IFLA Library Reference Model Research Articles

An Exploration of IFLA LRM for Literature Data Representation

The digital humanities have witnessed a clear development in recent years due partly to their adoption of Semantic Web and linked data technologies and the creation of knowledge bases. In this work, we target the creation of an ontology and knowledge base for literature data representation based on the IFLA Library Reference Model (LRM). IFLA LRM is the main model for book-related data, allowing for a fine representation of the various layers that constitute a book. However, by design, it doesn’t deal with some aspects usually available in literature databases, such as information about authors, literary awards or book themes. As a result, LRM requires some extensions to be able to represent ancillary data. Another challenge is the querying of IFLA LRM knowledge bases, with a performance cost that comes with the fine-grained expressivity of the LRM model, which creates longer and therefore typically slower SPARQL queries. In this work, we propose an extension to the IFLA LRM ontology called IFLA LRM* that targets these limitations including a connection to the vocabulary Schema.org and to the taxonomies Thema and Dewey Decimal, and the representation of literary awards. We also present a practical case study on using our extended model to create a Quebec literature knowledge base, discussing the interest of our extensions.

The Concept of Work in Theater Performances

The IFLA Library Reference Model (LRM) defines work as an abstract entity that represents “the intellectual or artistic content of a distinct creation.” The work entity enables the grouping of equivalent content in search results and enables connecting and relating resources across databases and documentation practices, independent of media and format. This article explores how the LRM work entity relates to and is understood in the context of theater performance documentation. It presents an analysis of different conceptual models relevant to performance documentation and examines how databases for performing arts refer to or include works. The main part of the article, however, is a user study based on interviews with theater researchers on how they understand the concept of work in relation to theater performances. The main research contribution of this work is the gained insight into how the concept of work is understood in the context of theater performance documentation.

A Comparative Evaluation of the Share-VDE Search System

The Share-VDE search system (https://svde.org) shifts the library discovery paradigm from record-based indexing and retrieval to that of linked data entity exploration. This paper reports the results of iterative testing of multiple versions of the Share-VDE interface. The testing included remote user experience (UX) interviews with a total of twenty participants across four rounds of tests spanning 2 years. The comparison among participants encompassed catalogers, students of all levels, and faculty. Synthesizing IFLA Library Reference Model user tasks with interface evaluation methods supported the qualitative inquiry into how linked data systems in general, and BIBFRAME specifically, can support search system objectives.

Authority Data in the COBISS System and Why is its Importance Increasing

With the introduction of the IFLA Library Reference Model (IFLA LRM), authority control is becoming increasingly important, as authority data will play a key role in the network of linked data. Therefore, the preparation of authority data will help to facilitate the implementation of IFLA LRM and will be useful in the transition to RDA (Resource Description and Access).
 The paper presents an overview of authority data in the COBISS system, with a focus on the Slovenian COBISS.SI system, and suggests possibilities for the future development of authority records. It presents the status of the authority databases CONOR.SI and SGC, the submission of authority records to the VIAF service, and the acquisition and use of identifiers for personal and corporate body names. It also outlines IZUM’s plans for the transition to a new catalogue that will be in line with the IFLA LRM conceptual model. The basis for the development of the new COBISS catalogue is the selection of as large a set of entities as possible to be realised in authority records and the establishment of relationships between them.

Modeling of Serials

This work examines the modeling of serial publications in Anglo-American cataloging practice from the cataloging codes of the nineteenth century to the IFLA Library Reference Model, focusing on the challenges and implications of the various models. Its coverage moves from the models implicit in earlier cataloging codes, through the explicit models extracted from catalog records in the late twentieth century, to current models that attempt to align with models in neighboring domains. Some complementary and competing models from outside of library cataloging are also included. Then, it addresses the evolving impact of online serials and their displacement of their print analogs as a "canonical" version. It, then, finishes with a modest proposal for realigning the modeling of serials with that of other bibliographic resources.

Implementing Bibliographic Enhancement Data in Academic Library Catalogs: An Empirical Study

This study examines users’ needs for bibliographic enhancement data (BIBED) in academic library catalogs. Qualitative data were collected through 30 academic users’ activity logs and follow-up interviews. These 30 participants were recruited from a public university in the United States that has over 19,000 students enrolled and over 600 full-time faculty members. This study identified 19 types of BIBED useful for supporting the five user tasks proposed in the IFLA Library Reference Model and in seven other contexts, such as enhancing one’s understanding, offering search instructions, and providing readers’ advisory. Findings suggest that adopting BIBFRAME and Semantic Web technologies may enable academic library catalogs to provide BIBED to better meet user needs in various contexts.

