Blacksburg, VA - VTLS is proud to announce that it is pushing ahead with its FRBR implementation by adding several new features to its FRBR software in Release 42 of Virtua ILS - Integrated Library System.

It is now possible to convert a traditional MARC record to the FRBR format with the click of a single button. The basic FRBR record consists of three entities - work, expression and manifestation. In addition, item records (holding records) may be attached to the manifestation. Virtua also creates a tree display structure for the FRBR record. Automatic duplicate control and linking at the work and expression levels is also built into the software. Thus, if a traditional MARC record is being converted to FRBR using the single click method, the software will attach the newly created manifestation to an expression if it already exists or an expression to a work if it already exists. This functionality makes the task of creating FRBR records a simple task.

This winter, The Universite Catholique de Louvain (UCL) in Belgium became the first university library in the world to commit to a production FRBR catalog. Charles-Henri Nyns, Chief Librarian at the UCL library said, "FRBR certainly is an exciting development and the implementation in Virtua is more than convincing. The FRBR training provided by VTLS was extremely useful. It is now our intention to go live with FRBR very soon."

UCL will be maintaining a "mixed" catalog including some FRBR records and others in the traditional format. Both record types will exist in the same database and may be accessed with a single search. The Virtua FRBR software will automatically detect the type of record (FRBR or non-FRBR) in order to display it accordingly.

Using OAI as an underlying methodology, UCL participates in a union catalog project called UNICAT. This participation requires UCL to submit all their records in the traditional MARC format. "We have requested that VTLS produce a un-FRBRize module so that we can continue to participate in the UNICAT project," said Mr. Nyns.

In order to facilitate UCL's transition to FRBR, VTLS Inc. has created a comprehensive document entitled "FRBR Cataloging User's Guide."

"We are bringing the benefits of FRBR from catalogers to users," said Dr. Vinod Chachra, President of VTLS Inc. "The FRBR OPAC is certainly more user friendly than a traditional OPAC as it brings all related materials together in a unified display. The Virtua Circulation sub-system now allows users to place holds at all three levels - work, expression and manifestation making it easier for users to request any edition of a single work or any manifestation of a single expression."

The same software logic used to do the FRBR record-by-record conversion mentioned above has been implemented by VTLS in a batch module. VTLS has acquired the Library of Congress Music database and, as a research project, is now running a FRBR conversion of all these records. Individuals interested in this research effort should contact John Espley, Chief Librarian at VTLS for information and participation.

About VTLS Inc.

VTLS Inc. (www.vtls.com) is an ISO 9001 registered company. With over 25 years of experience creating smarter libraries, museums, archives and corporations, VTLS Inc. is an international leader in integrated library automation, digital imaging services and RFID technology. VTLS Inc. solutions include Virtua ILS - Integrated Library Systems, Visual MIS - Multimedia and Imaging Solutions and Vista CPS - Companion Product Suite. VTLS is a corporate member of the American Library Association, a voting member of NISO, and a charter member and sponsor of CNI. A diverse customer base of more than 900 libraries located in 32 countries gives VTLS a global perspective of the industry and compels the company to abide by strict international standards.