Experimenting with implementing FRBR in a Chinese Koha system

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide broad overviews of functional requirements for bibliographic records (FRBR) in the context of Chinese machine-readable cataloguing (CMARC). It examines areas of the FRBR model, FRBR system development, FRBR applications and FRBR research.

Design/methodology/approach

A Chinese Koha_LibFRBR testbed was set up to develop three activities: building a FRBR application function library called LibFRBR to maintain FRBRized bibliographic records, implementing a mapping algorithm between CMARC/MARC 21 and FRBR, and designing a new generation Chinese FRBR Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) user interface.

Findings

The pilot system implementation demonstrates a workable process with useful output using both automated means (through a Perl module) and manual means (through a cataloguing interface (CI)). The study shows that existing poor Relator Code system and the maintenance of very little authority data in libraries in Taiwan are disadvantages in utilizing the FRBR model.

Practical implications

The software modules developed by this research have been released in GitHub through Koha-Taiwan distributed with a General Public License for further application within the Koha community.

Originality/value

The concrete research outcomes include: providing workable practices for CMARC coding information in FRBR, developing FRBRization of Chinese Koha library management systems, developing FRBR tools including LibFRBR, an application function library used to convert bibliographic records into FRBRized structures in Koha, and FRBR CI for library cataloguers and providing a preliminary evaluation on the views of library cataloguers and OPAC users.

Citation

Chang, N., Tsai, Y., Dunsire, G. and Hopkinson, A. (2013), "Experimenting with implementing FRBR in a Chinese Koha system", Library Hi Tech News, Vol. 30 No. 10, pp. 10-20. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHTN-09-2013-0054