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OCLC Support

Prepare your BIBFRAME data

Discover the specifications and guidelines for BIBFRAME data.

Overview

In data sync collections, you can submit BIBFRAME version 2.3.0 data to be processed in a Bibliographic or Delete WorldCat Holdings Data Sync collection.

 Note: Please note that BIBFRAME data and MARC data should always be processed separately using separate data sync collections.

OCLC expects a structure that is similar to the 'cbd.rdf' serialization used by the Library of Congress for use in their editor, MARVA: e.g. https://id.loc.gov/resources/instances/5226.cbd.rdf.

Format of data

  • BIBFRAME RDF/XML (.rdf) representing a Concise Bounded Description (CBD) for exchange. https://www.w3.org/submissions/CBD/
  • Each description should be serialized to a file with a unique name with the extension .rdf, eg. 123456789.rdf. These rdf file(s) should be compressed in a .zip file.

Structure of data

A bibliographic record can be constructed from a RDF/XML document representing a CBD with the following characteristics:

Deletions

Deletions can be indicated in the BIBFRAME data by using the bfcl:Deprecated class. 

If you are not able to indicate deletions within the data, you may use a separate Delete WorldCat Holdings collection to submit your deletes.