 Barbara B. Tillett, Ph.D. Barbara Ann Barnett Tillett Chief, Cataloging Policy & Support Office Library of Congress 101 Independence Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20540-4305 btil@loc.gov Introduction Barbara Tillett was born in Galveston, Texas on September 29, 1946. She received her Bachelors degree in Math from Old Dominion College in Norfolk, Virginia in 1968, her Masters of Library Science degree from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu in 1970, and her Ph.D. from the University of California in Los Angeles in 1987. She joined the Library of Congress in 1994 and held various positions including her current position as chief of Cataloging Policy and Support Office. Her previous work includes integrating two library systems at the University of California at San Diego. This experience lead to her chairing the Library of Congress’ Shelflist Task Group in 1995, which then led to her Arthur S. Flemming Award in 2001. She is also currently a member of the editorial board of Advances in Librarianship and Cataloging & Classification Quarterly. Achievements • Tillett managed the project that brought the Library of Congress’ catalog to the Internet. • She is a major contributor to the concept of Functional Requirements and Numbering for Bibliographic Records (FRBR), which will effect the construction of RDA, OCLC, and future concepts of authority control. • She has also contributed to the formation of the Semantic Web and librarians' place in it. Awards She received the Arthur S. Flemming Award in 2001 from the Library of Congress for her work in the implementation of Endeavor’s Voyager system. This system helped the Library of Congress obtain an Integrated Library System (ILS) that allows the library to provide integrated automatic functions for acquisitions, cataloging, serials management, circulation services and providing 12.5 million bibliographic records for the Library’s online catalog. In short, the project converted the 3x5 inch cards that have been part of the Library’s manual cataloging files. This was no small effort on Tillett’s part; she managed 85 implementation teams consisting of 560 Library of Congress staffers. Other awards of note include: • Distinguished Service Award and Library of Congress’ Meritorious Service Award. On Sanford Berman & Subject Heading Reform • On August 9, 2006, the website Library Juice posted an interview with Barbara Tillett on being portrayed as a “heel dragging bureaucrat and defender of the old guard”. • Tillett feels that Berman’s techniques for reform are “coercive”, “hostile”, and “counterproductive”. • Berman’s response can be found in an essay written for Radical Cataloging: Essays at the Front that just came out in 2008. Interesting Facts about Tillett • Elaine Svenonius was her Ph.D. advisor and is an active colleague. • She has worked toward a future goal of international cataloging rules and spoken with editors in Germany, Italy, Russia and Australia. • In 1969/70, she worked on the first Tsunami Document Retrieval System with IBM (a microfilmed database with a keyword index to tsunami research). Links For further information on FRBR, please refer to the Library of Congress' free brochure on "What is FRBR?" by Barbara Tillett and the final report of IFLA Study Group on FRBR found here. For information on RDA, please refer to our class readings here for a PDF and here for the text accompanying the PDF. | What IS FRBR? (for the FRBR blog, go here) • FRBR stands for “Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records”. (Print-oriented) • It is a conceptual model to improve the product of cataloging records as well as the process of cataloging and the technology of catalogs. • Essentially, it is an attempt to simplify the complex world of cataloging. • Based on the entity (thing)-attribute (a characteristic of a thing or relationship)-relationship (an interaction between entities) model of analysis. • An update on the Paris Principles through the evolution of Cutter’s Objects.  What FRBR is NOT? • FRBR is not a set of rules or an international standard or data model or metadata scheme. • It is not a system design for online catalogs. • A fluffy, creepy toy that learns how to speak English by imitating your every move.What are entities? Group 1: • Work (an original creation) • Expression (realization of a work in sound, writing, image) • Manifestation (physical embodiment of expression of work) • Item (object like a monograph or DVD) Group 2: • Person • Corporate Body Group 3: • Concept • Objects • Event • Place What are attributes? • Title of work • Form of work • Date of work What are relationships? • Abridgment/condensation • Adaptation • Complement (like choreography) • Imitation (parody, travesty) • Reproductions/facsimile • Successor/sequel • Summarization/digest/abstract • Supplement/index/appendix • Transformation (dramatization, novelization, screenplay) • Whole/part (table of contents, volume/issue, illustrations/text) User Tasks: 1. To find entities that correspond with user’s stated search criteria 2. To identify an entity 3. To select an entity that is appropriate to the user’s needs 4. To acquire or obtain access to the entity described |