BIBFRAME Interoperability Group One Year Update

Abstract

The international BIBFRAME Interoperability Group (BIG) was initiated by the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) with the goal to "work collaboratively on the development and maintenance of interoperable BIBFRAME data guidelines to support production level implementation, to address issues restricting interoperability, and to inform development of associated toolings and infrastructure." (BIBFRAME Interoperability Group charge, April 15, 2022). The idea originated at the PCC BIBFRAME Data Exchange Meeting (September 2021), where the participants identified different implementation decisions of the BIBFRAME ontology as major obstacles to successful BIBFRAME data exchange. The conclusion was reached that an international group was needed to continue the conversation in this area. BIG officially took up its work in June 2022. In its first year of existence, BIG reviewed the output of several related working groups, conducted a BIBFRAME implementation survey and analyzed the results, helped organize the 2022 Linked Data Summit held at the Library of Congress in November 2022, and developed a work plan in response to the recommendations from the Summit. This work plan outlines four working areas: 1) defining a standard BIBFRAME "shape" necessary for data exchange utilizing PCC data and standards as a starting point; 2) creating recommendations that are readable by both technical staff and librarians (preferably only necessitating updates to be made in one place); 3) codifying the interoperability scope; and 4) documenting best practices for technical aspects of BIBFRAME interchange as identified through the work of the group and sharing with consultants for testing and validation of assumptions. This poster presentation will first introduce the BIBFRAME Interoperability Group, including its charge, governance, and membership as well as the process for assembling this group. It will then go over the work plan, focusing on sharing our experience with using DC Tabular Application Profiles (DC TAP) and generating SHACL representation of the application profile. Lastly, the presentation will outline the next steps that BIG is planning to take, including determining patterns from concrete use cases to anchor what practical value the various profile decisions stem from.