BC Library Conference 2020

The Bibliographic Framework Initiative (BIBFRAME) is a data model for bibliographic description developed by the Library of Congress to replace the MARC standards. It uses linked data techniques to allow for library data to interoperate with data on the web. It projects to be the default library metadata description and exchange format into the future.

Although initial BIBFRAME development began at the Library of Congress in 2012, it has since developed to include partner organizations across the globe and is now in its second iteration (BIBFRAME 2.0). Along with RDA and IFLA-LRM, it will form the foundation of library cataloguing standards and practice in the coming years.

In spite of all of this activity, only a few libraries have begun to use BIBFRAME in a production environment. It remains the domain of LC and a few other early adopters and is not available for deployment in most library systems. However, BIBFRAME is already having an effect on the copy cataloguing landscape that all libraries depend on.

This presentation will situate the audience to the current state of BIBFRAME and its development (including who is currently using it). It will discuss the essential parts of the BIBFRAME data model and the major differences between it and MARC. The presentation will then shift focus to practicalities and ask questions such as: what is my ILS vendor doing about it and how soon can I use it in my ILS system? How has BIBFRAME effected the copy cataloguing landscape and what kind of effects will we continue to see? And when does my institution need to think about training for BIBFRAME? Finally, a critical lens will be placed on the BIBFRAME model and its development and investigate whether BIBFRAME is as great a leap forward as it purports to be.