Abstract
ABSTRACTTwo studies in connection with the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) conceptual model are presented. While the model is based on experiences of experts, it is yet to have been tested in practice. The first study is an expert evaluation of two FRBR-based prototypes, FictionFinder and LibraryLabs, that took place in January 2007. It found that FRBR facilitates better catalogue displays, however there are still problems with identification of FRBR entities. The second study is a study of mental models of the bibliographic universe, which is the first published study of its kind. It consisted of three tasks: cards sorting, concept mapping and comparison task. It was conducted on 30 participants from the Ljubljana area in the period between July 2007 and February 2008. Results show that there is not a single mental model of the bibliographic universe. Different individuals generally have different mental models and these generally differ from the FRBR model. Also, individuals’ mental models changed with the task. The more participants interacted with the bibliographic universe, the more FRBR-like their models became. Hovever, on average mental models were found to be FRBR-like.