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The Library of Congress is pleased to report that we have reached two important milestones with respect to our Bibliographic Framework Initiative: the introduction of a draft data model for web-based bibliographic description and a first meeting of a small group of early experimenters currently exploring the feasibility of the proposed model. The new model is simply called BIBFRAME, short for Bibliographic Framework.

The model document is a high-level view of the BIBFRAME model - a primer. Although the model is a draft and expected to change, we want to share it now with the community not only so that you are informed of progress being made but also to engender conversation and constructive feedback. The URL for the document Bibliographic Framework as a Web of Data: Linked Data Model and Supporting Services is: http://www.loc.gov/marc/transition/pdf/marcld-report-11-21-2012.pdf.

 

As the document states in its introduction, much remains to be done, but it is important to remember that this model, like MARC, must be able to accommodate any number of content models and specific implementations of the broader information community, but still enable data exchange between libraries.

 

Our second milestone was partnering with six organizations to join us in testing and experimenting with this new model. We call these organizations the Early Experimenters and they are: British Library, Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, George Washington University, National Library of Medicine, OCLC, and Princeton University -- and of course LC. We met in Washington, DC for two days in October and since then we have all be investigating how past and future data might fit into the model. After a follow-up meeting in December, they have agreed to share the experience and results with the wider community with the expectation it will stimulate broader explorations. The Library of Congress will be doing the same, on both counts.

 

To that end we are again planning an update session at ALA in Seattle. It will be on Sunday, January 27, 2013 (10:30-12:00, in the Conference Center of the Washington Convention Center, Room 304).
Sally McCallum
Beacher Wiggins