book
a written work or composition that has been published (printed on pages bound together)
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
recalled by Codex without web access - no source was read
Researched by: Codex
Purpose and description
Enable an AI agent to recognise a published book, distinguish its work, text, edition and physical copy, assess its completeness and usability, and determine appropriate actions.
A book, in this sense, is a written intellectual or artistic work made publicly available in an edition printed on bound pages, distinguished from both that edition and any individual physical copy.
It can be Identify a book from its title page, publication statements, identifiers and physical features.; Select an edition or translation suitable for a specified reading, citation or comparison task.; Locate a passage using the pagination and internal structure of a particular edition.; Inspect a physical copy for missing content, illegibility and handling limitations.; Compare copies or editions while distinguishing textual variation from manufacturing and copy-specific differences.; Evaluate whether a proposed loan, scan, quotation or republication has sufficient supporting permission evidence..
Distinguishing features
The registry sense requires evidence of a published written work and a bound printed embodiment; a blank notebook or an unpublished bound manuscript does not satisfy both tests.
A title alone does not establish identity: authorship, text, language and publication evidence must distinguish unrelated books sharing a title.
A translation or revision must be distinguishable from a change of binding or printing, because these changes affect different levels of the book's identity.
Two physical copies can embody the same published edition while differing in missing pages, annotations, ownership history and condition.
A digital file or spoken recording can relate to the same work without being the bound printed embodiment covered by this registry definition.
Scope
+ Identity of the written work and its relationship to translations, revisions and adaptations
+ Authorship, translation, editing and other responsibility for the book's content
+ Publication, edition, impression, format and bibliographic identifiers
+ Organisation and completeness of the printed text and supporting matter
+ Binding, pagination, condition and provenance of individual physical copies
+ Evidence governing access, lending, reproduction and reuse at the relevant bibliographic level
- Unpublished manuscripts and private notebooks as independently modelled objects
- Ebooks and audiobooks as independently modelled manifestations, while retaining links to corresponding versions
- Serial publications as continuing resources, while recording relationships to separately published books
- Literary genres, criticism and interpretations of a work's meaning
- Publishing businesses, libraries and bookselling operations
- General copyright law and paper conservation procedures
Characteristics
- Bibliographic level
- work | expression | manifestation | item | unresolved Prevents attributes of one copy or edition from being assigned to every embodiment of the work.
- Title and responsibility evidence
- Transcribed title and credited contributors linked to title-page, colophon or catalogue evidence Supports identification without treating a cover label or a shared title as decisive.
- Language and textual realisation
- Language or languages; links to original, translation, revision, abridgement or adaptation Determines which text a reader will encounter and whether versions can substitute for one another.
- Edition and printing designation
- Transcribed edition statement and impression designation; absent | disputed | unknown where applicable Helps distinguish textual changes from repeated manufacture or altered presentation.
- Publication evidence
- Publisher or imprint, place and date linked to evidence, with uncertainty recorded Establishes the publication context and supports edition identification.
- Identifiers and their referents
- ISBN or other identifier, issuing scheme, identified entity and verification status Allows matching while exposing identifiers that are absent, misprinted or attached to a different format.
- Printed extent
- Pages, leaves, volumes and separately counted plates; preserve printed numbering sequences Supports completeness checks and citation without confusing leaves with pages.
- Binding and dimensions
- Binding type and construction; height, width and thickness recorded separately in millimetres Distinguishes physical formats and informs handling and storage.
- Copy completeness and readability
- complete | incomplete | unverified; readable | partly unreadable | unreadable, with affected locations Determines whether the copy can support reading, citation, lending or digitisation.
- Copy provenance
- Evidence-linked ownership, custody, inscriptions, annotations and repair history Distinguishes an individual copy and supports decisions about its handling and disposition.
- Permission for a proposed use
- permitted | conditional | prohibited | unresolved, qualified by action, component, territory, date and evidence Prevents ownership of a copy from being treated as sufficient authority for every use of its content.