IFLA Standards, UNIMARC and COBISS System: The Importance of Authority Data

Bibliographic control is one of the few internationally highly standardized activities. The generally accepted IFLA Library Reference Model (IFLA LRM) has influenced the modification of numerous other standards in the field of bibliographic control. In this context, also on UNIMARC and ISBD. Moreover, at the IFLA WLIC 2022 Congress, the working group for the revision of international cataloguing principles announced that it was analyzing the introduction of the term “work with entities”. In the COBISS system, developments in the field of bibliographic control and standards related to it are closely monitored. The transition to the new millennium shed a new light on the organization of bibliographic information, placing in the focus of interest authority data as the basic building block of a new approach to managing the sources of the bibliographic universe. Therefore, first of all, the state of authority data in the COBISS.net network should be analyzed, which can serve as a starting point for development and cooperation between the member countries of the COBISS.net network also on this field.

Mapping Data Elements of Persian Traditional Music Resources to the Entities, Attributes, and Relationships of IFLA’s Library Reference Model

The purpose of this study is mapping the data elements of Persian traditional music resources to the entities, attributes, and relationships of IFLA’s Library Reference Model (LRM). This research is applied in terms of purpose; qualitative, in terms of approach; and content analysis, by method. Due to the weakness of the current lists of Persian traditional music resources in the field of retrieving musical resources, the IFLA Library Reference Model as a reference model in the field of resource organization is an optimal and efficient model, although it needs practical research to be used in a variety of resources, because this model has presented its structure in general. In this study, data elements of Persian traditional music resources were extracted from reliable reference resources highlighted by experts and the extracted list was confirmed by researchers and experts, through applying the contingency coefficient in the form of categorized lists; then, the checklist of the LRM final version (August 2017), the validity of which has already been assessed, compared to LRM. Finally, the data elements of Persian traditional music resources were classified in the form of 25 main categories. Mapping between these categories and LRM’s entities, attributes, and relationships indicates that LRM needs to be expanded in order to be effective in organizing.

Prototype Cataloging Interface Based on the IFLA Library Reference Model (LRM). Part 1: Conceptual Design

The aim of this paper is to present a prototype cataloging interface, which provides easier data entry, follows the cataloger’s thought process and is based on the advantages of the IFLA LRM model. The paper summarizes all stages of the conceptual design and shows how the LRM was implemented. The main purpose of the cataloging interface design is to show how a LRM-based cataloging module might look like and how it could improve the existing cataloging process.

Cataloging to Support Information Literacy: The IFLA Library Reference Model’s User Tasks in the Context of the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education

Cataloging practices, as exemplified by the five user tasks of the IFLA Library Reference Model, can support information literacy practices. The six frames of the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education are used as lenses to examine the user tasks. Two themes emerge from this examination: context matters, and catalogers must tailor bibliographic descriptions to meet users’ expectations and information needs. Catalogers need to solicit feedback from various user communities to reform cataloging practices to remain current and viable. Such conversations will enrich the catalog and enhance (reclaim?) its position as a primary tool for research and learning. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/01639374.2021.1939828 .

Extending the LRM Model to Integrating Resources

Integrating resources are distinct in that they change over time in such a way that their previous content is replaced with updated content. This study examines how integrating resources can be modeled using the entities and relationships of the IFLA Library Reference Model (LRM) and clarifies how they can be identified. While monographs have been extensively analyzed, integrating resources have received very little attention. Applying the model unmodified to integrating resources is neither practical nor theoretically sound. With the addition of two proposed relationships, the model can be extended to accommodate the diachronic relationship intrinsic between expressions and manifestations exhibited by integrating resources.

The Potential of IFLA LRM and RDA Key Entities for Identification of Entities in Textual Documents of Cultural Heritage: The RunA Collection

This paper addresses the potential to employ IFLA Library Reference Model (LRM) and Resource Description and Access (RDA) key entity classes in annotating textual documents of cultural heritage (RunA collection). It describes methods (comparison and analysis) and procedures (identification of entity classes and annotation classes in unstructured data with a special annotation tool) for the evaluation of international data models based on the need to develop a cross-sectoral linked data collection. The article identifies key entities – works, agents (persons, institutions), concepts, places, timespans, and events – for reflecting simple or hierarchical relationships between different objects, which can be used as nodal points for semantic connection and networking in digital collections, including unstructured data sets, e.g., correspondence. The article concludes with a discussion of the challenges of correctly applying LRM’s WEMI structured entities to free-form textual data.

Mapping bf:Work to lrm:Work and lrm:Expression: Towards a set‐theoretical approach

AbstractThe two bibliographical models currently informing the design of systems for the representation of bibliographical data – the IFLA Library Reference Model (IFLA‐LRM) and BIBFRAME 2.0 – do not seamlessly map onto one another. In particular, there are conceptual problems in mapping between the bibliographical entity BIBFRAME:Work and its counterparts, IFLA‐LRM:Work and IFLA‐LRM:Expression. To mitigate these difficulties, we argue for applying a set‐theoretical framework to the mapping between BIBFRAME:Work and IFLA‐LRM:Work and IFLA‐LRM:Expression.

