FRBRFRBRLRM

FRBRFRBRLRM is not a formal standard but an informal term used in library science to refer to the combined study, comparison, and potential integration of two influential bibliographic models: FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records) and the FRBR Library Reference Model (FRBR-LRM). The term is commonly used in discussions about interoperability, data mapping, and model alignment across cataloging standards and metadata schemes.

FRBR, introduced in the 1990s by the IFLA, organizes bibliographic description around four entity types—Work, Expression, Manifestation, and Item—and defines a set of relationships among them to support user tasks such as finding, identifying, selecting, and obtaining resources. FRBR-LRM, published as a successor and refinement, revises the conceptual framework to address practical use in digital environments, clarifying entity roles and relations and aligning more closely with linked data practices and modern metadata schemas. FRBR-LRM emphasizes user tasks and the relationships among entities, agents, and subjects in a more explicit model.

In practice, proponents of FRBRFRBRLRM examine how to map FRBR's Group 1 and Group 2 structures to LRM's constructs, to enable smoother data exchange between catalogs that implement different models, and to support modernization efforts in cataloging workflows and schemas such as MARC, BIBFRAME, and RDA. Critics note the complexity of dual-model interoperability and the resource requirements of adopting such mappings, particularly for legacy data. The term FRBRFRBRLRM thus signals ongoing conversations about harmonizing or transitioning between FRBR-era thinking and the FRBR-LRM framework.