British Library
last data update: 2020-11-26
number of records: 18,787,911
Functional analysis
Management: Process
Process a record, segment, field, or data element (i.e., to add, delete, replace, output, etc. a logical data component by means of an automated process).
y: number of records
x: number of data elements supporting the function available in a record
Search for a resource corresponding to stated criteria (i.e., to search either a
single entity or a set of entities using an attribute or relationship of the entity as the search criteria).
Identify a resource (i.e., to confirm that the entity described or located corresponds
to the entity sought, or to distinguish between two or more entities with similar characteristics).
Select a resource that is appropriate to the user’s needs (i.e., to choose an entity
that meets the user’s requirements with respect to content, physical format, etc., or to reject an entity
as being inappropriate to the user’s needs).
Access a resource either physically or electronically through an online connection to
a remote computer, and/or acquire a resource through purchase, licence, loan, etc.
Control access to or use of a resource (i.e., to restrict access to and/or use of an
entity on the basis of proprietary rights, administrative policy, etc.).
Operate a resource (i.e., to open, display, play, activate, run, etc. an entity that
requires specialized equipment, software, etc. for its operation).
Process a record, segment, field, or data element (i.e., to add, delete, replace,
output, etc. a logical data component by means of an automated process).
Display a field or data element (i.e., to display a field or data element with the
appropriate print constant or as a tracing).
The Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) document's main part defines the primary and
secondary entities which became famous as FRBR models. Years later Tom Delsey created a mapping
between the 12 functions and the individual MARC elements.
Tom Delsey (2002)
Functional analysis of the MARC 21 bibliographic and holdings formats. Tech. report,
Library of Congress, 2002. Prepared for the Network Development and MARC Standards Office Library of Congress.
Second Revision: September 17, 2003.
https://www.loc.gov/marc/marc-functional-analysis/original_source/analysis.pdf.
This page shows how these functions are supported by the records. The horizontal axis show the strength of
the support: something on the left means that support is low so only small portion of the fields support a
function are available in the records, something on the right means the support is strength. The bars
represents a range of values. The vertical axis shows the number of records having values in the same range.
It is experimental because it turned out, that the the mapping covers about 2000 elements (fields, subfields,
indicatiors etc.), however on an average record there are max several hundred elements, which results that even
in the best record has about 10-15% of the totality of the elements supporting a given function. So the tool
doesn't shows you exact numbers, and the scale is not 0-100 but 0-[best score] which is different for every
catalogue.