PCC and the BIBFRAME Model

The Program for Cooperative Cataloging and the Library of Congress Support BIBFRAME for Moving the Library Community into the Linked Data Environment

December 9, 2021

The Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) is committed to paving the way for its institutional membership to engage in linked data creation, manipulation, and use. The PCC's use of RDA—Resource Description & Access is dependent on adopting a framework that better accommodates linking of data elements and has the potential for integration with Semantic Web technologies.

With help, input, and support from a variety of groups and institutions, the Library of Congress (LC) is leading the development of BIBFRAME, a linked data model designed to replace the MARC Formats. LC will use BIBFRAME for its own cataloging but will also provide MARC-format cataloging derived from BIBFRAME during the period of transition.

Information about the BIBFRAME model, including events, tools, and the current version of the vocabulary is available on LC's BIBFRAME website and implementers are encouraged to submit issues to an LC-maintained GitHub repository for problems with or questions about the ontology. Documents of interest to PCC members are listed on the BIBFRAME and the PCC webpage. In addition, LC's Linked Data Service provides access to LC cataloging data, ontologies, and controlled vocabularies for use with BIBFRAME and other linked data models.

The PCC will continue collaborating with LC and the international BIBFRAME community to develop production-level support, including training, for the standard as it continues to mature. Using the BIBFRAME tools created by LC and community partners, PCC libraries can experiment with, learn about, and contribute to the ongoing development and implementation of BIBFRAME. With the goal of broad adoption of BIBFRAME for cataloging, LC and the PCC invite PCC members and the wider library community to follow and participate in the continued rollout of BIBFRAME and its integration into library workflows and the larger linked data sphere.