University at Albany, State University of New York Scholars Archive Information Science Theses and Dissertations Information Science 2017 Music Social Tagging as a Validation Tool for the FRBR Conceptual Model Kabel Nathan Stanwicks University at Albany, State University of New York, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/dis_etd Part of the Library and Information Science Commons Recommended Citation Stanwicks, Kabel Nathan, "Music Social Tagging as a Validation Tool for the FRBR Conceptual Model" (2017). Information Science Theses and Dissertations. 1. https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/dis_etd/1 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Information Science at Scholars Archive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Information Science Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholars Archive. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MUSIC SOCIAL TAGGING AS A VALIDATION TOOL FOR THE FRBR CONCEPTUAL MODEL by Kabel Nathan Stanwicks A Thesis Submitted to the University at Albany, State University of New York in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science College of Engineering and Applied Sciences Department of Information Science 2017 Music Social Tagging as a Validation Tool for the FRBR Conceptual Model by Kabel Nathan Stanwicks COPYRIGHT 2017 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... iv Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 Literature Review .................................................................................................................. 2 Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records ....................................................................2 Social Tagging and Controlled Vocabularies .............................................................................. 34 Music Domain Resources ............................................................................................................ 63 Study Methodology ............................................................................................................. 75 Study Results and Discussion ............................................................................................... 80 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 95 General Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 95 Study strengths ........................................................................................................................... 96 Study limitations ......................................................................................................................... 96 Future research possibilities ....................................................................................................... 96 References .......................................................................................................................... 98 Appendices ....................................................................................................................... 107 Appendix A: Song Sample ........................................................................................................ 107 Appendix B: Content Analysis Dictionary for Tag Coding ....................................................... 109 Appendix C: Tag Mapping Counts by Song Title ..................................................................... 124 iii Abstract The International Federation of Library Associations developed its Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) without performing user testing to ensure that the model would meet the needs of professionals and users. Analyzing user-generated social tags in relation to FRBR entities and attributes will help determine if the layperson describes objects in a manner that conforms to the FRBR conceptual model. Number one songs from the weekly Billboard Hot 100 charts from 1958 through 2013 were randomly sampled, tags associated with the sampled songs were pulled from the last.fm Web site, and tags were analyzed to determine their relation to FRBR entities and attributes. A percentage of tags map to FRBR entities, validating those entities’ place in the model. User tags that do not map to a FRBR entities shed light on additional means for resource access and discovery, as well as potential issues to consider should the FRBR conceptual model be revised in the future. Keywords: Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records, social tagging, information organization, music iv Introduction The International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) developed its Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) conceptual model in 1998. Due to both time constraints and financial constraints, leading experts developed the model without performing user testing with library professionals or library users to ensure that the model would meet the needs of professionals and users alike. Nearly twenty years after FRBR was published, information professionals and scholars continue to struggle with the concepts presented in, and the implementation of, the FRBR conceptual model. Few researchers have sought to examine the degree to which the FRBR conceptual model aligns with users’ mental models. Developing an understanding of how these intersect can aid in validating the FRBR model, designing search and discovery interfaces, and developing metadata standards that meet users’ needs. Can social tagging provide valuable insight into how the layperson categorizes Web resources and objects? Do user-generated tags conform to the FRBR conceptual model? Can social tagging assist information professionals in understanding ideas and concepts that people associate with, and use to describe, objects? Analyzing user-generated social tags in relation to FRBR entities and attributes can help determine if the layperson describes objects in a manner that conforms to the FRBR conceptual model. This study examines the extent to which user- generated tags for sound recordings map to the FRBR model, and with which FRBR attributes user-generated tags align. This study’s results help validate portions of the FRBR conceptual model, suggest improvements to the FRBR model, and provide recommendations for improving music resource description. 1 Literature Review Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records The FRBR study’s purpose—and subsequently FRBR’s purpose—was “to produce a framework that would provide a clear, precisely-stated, and commonly-shared understanding of what it is that the bibliographic record aims to provide information about, and what it is that we expect the record to achieve in terms of answering user needs (IFLA Study Group on the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records [IFLA], 2008).” FRBR’s two main objectives were to establish a framework to connect bibliographic record data to users’ needs for those records, and to recommend basic functionality for bibliographic records that are created by national bibliographic organizations (IFLA, 2008). Tillett (2005) describes FRBR as “a conceptual model of the bibliographic universe.” Tillett (2005) goes on to explain that FRBR is needed to improve users’ abilities to navigate the bibliographic universe, and to provide data interoperability to libraries, museums, and other information organizations to enable these organizations to share their descriptive metadata. What came out of the FRBR study group is an entity-relationship model for what Albertsen and van Nuys (2005) refer to as real-world objects, as opposed to object descriptions. The FRBR model consists of three entity categories: Work, Expression, Manifestation, and Item entities are categorized as Group 1 entities; Name entities are categorized as Group 2 entities; and Subject entities are categorized as Group 3 entities (Figure 1). FRBR outlines four user tasks—find, identify, select, and obtain—for bibliographic records. Patton (2005) explains that there are four user tasks related to authorities records (i.e., name and subject entities) within FRBR—find, identify, contextualize, and justify. Le Boeuf (2005a) explains that Lubetzky and Ranganathan developed concepts that were FRBR-esque, and Heany and Serrai had object-oriented concepts that are also pre-cursors to FRBR; however, 2 the FRBR model has momentum where these other concepts did not because FRBR is backed by IFLA. Figure 1: FRBR Entity-Relationship Model Machine Readable Cataloging records, or MARC records, allowed libraries to separate some of the bibliographic record’s components, and the FRBR model takes this even further by using an entity-relationship model (Howarth, 2012). Taylor (2007) explains that the FRBR model entities are divided into three groups, provides an overview of the FRBR model’s entities and attributes, and includes detailed definitions and examples of each entity. Group 1 entities (i.e., Work, Expression, Manifestation, and Item) are the “products of intellectual or artistic endeavor;” Group 2 entities (i.e., Person, Corporate Body) are those “responsible for content, production, or custodianship of Group 1 entities;” and Group 3 entities (i.e.,