Historical Overview of Information Organization AKA - The �From Tablets to FRBR� Lecture

LS 500 Lecture 3 Historical Overview of Information Organization AKA - The “From Tablets to FRBR” Lecture Steven L. MacCall, Ph.D. Associate Professor School of Library and Information Studies The University of Alabama

Library and Information-type Work
Undertaken through much of human history.
Information packages of various types, e.g.:
Tablets
Papyrus (scrolls)
Books (codex)
Periodicals
Web and other networked resources

Societal Problems with Info Packages
Stuff (i.e., information packages) piles up over time .
Stuff proliferates over time :
A work can “morph” (e.g., Plato’s Republic )
Translations
Editions
Formats, such as audio books and movies
Commentaries
Facilitating effective and efficient access to all this “stuff” can be very expensive for society.

Tension in User Needs – Cutter Revisited
To find a book when one of the following is known (a known item search):
Author name
Title
Subject
To show what the library has (a collocating search):
By an author
On a subject
In a genre of literature
To assist in the choice of a book:
Bibliographically (i.e., edition, format, etc)
Character (i.e., literary or topical)

Cutter Objective 1: Finding Known Items
Situation: Users know the exact item that they want.
Problem: How to locate OR relocate items that users know are in your pile of information packages.
Solution for libraries: Cutter’s Finding Objective.
Parameters for addressing problem depend on category of user:
Experienced users (e.g., scholars)
Inexperienced users
A relatively inexpensive service (i.e., minimal cataloging required to meet objective).

Cutter Objective 2: Collocating
Situation: Users want to find out what is available in pile.
Problem: How to determine what is held.
Solution in libraries: The Collocating Objective.
Parameters for addressing problem depend on category of question:
Author search
Subject search
A relatively expensive service:
Requires detailed cataloging and codification of cataloging rules
Approach serves ALL users, not just those who know what they want

Tension in Library Use: Summarized
We must balance the needs of all library users:
Those who know the exact item that they want
Those who only know the author, subject, etc of those items that they want
We must minimize expense:
Therefore, we codified practices and
Share cataloging records
Historical precedent – Panizzi in mid 19 th century Great Britain:
Made the case for detailed cataloging and subject analysis
Produced the first cataloging code: The 91 Rules.

What about Bibliothecal Practices?
Term for the physical layout (“shelf arrangement”) of a set of information packages.
Information packages are themselves collocated according to a criterion.

What is Collocation? (Full Definition)
Bringing physical information packages together in a systematic way according to a criterion:
Shelf arrangement following a classification scheme (“classified shelf arrangement”)
Useful for browsing information packages directly
Retrieving surrogate records in a systematic way according to a criterion:
Catalog cards – author, subject, title
Stored as database records – OPAC

Why Surrogate Record Collocation?
Overcomes limitations of physical information packages:
Can only be in one place at a time
Expensive to buy multiple copies
Enhances access to information packages:
Cataloging cards can be replicated to create multiple access points (e.g., author, subject, title)
Surrogates in computerized catalogs can provide many more opportunities for access points

Historical Notes on Libraries
Up until the latter part of the 19 th century (1876), libraries largely maintained closed stacks.
Open stacks became part of the legacy of American libraries (people’s university and literacy issues).
Standard classifications schemes, such as the DDC, began to emerge to provide criterion for systematic shelf arrangement across libraries.

Purposes of Classification
Effective for both physical information package arrangement on library shelves and surrogate arrangement in library catalogs.
Holistic (i.e. “universal”) view of knowledge provides the basis for systematic organization.
“ Serendipity.”

Historical Aspects of Classification
Trivium and Quadrivium:
Met the needs of medieval educators
Holistic view of what was known (and expected to be known)
In pre modern period (before 1876), there was little standardization across libraries.
In Modern period (post 1876) standard practices emerged:
DDC: Melvyl Dewey (1876) at Amherst College
LCC: Hanson and Martel (1898) at LC
UDC: LaFontain and Otlet (1905) in Brussels

Classification Advances by Modernists
Enumeration of knowledge at significant hierarchical depths that had not been previously attempted.
Overcame limitations of pure hierarchical classification by introducing “non essential” (i.e., non knowledge-based) attributes:
Form (e.g., dictionary, serial, anthology):
Topical aspects (e.g., methodology, geography, chronology)
Development of notational systems.

Types of Catalogs
Classified catalogs:
Primarily used in Europe where most libraries have closed stacks
Surrogates display with classified arrangement for indirect access
Each information package has multiple surrogate records reflecting multiply assigned classified positions
Dictionary (alphabetic) catalog:
Primarily used in U.S. where most libraries have open stacks
Surrogates displayed alphabetically for direct access
Classification was left to the shelf arrangement scheme

Recent History: FRBR: What Entities are in the Bibliographic Universe?
Items? Traditional cataloging is on an item-by-item basis.
Cutter’s third objective not well served by this approach:
To assist in the choice of a book:
Bibliographically (i.e., edition, format, etc)
FRBR: Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records

Problem with Item-by-Item Cataloging
Bibliographic relationships among items are not displayed in the catalog:
Translations
Editions
Formats, such as audio books and movies
Commentaries
The advent of computerized catalogs provided opportunity to advance cataloging theory.
FRBR approach results the display related catalog records:
Example of “FRBRized” display
Another example

Essential Features of FRBR
FRBR is a conceptual model that specifies those entities and their relationships that exist in the bibliographic universe.
Four types of entities are:
Works
Expressions
Manifestations
Items
These entity types are linked by relationships.

FRBR Model Overview

Work/Expression Relationship
Works are abstract:
the conceptual content of an information package
the story being told
the ideas in people’s heads
Works are realized through expressions:
Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (work) may have multiple expressions in various languages
For example,
e1 – The original English text
e2 – A Spanish translation by Thomas Smith

Possible Modes of Expression
Alpha-numeric (i.e., textually).
Music notation.
Other notation (e.g., choreography).
Sound.
Images.
3-D objects.

Expression/Manifestation Relationship
Expressions are also abstract, i.e., they are still conceptual. Therefore, expressions must manifest in some physical medium.
Expressions are embodied in manifestations:
Bach’s Goldberg Variations (work) as performed by Glen Gould in 1981 (expression) may have multiple manifestations
For example,
m1 – Recording released on 33 1/3 rpm sound disc in 1982 by CBS Records
m2 – Recording released on compact disc in 1993 by Sony

Manifestation/Item Relationship
An item is a single exemplar of a manifestation.
Manifestations are exemplified by items.
m2 – Recording released on compact disc in 1993 by Sony
i1 – First copy held by Gorgas Library
i2 – Second copy held by Gorgas Library

FRBR Model Overview

FRBR Entity Levels Work: Expression: Manifestation: Paper PDF HTML Item: Copy 1 Autographed Copy 2 Family of works The Novel Orig. Text Transl. Critical Edition The Movie Orig. Version

Impact of FRBR
Expression and manifestation collocation helps users to see what a library has related to a given work.
Data from WorldCat:
78% of records represent “elemental” works each having a single manifestation
16% of records represent “simple” works each having a single expression with multiple manifestations
6% of records represent “complex” works each having a multiple expression with multiple manifestations.
Complex works represent an empirically derived list of canonical works.

Same Expression New Expression Family of Works courtesy of Barbara Tillet New Work B. Tillett Dec. 2001

Summary
Library history is replete with examples about the problem of the overabundance of information packages.
Codified practices and standardized tools help the LIS profession to provide effective and efficient services to society.

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Historical Overview of Information Organization AKA - The �From Tablets to FRBR� Lecture

by Steven MacCall on Jan 12, 2007

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