ABSTRACT

From the time of the earliest catalogs documenting private collections, to the present proliferation of repositories of material and digital objects, the bibliographic record as an aggregation of logical and physical characteristics of a resource has prevailed. The development of the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) conceptual model introduced a shift in focus away from the record as a whole to component pieces of data (or disaggregated data) where those data elements have the potential to be shared and used in diverse, even novel ways. Tim Berners-Lee’s “rules” underlying the Open Linked Data Project offer an opportunity for FRBR-compliant, quality bibliographic data to be exposed to the digital universe via the Semantic Web. Context and potential for seizing this advantage are explored.