IFLA Library Reference Model（IFLA LRM）訳解 （特集・2019年度研究グループ報告）

IFLA Library Reference Model（IFLA LRM）訳解 （特集・2019年度研究グループ報告）

Extending the IFLA Library Reference Model for a Brazilian popular music digital library

Brazil is recognized as a musical country, with a diverse collection of musical resources served by many digital repositories and music libraries. Historically, those systems are supported by cataloging schemes that are insufficient because they follow standards more focused on the catalog record than on the structure of cataloged works. On the other hand, it is perceived the popularization of multi-entity bibliographic conceptual models, such as IFLA LRM, which seem to be an interesting solution because they (i) have a better capacity to represent the internal architecture of musical objects; (ii) support the creation of cataloging codes and international standards that enable interoperability between collections; and (iii) can be adapted through extension mechanisms. The purpose of this paper is to present an experiment of extending the IFLA LRM in the context of a Brazilian popular music digital library application in order to identify its power of expressivity for attending this specific domain. Instead of making direct use of the entities, attributes and relationships of IFLA LRM, the adopted method was to map concepts of a specific conceptual model (adherent to the digital library in question) that represents aspects of Brazilian popular music on IFLA LRM elements. The resulting extended model demonstrated to be aligned with users’ information needs and proved the efficiency of IFLA LRM to adapt to specific domains. In addition, the strategy of extending IFLA LRM from a specific model seemed appropriate for dealing with its level of generality.

Instructions, Interfaces, and Interoperable Data: The RIMMF Experience with RDA Revisited

This article presents a case study of RIMMF, a software tool developed to improve the orientation and training of catalogers who use Resource Description and Access (RDA) to maintain bibliographic data. The cataloging guidance and instructions of RDA are based on the Functional Requirements conceptual models that are now consolidated in the IFLA Library Reference Model, but many catalogers are applying RDA in systems that have evolved from inventory and text-processing applications developed from older metadata paradigms. The article describes how RIMMF interacts with the RDA Toolkit and RDA Registry to offer cataloger-friendly multilingual data input and editing interfaces.

Resource Description and Access Adoption and Implementation in Public Libraries in the United States

This study surveyed the current state of knowledge about, and application or use of, Resource Description and Access (RDA) among American public library catalogers. In 2017, an online survey request was e-mailed to four thousand libraries for the person or persons most responsible for cataloging to complete the questionnaire. More than three hundred libraries responded. The data expose serious concerns with RDA adoption within the public library sector. While a majority of catalogers know about RDA, their working knowledge about it differs substantially depending on whether they work in rural or urban library settings. Regardless, 22 percent of respondants still had not heard of the RDA standard until completing this survey. While further training and educational opportunities (along with funds) for catalogers nationwide would help minimize this disparity, LIS schools also can play a role by educating more thoroughly the next generations of catalogers in this newer descriptive standard. Coming on the brink of a shift in the theoretical framework of the RDA standard, from the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) model to the IFLA Library Reference Model (LRM), public library catalogers risk falling even farther behind in their knowledge and competency with the RDA standard.

IFLA Library Reference Model, RDA, and Serials in a Nutshell

IFLA Library Reference Model (IFLA LRM) represents the consolidation of Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) and the two other conceptual models of the Functional Requirements (FR) family, the Functional Requirements for Authority Data (FRAD) and the Functional Requirements for Subject Authority Data (FRSAD). IFLA LRM includes a specific section (5.8) devoted to serials. The RDA Steering Committee adopted IFLA LRM as the conceptual model for the development of RDA in November 2016. The 3R (RDA Toolkit Restructure and Redesign) Project’s purpose is partly to make RDA compatible with the IFLA LRM. A beta version of the English-language content of the RDA Toolkit, which incorporates the IFLA LRM, was released in June 2018. This column explores, in lay terms, serials in relation to the IFLA LRM and the RDA Toolkit Restructure and Redesign (3R) Project. The beta version of the restructured and redesigned RDA Toolkit introduces several new concepts relating to serials.

A Conversation with Sally McCallum

In this conversation, conducted during the IFLA conference in Wrocław, Poland in August 2017, Sally McCallum retells her beginnings at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. when she worked with Henriette Avram and Lucia Rather on the development of the MARC and UNIMARC formats. Other topics include conversion between MARC and UNIMARC, MARC21 and BIBFRAME projects, and her views on: RDA (Resource Description and Access); ISBD (International Standard Bibliographic Description); IFLA LRM (IFLA Library Reference Model); and UBC (Universal Bibliographic Control) in the face of technological changes.

Mapping and Merging of IFLA Library Reference Model and BIBFRAME 2.0

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) published the Library Reference Model (LRM)1 in August 2017, which is the consolidation of the separately developed conc...