Thoughts on FRBR applied in catalogs

I have been reading the latest FRBR thread here with interest.  Always my
thoughts go back to: how will the end product of FRBR application work for
the user?  Also, how will it potentially impact my work as a cataloger?

My thoughts in light of all the good parsing out of what the FRBR hierarchy
really pertains to goes something like this:

Currently, for monographs ...
... we generally catalog MANIFESTATIONS of entities and then attach
ITEM-level records to those records (true for some ILS systems anyway).
... we link manifestations to EXPRESSIONS through uniform titles (MARC 130,
240, et al.).
... authority records embody information on WORKS (Group 1), PERSONS or
CORPORATE BODIES (Group 2), or, broadly, SUBJECTS of various kinds (Group
3).
... proper application of authorities provides for collocation of entities.

It seems to me that what would be more helpful to patrons is if we tended
to:
1. Catalog EXPRESSIONS of works, all the various types that you all have
identified can exist in this discussion (Hamlet in German [where
Hamlet=WORK], a certain arrangement of a Hayden symphony [where the Hayden
symphony=WORK] , a film adaptation of a book [where the book= WORK], etc.).
2. And then we would link records for MANIFESTATIONS to the EXPRESSION
records.
3. Then we would attach ITEM-level records to the MANIFESTATION subrecords
to indicate what specific physical items we have.

The leap from WORK to MANIFESTATION is where I see us failing the patron.
What we really need to let people know what EXPRESSION of an entity we
have, and then they can choose which MANIFESTATION they want (CD, hard-copy
book, online version, etc.).  Then which item they get is the available
one, or the one with special characteristics of interest (a signature or
whatever).

Sue Ann Gardner

  .
   }
{     Sue Ann Gardner, MLS
. }   Associate Professor/Cataloging & Metadata
{     322 Love Library, Technical Services
  }   University of Nebraska-Lincoln
{ .   Lincoln, NE 68588-4100  USA
    } 402-472-3948, ...2-2534 (fax)
       {  sgardner2_at_unl.edu
          }  .  .