FRBR to Guide Libraries
in Structuring Better Catalogs

"FRBR" has been generating a good deal of confusion lately among catalogers, catalog managers and others responsible for bibliographic databases in libraries. Staff worry about what FRBR will mean in their day-to-day work. Perhaps more fundamentally, librarians wonder what exactly "FRBR" is.

"FRBR" is the acronym for the "Functional Requirements of Bibliographic Records," a conceptual model for how bibliographic databases might be structured. As the name suggests, FRBR outlines what functions a bibliographic record should be able to fill in an era not of card catalogs, but of online databases and their unique possibilities. FRBR was developed by an IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) study group that included staff of the Library of Congress. The final report of the group may be found at www.ifla.org/VII/s13/frbr/frbr.htm (or www.ifla.org/VII/s13/frbr/frbr.pdf. A print version is available from K.G. Saur (ISBN 3- 598-11382-X).

FRBR is a way of explaining the bibliographic world in a library context, so that we may create better library catalogs. "Better" meaning that users' needs will be better met, with a catalog that will be easier to navigate. One example may be an online catalog that could group all the bibliographic records for all the filmed versions of Hamlet in sets organized perhaps by the language of the production, and then within each language's set, separate subsets for those on DVD and those on VHS video-cassette, without screen after screen of displays of bibliographic headings, ordered perhaps by date of release (which may be of little interest to a patron). In a very large collection, such organization promises cleaner, more navigable displays to patrons.

The FRBR model identifies four entities that constitute bibliographic resources, some tangible, some intangible; some familiar to us, some not. The four entities are work, expression, manifestation and item.

• Item — The "item" is certainly familiar to librarians. It's the object that sits on a shelf, that gets checked out, damaged, repaired, discarded. It may not be physical; it may be the virtual e-book to which a library buys access and a patron checks out.
• Manifestation — The "item," an individual copy, is a single example of a "manifestation," the publication by a certain publisher of a text, or it may be a sound or video recording. Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf published in hardback by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 1999 is one manifestation. Heaney's translation as it appears in the collection Wizards: Stories of Magic, Mischief and Mayhem from Thunder's Mouth Press is yet another manifestation.
• Expression — "Expression" is a more abstract entity. Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf, independent of who is publishing it and when, independent of its physical form, is one "expression." The translation by Alan Sullivan and Timothy Murphy, edited by Sarah M. Anderson, is another.
• Work — What are these two "expressions" expressions of? An even more abstract concept, a "work." In this case, the "work" is Beowulf, that ancient creative and artistic production that over time has been expressed in multiple ways, each way manifested in several different ways itself and each manifestation encompassing one or more items.

The final report on FRBR details not only the relationships that exist among these entities, but those that exist between the entities and various persons, natural or corporate, such as creators, publishers and owners. It also details the characteristics, or attributes, of entities (such as title, physical media, date, availability, etc.).

If you are still confused and worried, perhaps you'll find it encouraging that FRBR is unlikely to have an immediate and drastic impact on library practices or library systems. Several library vendors are designing systems that implement FRBR ideas and can structure search result sets around them. More may follow over the next few years.

Another issue will be how the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (AACR) develop to incorporate FRBR. This is currently being addressed by the Joint Steering Committee for Revision of Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (JSC). Over time, JSC will issue revisions and amendments to incorporate FRBR ideas into AACR. Information on the committee's plans may be found at its Web site: www.collectionscanada.ca/jsc/.

BCR will be presenting a half-day FRBR workshop beginning this fall. If you are interested in learning more, please check our workshop schedule in August: www.bcr.org/training/workshops/FRBR.html.

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February 27, 2008
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