FRBR:
The development of 'Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records' (FRBR), has brought a relational approach to how the bibliographic information can be recorded and structured. Primarily designed for structuring information about printed or bibliographic resources, FRBR will become more commonly recognised as it is used as the basis for cataloguing standards.
However, it has also inspired work on how electronic materials can be described by metadata, in the form of metadata application profiles that use the relational structure of FRBR and apply it to different sorts of digital object.
FRBR is a complex and detailed system, and this is a basic overview of the concepts. Key to the original structure is an entity model which uses Work, Expression, Manifestation, and Copy to describe aspects of an object:
- Work is “a distinct intellectual or artistic creation.”
- Expression is “the specific intellectual or artistic form that a work takes each time it is ‘realized.’”
- Manifestation is “the physical embodiment of an expression of a work. As an entity, manifestation represents all the physical objects that bear the same characteristics, in respect to both intellectual content and physical form.”
- Item is “a single exemplar of a manifestation. The entity defined as item is a concrete entity.” (IFLA 1998)
In the world of repositories, it is common for metadata records to focus on the 'Work' level as described in FRBR. If the metadata record has more than one item attached, the metadata usually only describes the broad work, and is rarely expanded to cover full details of all objects contained in that record. In FRBR terms, the metadata does not contain information about 'manifestations' or 'items'. If a repository manager wishes to store more information, they may be restricted by the metadata scheme they are using, and use description fields to add more detailed information rather than being able to describe an object as part of a broader piece of work.
The FRBR model has inspired the Scholarly Works Application Profile (SWAP), which uses Dublin Core metadata scheme terms and structures them in a FRBR like manner, allowing the metadata to describe not only the 'work' but its relationships to other related objects. FRBR is also being considered as a structure for application profiles for other types of digital object.
Using FRBR in a repository:
The Framework recommends that repository software is designed to be able to store objects in a FRBR-like structure, allowing more complex relationships between objects to be established.
What will be significant for repository managers will be how they wish to implement such a structure. The decision for repository managers when organising objects in this way will be what forms the 'work' level of the FRBR style structure. Repository software ideally should enable them to use structures inspired by metadata application profiles or adapted to their own needs.
Pros:
- Relationships between objects are describable in terms of shared concept or provenance
- Consistent with metadata application profiles that are based on such a structure
- Supports linear versions, file format changes and different representations of the same work (such as a video recording of a play and the written screenplay)
Cons:
- Defining the 'work' level may be difficult and subjective
- Application Profiles have made different adaptations which could lead to confusion
- 'Works' themselves may have version relationships that fall outside of the structure
- Not all types of digital object can be grouped or understood in such a way, i.e. learning objects
- Complex system that is hard to explain and educate about
Related Pages:
Metadata - Information for repository managers and what application profiles could mean for them.
Sharing Standards - Information for the repository software community about using application profiles to share metadata records.
Next Section:
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