The Work in Question

Abstract

The International Conference on Cataloging Principles (Paris, 1961) led to wide acceptance of Seymour Lubetzky’s distinction between books and works, where books denoted particular physical objects and works concerned conceptual abstractions associated with the creative labor of particular authors. Lubetzky’s formulation of works is included in many of the world’s cataloging frameworks, including the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR). Several conceptual and practical difficulties arise from the widespread adoption of Lubetzkian works in practices associated with knowledge organization. However, FRBR and other knowledge organization frameworks that utilize works as central entities could be made more useable and useful if work, as an organizing principle, were de-emphasized and seen as one among many concepts used for aggregating sets and supersets of objects according to how likely they are to be useful to users of knowledge organization tools like catalogs.