Analytical facets
- substance
- information
- origin
- conceptual
- agency
- inert
- mobility
- portable
- scale
- handheld
- affordances
- graspable, readable
Also called
+94
Where this came from
oewn:2024 · CC BY 4.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 6 bundles · 11 layers · 18 findings · 28 questions.
Bibliographic identity Separate the book's intellectual identity from its textual versions, published embodiments and individual copies.
Book titles and identifiers are insufficient unless the agent knows which level of identity they describe.
Work and text
Identify the written work and the particular text embodied by the book.
Work and expression boundary
Record evidence for shared work identity and for differences introduced by language, revision or abridgement.
- Which title, contributors and textual evidence identify this work independently of its cover and publisher? definition
- Is this text an original, translation, revision, abridgement or adaptation, and what supports that classification? boundary
Edition and copy
Assign publication-level and copy-level observations to their proper referents.
Identifier referent
Keep edition matching distinct from identification of a particular physical copy.
- Which edition, format or other bibliographic entity does each supplied identifier actually identify? boundary
- Which shelfmark, accession number, inscription or other evidence distinguishes this physical copy? provenance
Publication and responsibility Establish who produced the text and how this printed embodiment entered publication.
A book's credited contributors and publication history determine which version is being represented and how reliable an identification is.
Credited contributions
Distinguish authorship from translation, editing, illustration and other contributions.
Contributor attribution
Preserve printed credits and distinguish them from externally supported or disputed attributions.
- Who is credited as author, editor, translator or illustrator, and where does each credit appear? provenance
- Do any credits concern only an introduction, chapter, translation or other component rather than the whole book? boundary
Publication sequence
Identify the imprint and distinguish editions, impressions and format changes.
Edition history evidence
Record publication statements without assuming that a marketing label proves a changed text.
- What do the title page, copyright page and colophon state about publisher, date, edition and printing? provenance
- What evidence shows whether this issue changes the text, repeats an earlier printing or changes only the physical presentation? boundary
Text organisation and reference Represent the book's component texts and the means of locating material within them.
An agent must know what the book contains and how to point a reader to the intended passage in a specific edition.
Content components
Distinguish the principal text from independently attributable works and supporting matter.
Contained works and paratext
Record chapters, collected works, introductions, appendices and illustrations according to their actual relationships.
- Does this book contain one principal work, several independent works or an edited collection of contributions? definition
- Which introductions, notes, appendices or illustrations belong specifically to this edition? boundary
Passage location
Capture pagination and internal divisions needed for retrieval and citation.
Edition-specific locators
Use locators that remain traceable to the inspected edition and accommodate unusual numbering.
- Which page sequences, chapter labels, indexes or other locators allow a passage to be found in this edition? measurement
- What edition and locator information must accompany a quotation so another reader can verify it? action
Bound copy integrity Describe the bound printed embodiment and assess the condition of a specific copy.
A bibliographically correct match can still be incomplete, unreadable or unsuitable for handling.
Physical constitution
Record volumes, leaves, plates, binding and dimensions relevant to the book's physical identity.
Expected and observed extent
Compare the inspected copy with evidence of the edition's expected physical contents.
- How many volumes, numbered pages or leaves, unnumbered sections and plates are expected, and from what evidence? measurement
- Does the observed binding belong to the published format, or is it a later rebinding or binding of separately issued material? provenance
Copy condition
Locate defects and copy-specific alterations that affect use.
Reading and handling readiness
Record missing, obscured or fragile portions and connect them to the requested activity.
- Which leaves, plates or passages are missing, loose, damaged, annotated or unreadable? measurement
- Can this copy support the proposed reading, lending or scanning activity given its observed condition? action
Access and use authority Connect custody and content permissions to specific proposed uses of the book.
Authority to handle a copy and authority to reproduce its text, translation or illustrations require separate evidence.
Copy custody
Establish who controls the physical copy and the conditions of access.
Custody and access conditions
Record ownership or custody evidence and any applicable loan or consultation conditions.
