FRBR, Before and After: A Look at Our Bibliographic Models

In 1998 an International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) study group published a report on the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR), which impacted the cataloging world in subsequent years. Here library consultant Coyle (Understanding the Semantic Web: Bibliographic Data and Metadata) provides a lucid and thorough explanation of what FRBR both is and is not. The first part of the book contains historical and theoretical background on the nature of a work, as well as models and technology. This helps to place FRBR in the larger context of cataloging history. Part 2 examines and critiques the FRBR final report, showing the ways in which the FRBR study group either met or failed to accomplish their stated goals. The book concludes with a discussion of the Semantic Web as a logical progression from FRBR's entity-relation model.