Hearn, review of FRBR: Hype or Cure-All?
Stephen Hearn reviewed FRBR: Hype or Cure-All? (the special FRBR issue of Cataloging & Classification Quarterly edited by Patrick Le Boeuf) in Library Resources and Technical Services 50: 3, July 2006. He concludes, “The volume under review does a good job of bringing to the surface many of the issues being debated in the FRBR discussion… Perhaps the best answer to the question posed in the volume’s subtitle is that FRBR is neither hype nor cure-all, but still a work in progress.”
I think this is a very important point, but I wonder/worry—how much progress is occurring with the work?
The FRBR report was published nearly 10 years ago. Since then, there have been no ammendments, modifications, or updates. I’m not sure how much practical experimentation with the FRBR model has been done to guide any (only hypothetical at this point) progress either.
It worries me.
Comment by Jonathan — 26 September 2006 @ 10:42 amVery timely previous comment — see the next posting on this blog for an opportunity to comment on the first amendment proposal to FRBR itself.
However, amendments to FRBR itself is not the only way for developments to occur. Work on FRAR is a major extension to the model, although it will be published as a separate document .( The work on FRSAR which began in 2005 is another. Also a separate document will be the FRBR
/CRM harmonization in an object-oriented formulation.
FRBR is a conceptual model, and as such one would not expect that it should have frequent changes and modifications. Unlike MARC21 which has some additions or changes every year. Actually most ISO standards (ISBN, ISSN etc.) also have extended periods of stability, otherwise it would be impossible to implement them.
Comment by Pat Riva — 1 October 2006 @ 8:56 pm