- Who owns or holds this copy, and what evidence establishes that relationship? provenance
- What recorded conditions govern consulting, borrowing, transferring or physically scanning this copy? action
Content use permissions
Assess the proposed use against evidence for each relevant textual or visual contribution.
Component-specific use assessment
Keep permission conclusions qualified by component, action, jurisdiction and date, with unresolved cases explicit.
- Which evidence supports the proposed use of the main text, translation, introduction and illustrations in the relevant territory and on the intended date? provenance
- Does the available evidence permit the requested quotation, reproduction or republication, impose conditions, or leave the action unresolved? action
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Check these first
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- This is recall-based description; no sources or current standard versions were consulted.
- The supplied sense combines intellectual work and physical publication; identifiers, damage and binding properties apply at different bibliographic levels.
- Boundaries between a revision of an existing work and a new work require cataloguing judgment; an edition label alone does not settle them.
- Which of these check these first hold for the sense of book this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Kinds and varieties
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Novel
- Poetry collection
- Scholarly monograph
- Textbook
- Reference book
- Essay collection
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of book this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Identifiers and schemes
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- ISBN - 13 digits beginning with 978 or 979; older publications may carry a 10-character ISBN - Identifies a particular publication edition and product form rather than the abstract work or an individual copy; not every published book has one.
- Library accession number or item barcode - Locally assigned identifier - Identifies an individual copy within a particular institution, not the work universally.
- Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of book this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Standards and regulation
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- IFLA Library Reference Model (IFLA LRM), issued by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, distinguishes work, expression, manifestation and item.
- ISO 2108, issued by the International Organization for Standardization, specifies the International Standard Book Number system.
- RDA: Resource Description and Access, maintained under the RDA Steering Committee, provides guidance for describing and relating bibliographic resources.
- ISBD: International Standard Bibliographic Description, issued by IFLA, standardizes bibliographic description.
- Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of book this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Publication and distribution of literary, scholarly and practical writing.
- Teaching, independent study and reference consultation.
- Library cataloguing, discovery, lending and preservation.
- Bookselling and inventory management by edition and format.
- Citation and comparison of texts across editions and translations.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of book this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Confusing the work with a translation, edition or individual copy produces incorrect catalogue records and citations.
- Treating an ISBN as a universal work identifier incorrectly merges or separates publications.
- Unmarked revisions, abridgements or translations can obscure substantive differences between texts.
- Printing and binding defects can omit, duplicate or misorder content in particular copies.
- Deterioration, moisture, fire and loss can destroy physical copies and impair access.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of book this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Writing systems and publishing traditions affect reading direction, typography and binding orientation.
- Cataloguing practices and classification systems differ among national libraries and institutions.
- Publishers may issue distinct territorial editions with different spelling, content, formats or identifiers.
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of book this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Expression - An expression is a particular realization of the work, such as its text in a given language; a translation can realize the same work differently.
- Edition - An edition represents a particular published version; one work can appear in multiple editions.
- Physical copy - A copy is an individual bound object with its own condition, location and ownership.
- E-book - An e-book carries text digitally and may embody the same work, but does not meet the bound printed carrier condition specified here.
- Manuscript - A manuscript may contain a written work without that work having been published as a printed book.
- Periodical - A periodical is issued in successive parts intended to continue; binding its issues together does not make the serial itself a single book work.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of book this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
What the second pass must settle
- Does an existing Vercy world model already cover this concept, requiring vr.tr.book to link to that publication instead of receiving a separate model?
- How should the registry's bound-print definition treat artist's books, predominantly pictorial books, loose-leaf publications and print-on-demand works?
- Which bibliographic authority and alignment rules should determine when revisions, abridgements or adaptations become distinct works rather than expressions?
- What evidence threshold should resolve conflicting edition statements, publication dates and reused or erroneous identifiers?
- Which authoritative sources and jurisdiction-specific rules will support component-level permission assessments for text, translations, annotations and illustrations?