysis of FRBR using technological frames and boundary objects as theoretical lenses to reveal implications for future research and practice.

User interface for FRBR user tasks in online catalogs

AbstractFunctional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) is a new conceptual model for representing the bibliographic universe with a strong user focus. Such a user focus offers opportunities for creating online catalogs that better support user information seeking. There have been a few online catalogs developed to explore effective implementations of FRBR. However, there has been a lack of user research of such prototype online catalogs. The major purpose of this study is to explore how well current FRBR‐based catalogs support user tasks as defined by FRBR and how users interact with and evaluate the user interfaces in the FRBR‐based catalogs. The FRBR‐based online catalogs selected in this study include OCLC WorldCat.org, FictionFinder, and Libraries Australias FRBR prototype demonstration system. These three catalogs were evaluated by 75 users from both public libraries (40 participants) and academic libraries (35 participants). The user tasks for this study were designed around the four general user task categories as defined by FRBR. Users system interactions and feedback were captured through a multi‐method approach, including screen captures, eye‐tracking, think‐aloud protocol, and survey interviews, as well as two focus groups of academic and public library users. Some preliminary findings show that there were noted differences in user success in completing various tasks in the FRBR‐based catalogs. In terms of user interactions with the interface features provided in the catalogs, users chose different options for various tasks. The eye‐tracking data and user input on interface features provided some helpful explanations to the user interactions and pointed to useful features and possible improvements of the individual catalog interfaces. The results of this study will help identify useful interface options for future FRBR implementation and contribute toward the development of more effective online catalogs that support various user tasks from users perspectives.

Hurry Up, Please. It's Time—State of Emergency

ABSTRACT Lately, it seems that serials librarians have lost control over the journal side of the bibliographic universe through agreements that relinquish their control over electronic collections. What can librarians do to stem the tide? This presentation discussed what some librarians have already done.

Extending the simple knowledge organization system for concept management in vocabulary development applications

AbstractIn this article, we describe the development of an extension to the Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) to accommodate the needs of vocabulary development applications (VDA) managing metadata schemes and requiring close tracking of change to both those schemes and their member concepts. We take a neopragmatic epistemic stance in asserting the need for an entity in SKOS modeling to mediate between the abstract concept and the concrete scheme. While the SKOS model sufficiently describes entities for modeling the current state of a scheme in support of indexing and search on the Semantic Web, it lacks the expressive power to serve the needs of VDA needing to maintain scheme historical continuity. We demonstrate preliminarily that conceptualizations drawn from empirical work in modeling entities in the bibliographic universe, such as works, texts, and exemplars, can provide the basis for SKOS extension in ways that support more rigorous demands of capturing concept evolution in VDA.

Functional requirements for bibliographic records: Understanding FRBR as a conceptual model: FRBR and the bibliographic universe

Functional requirements for bibliographic records: Understanding FRBR as a conceptual model: FRBR and the bibliographic universe

Three of the four FRBR group 1 entity types are roles, not types

AbstractWe examine the conceptual model of the “bibliographic universe” presented in IFLA's Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) and argue, applying ontology design recommendations proposed by N. Guarino and C. Welty, that three of the four Group 1 entity types might be more accurately conceptualized as roles. We show how this approach may generalize the solution to a previously identified puzzle regarding the FRBR entity type of XML documents and speculate as to the sorts of entities that might take on these roles. This view of bibliographic entities, that they are roles that other things have in particular social contexts is consistent with Searle's notion of a cascade of social facts established through collective intentionality. We allow that even if our analysis is correct the current FRBR approach may be preferable as there are good reasons for “denormalized ontologies” that treat roles as types, particularly when the objective is not a general ontology, but a practical conceptual model.

What exactly is an item in the digital world?

AbstractIFLA's Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) is a model of the bibliographic universe. Although initially its application to the digital world appears to be straightforward, upon closer examination puzzles arise. One is that within the digital world it is surprisingly difficult to say exactly what FRBR items really are. On the one hand, the ontological candidates for items (concrete physical states of the computing system) are rarely identified and treated as items in practice – even though they may indeed be affirmed as items in theoretical discussions. On the other hand, objects that manifestly fail to meet the basic ontological criteria for FRBR items are commonly treated as if they are items. We describe this situation and, based on a re‐factoring of FRBR into a set of roles (relationships) rather than a set of entity types, explore two possible resolutions. One, favored by the second author, is consistent with the ontology implicit in the original FRBR vision, but allows assignment of item attributes and roles to things that are not items; the other, favored by the first author, is a radical departure from the underlying FRBR ontology, but preserves the original attribute assignments and roles.