D.H.-L. Goh et al. (Eds.): ICADL 2007, LNCS 4822, pp. 487–492, 2007. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007 Functional Requirements for Subject Authority Records (FRSAR): A Conceptual Model of Aboutness Maja Žumer 1 , Athena Salaba 2 , and Marcia Lei Zeng 2 1 University of Ljubljana, Slovenia University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts Askerceva 2, 1000 Ljubljana Slovenia {Maja.Zumer}@nuk.uni-lj.si 2 Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA 314 Library, PO Box 5190, Kent, Ohio 44224, USA {asalaba,mzeng}@kent.edu Abstract. Provides a brief overview of the activities of the IFLA Functional Requirements for Subject Authority Records (FRSAR) working group. Introduces the group’s terms of reference and the work completed so far, including definitions of user tasks and subject entities. Discusses the development of the entity-relationship conceptual model of subject entities in the bibliographic universe. Keywords: FRSAR, IFLA, subject access, knowledge organization systems (KOS), conceptual model, subject authority data, subject authority records. 1 Background IFLA’s Working Group on the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) 1 developed an entity-relationship conceptual model of the bibliographic universe [1]. The working group began with identifying essential user tasks and then defining the relevant entities, their attributes, and relationships. The basic elements of the FRBR model are the result of a logical analysis undertaken by members of the Study Group of the data typically reflected in bibliographic records. The entities are divided into three groups: • Group 1 consists of four entities that are the product of intellectual or artistic endeavors: work, expression, manifestation, and item. • Group 2 consists of entities that are actors, those who are responsible for the intellectual or artistic content, the physical production and dissemination, or the custodianship, of Group 1 entities: person, corporate body • Group 3 consists of entities that serve as subjects of intellectual or artistic endeavor. 1 IFLA WG on Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR), http://www.ifla. org/ VII/s13/wgfrbr/finalreport.htm