Definition of Object-Oriented frbr

1.3. Differences between FRAD/FRSAD and FRBR_OO

The FRAD model puts its emphasis on the separation between the bibliographic entities themselves (person, family, corporate body, work), their names as found in the non-bibliographic universe and the controlled access points constructed to represent the instances of the entities in bibliographic contexts through the use of rules as applied by bibliographic agencies.

In FRBR_OO the mechanism that underlies these relationships is made explicit by the introduction of classes and properties that capture the link between instances of persons, etc. and the names they use when performing different activities over time. Any activity in which one can see the use of a name in a given context is an F52 Name Use Activity. In the library domain, the F35 Nomen Use Statement records an appellation used within a KOS, including specific identifiers that provide controlled access points, which are generally recorded in authority records. Name authority files, subject headings files, classification systems are all typical library examples that are modelled as F34 KOS.

Taking as an example a Library of Congress name authority record for a corporate body (selected fields shown below), the information recorded in MARC21 field 670 is modelled by means of an F52 Name Use Activity. It indicates that in the book whose title is Lo Scavo di S. Giovanni di Ruoti ed il periodo tardoantico in Basilicata published in 1983, the name of the centre is given in Italian on the title page (Centro accademico canadese in Italia) and in English on page 6 (Canadian Academic Centre in Italy). Thus this one book exemplifies two distinct F52 Name Use Activities which associate (R63 named) two different E41 Appellations (R64 used name) with the same instance of F11 Corporate Body by means of two instances of F35 Nomen Use Statement. These statements, created using the appropriate cataloguing rules, record the assignment of the identifiers Canadian Academic Centre in Italy (as the preferred form, MARC 21 field 110) and Centro accademico canadese in Italia (as a variant form, MARC 21 field 410) as controlled identifiers for this centre. These controlled access points (instances of F35 Nomen Use Statement within the authority record) are R32 warranted by the F52 Name Use Activity which took place in the 1983 book.

010	__ |a n 85118480
110	2_ |a Canadian Academic Centre in Italy
410	2_ |a Centro accademico canadese in Italia
670	__ |a Lo Scavo di S. Giovanni di Ruoti ed il periodo tardoantico in Basilicata, 1983: |b t.p. (Centro accademico canadese in Italia) p. 6 (Canadian Academic Centre in Italy)

The FRBR_OO model clarifies that multiple bibliographic identities (such as pseudonyms coexisting with real names in different publications) are to be understood as instances of multiple name use by a single F10 Person in different contexts. This permits a new interpretation of the FRAD Person (An individual or a persona or identity established or adopted by an individual or group) as different instances of F52 Name Use Activity of the same person taking place in specific contexts (R61). This insight is simpler than defining personas as classes within the model, as well as being considerably more flexible. The same modelling technique subsumes the apparently different situations of multiple pseudonyms used in different contexts, thereby creating multiple bibliographic identities, and variant forms of names used simultaneously. The cardinality of the relationships between instances of F10 Person and the names that persons use can be one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many (allowing for joint pseudonyms).

Similarly, in FRSAD the basic model indicates that thema is distinct from the nomens used to represent it. In FRBR_OO this is modelled in the same way: F52 Name Use Activity links the statements found in reference sources that attest to the use of a particular name for a particular concept (each of these statements being an instance of F35 Nomen Use Statement in the context of a particular KOS).

In a typical Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) authority record (selected fields shown below), the Thema, as represented by the record number (sh 8507420 in MARC 21 field 010), is associated with the nomen Lamniformes (an instance of F35 Nomen Use Statement). An instance of F52 Name Use Activity is recorded on page 51 of the book Fishes of the world by J.S. Nelson published in 1994 that confirms the use of this term for this thema.

A broader term relationship is stated within LCSH (an instance of a F34 KOS) between this thema and two other themata, this is encoded in the MARC 21 550 fields (code value g in subfield w indicates broader term). This same authority record shows the use of MARC 21 field 053 to encode the assignment of the nomen QL638.94.L36 to this thema, this time within the Library of Congress Classification (LCC).

010	__ |a sh 85074230
053	_0 |a QL638.94.L36 |c Zoology
150	__ |a Lamniformes
550	__ |w g |a Chondrichthyes
550	__ |w g |a Sharks
670	__ |a Nelson, J.S. Fishes of the world, 1994: |b p. 51 (Order Lamniformes (mackerel sharks). Seven families with 10 genera and 16 species)