The FRBR Model As Applied to Continuing Resources

Abstract

The promulgation of the entity-analysis model set forth in Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) has led to its experimental application to a variety of collections of existing bibliographic records. Records for continuing resources (CR) have been deliberately excluded from these applications due to perceived difficulties in applying the model. These difficulties derive from a variety of sources: the imprecision of the more abstract FRBR Group 1 entities (work and expression), divergent definitions of two concepts central to bibliographic records—the work and authorship—when applied to continuing resources, and the relative merits of various mechanisms (e.g., main entries, MARC 21 linking entry fields) available for collocating records for CR. Additionally, because a particular library may own a single CR work as a sequence (overlapping or otherwise) of partially complete manifestations, the Group 1 hierarchy of the FRBR model tends to be inefficient for presenting these holdings to the user in a concise manner.