book
Let an agent keep the work, the edition and the copy apart, so that rights, citations and availability attach to the right one.
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.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
Let an agent keep the work, the edition and the copy apart, so that rights, citations and availability attach to the right one.
A work of text or images issued as a bounded whole, published in one or more editions, and held either as a physical volume or as a file.
What it is for: Carrying a bounded body of content from an author to readers, in a form that can be cited, lent, sold and kept.
It can be read it; cite it, which requires the edition rather than the work; lend, sell or give a copy, which is not the same as licensing the work; copy it, within limits set by rights; annotate a copy, which changes that copy and nothing else.
Distinguishing features
A bounded whole with an editorial identity, which separates it from a periodical issue or a loose collection
The work, the edition and the copy are three things, and each has different rights and different identifiers
Published, which separates it from a manuscript with the same content
What it looks like
As a physical object, a bound block of pages between covers, from pocket size to folio. As a file, nothing to see: the appearance belongs to the reader software.
Physical character
extent: 32-1000 pages - below about 48 pages it is usually catalogued as a pamphlet
mass: 150-1500 g - physical copies only
file size: 0.3-50 MB - text against illustrated
How it is recognised
A physical copy carries the edition on its title page and its imprint, and the cover often disagrees with both
The ISBN identifies the edition, not the work, and a work with many editions has many
For a file, the only reliable identification is metadata and a checksum, not what it looks like on screen
Related models
is a kind of - inherits the work-version-copy distinction
is confused with - ISBNs, prices and availability belong to the edition
contains - the content is separable from the carrier and can be reissued in another
regulated by - decides who may copy, translate and adapt it, and until when
In practice
Families and kinds
by content: fiction, non-fiction, reference, textbook, children
by form: hardback, paperback, ebook, audiobook, print-on-demand
by status: in print, out of print, public domain, orphan work
Identifiers
ISBN 13 digits identifies an edition and format, not the work
ISNI or authority record library authority identifies the author, which is how works are gathered
DOI 10.xxxx/... used for scholarly books and chapters
Standards and regulation
ISBN standard, administered nationally under an international agency
Copyright law, whose term and exceptions differ by jurisdiction
Legal deposit requirements, which oblige publishers to lodge copies
Library cataloguing rules, which define what counts as a new edition
Failure modes and hazards
Edition confusion, where a citation points at content that differs from what the reader has
Out of print and unavailable, which is a supply failure rather than a rights one
Orphan works, where the rights holder cannot be found and use stays unlawful
Format obsolescence for files, where the carrier outlives the software that reads it
Also called
+344
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Also registered as vr.tr.book-3
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.
Work, edition and copy Which level a statement is about.
Nearly every mistake about books is a statement about the wrong level, and the levels have different identifiers and different owners.
The three levels
What belongs to the work, the edition and the copy.
Level assignment
Which facts hold at which level.
- For this book, which facts belong to the work, which to the edition, and which to a single copy? boundary
- Which identifier names each level, and which is being cited? definition
Editions and variants
How editions differ and which is authoritative.
Edition differences
Substantive differences and who treats which as canonical.
- Which editions of this book exist and how do they differ substantively? definition
- Who treats which edition as authoritative, and for what purpose? provenance
Content and structure What is in it and how it is organised.
A book is navigated rather than read straight through, and its structure is what citation and search depend on.
Internal structure
Chapters, sections, apparatus and pagination.
Structure and citation units
The units a reader and a citation can address.
- How is this book structured, and what unit can a citation address? definition
- What happens to that unit in a format without fixed pages? boundary
Language and subject
What it is about and in what language.
Subject and language
Classification and language of the text.
- What is the language of this text, and which classification schemes place its subject? definition
- Where do classification schemes disagree about it? boundary
Rights and permission Who may do what with it.
Rights are jurisdictional, time-limited and attached to a level, and an agent that ignores that will copy what it may not.
Rights status
What subsists, where, and until when.
Subsisting rights
The regime in force and its term.
- What rights subsist in this book, in which jurisdictions, until when? definition
- Who holds them now, and how is that established? provenance
Permitted acts
Copying, quoting, translating, lending.
What is permitted without asking
Acts allowed by exception or licence.
- Which acts are permitted without further permission, and under which exception? action
- Which acts must an agent refuse or escalate? action
Availability and holding Where a copy can be got and who has one.
A book that cannot be obtained is a different practical object from one that can, and availability changes without the book changing.
Availability
In print, licensed, borrowable or unavailable.
Current availability
How a copy can be obtained now.
- How can a copy of this book be obtained, and on what terms? definition
- What changes when it goes out of print or a licence lapses? boundary
Holdings and preservation
Who holds copies and how they are kept.
Holdings and durability
Where copies are and what preserves them.
- Which institutions hold this book, and under what deposit or preservation duty? provenance
- What is the preservation risk for the format it is held in? measurement
What the second pass must settle
- Should the registry model the work, the edition and the copy as three entries or as one with levels?
- How should translations be represented - as editions of one work or as works of their own?
- What identifies a digital copy well enough to cite it when there is no page and no fixed layout?