BIBFRAME at the Doorstep

Lehigh University Libraries adopted the Open Source LSP, FOLIO, in August of 2020. While FOLIO was conceived to be “format agnostic”, the MARC format, in conjunction with a “FOLIO” format have been the main carriers of bibliographic information so far. Since the Library of Congress’ decision to migrate to FOLIO was made in 2022, software development for cataloging in BIBFRAME within the FOLIO environment has sped up tremendously. In fact, by the Spring of 2024 the Library of Congress’ BIBFRAME editor, MARVA, will be released in alpha as part of FOLIO.
Now that this long-time theoretical model is becoming more of a reality at Lehigh University, the need for a deeper and pragmatic understanding of BIBFRAME is necessary. Before creating a roadmap for transitioning to BIBFRAME we first need to learn where we want to go and if we want to go there: Will BIBFRAME contribute to our institutional goals and if so how? What benefits could the BIBFRAME model bring to our libraries and the people we serve? If it is what we want, what is the minimum criteria we need to see from a BIBFRAME community for a successful adoption? Finally, even if we do not have those minimum criteria at the moment, what can we do with our data now that will be immediately beneficial to our users but also serve for an easier possible conversion in the future?
This presentation is an opportunity to share with the library community these early considerations that we at Lehigh University are fortunate to have the opportunity to face closely and investigate. The information in the presentation will be informed by experience working with the FOLIO community as subject matter experts in FOLIO’s development and hands-on testing of the MARVA editor in FOLIO. Interviews and discussions with members of the LD4P community as well as readings and webcast viewings have been valuable sources of information and will continue to be. Finally, Lehigh started a year-long pilot with Share-VDE. Our involvement with the SHARE-VDE community and their BIBFRAME catalog will give insight into how our current MARC data works in a BIBFRAME environment that will, among other lessons, help us prepare our MARC records for conversion.