Barbara Ann Barnett Tillett (born 1946) is a

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

and

library scholar A library and information scientist, also known as a library scholar, is a researcher or academic who specializes in the field of library and information science and often participates in scholarly writing about and related to library and informati ...

known for her work on

authority control In information science, authority control is a process that organizes information, for example in library catalogs, by using a single, distinct spelling of a name (heading) or a numeric identifier for each topic. The word ''authority'' in ''au ...

and bibliographic

data modeling Data modeling in software engineering is the process of creating a data model for an information system by applying certain formal techniques. Overview Data modeling is a process used to define and analyze data requirements needed to suppo ...

Library of Congress

Tillett began working at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

in 1994. As director of the Library's Integrated Library System (ILS) Program from August 1997 through July 2001, Tillett undertook the massive task of leading the selection and implementation of the Library of Congress' first

Integrated Library System An integrated library system (ILS), also known as a library management system (LMS), is an enterprise resource planning system for a library, used to track items owned, orders made, bills paid, and patrons who have borrowed. An ILS usually is co ...

. A library press release referred to the project as the "largest single information technology project in the Library's history." Tillett served as chief of the Library's Cataloging Policy & Support Office, which sometimes put her into conflict with

Sanford Berman Sanford Berman (born October 6, 1933) is a librarian (specifically, a cataloger). He is known for radicalism, promoting alternative viewpoints in librarianship, and acting as a proactive information conduit to other librarians around the world. ...

's subject heading activism. Tillett retired from the Library of Congress on November 30, 2012.

Cataloging theory

Tillett has been particularly well known for her development and explanation of the

FRBR Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR ) is a conceptual entity–relationship model developed by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) that relates user tasks of retrieval and access in onlin ...

model. Tillett served as a consultant to the IFLA Study Group on the

Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR ) is a conceptual entity–relationship model developed by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) that relates user tasks of retrieval and access in onlin ...

, which developed the model. She has also been highly involved in the development of RDA, a cataloging code based on the FRBR model. Tillett served on the Joint Steering Committee for the Development of RDA between 1994 and 2012, and served as the committee's chair between 2011 and 2013.

Recognition

Tillett has received numerous awards for her scholarship and work with the Library of Congress, including the ALCTS

Margaret Mann Margaret Mann (4 April 1868, in Aberdeen, Scotland – 4 February 1941, in Los Angeles, California), was a Scottish-American actress. Biography Margaret Mann starred in a number of major silent films such as '' Black Beauty'' in 1921 and play ...

Citation, the Library of Congress' Distinguished Service Award and Flemming Award, and the Ross Atkinson Lifetime Achievement Award. In both 2005 and 2007, she was awarded the best paper of the year by the journal ''

Cataloging & Classification Quarterly ''Cataloging & Classification Quarterly'' is a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal that publishes articles about library cataloging, classification, metadata, indexing, information retrieval, information management, and other topics related to librar ...

''.

Publications

* '
What is FRBR? A Conceptual Model for the Bibliographic Universe
'' (2003) * ''"Authority control in the online environment : considerations and practices"'' (Haworth Press, 1989) * ''"Bibliographic relationships : toward a conceptual structure of bibliographic information used in cataloging"'' (1987o * ''"The bibliographic universe and the new IFLA cataloging principles"'' with Carlo Bianchini (Casalini libri, 2008)

References

Librarians at the Library of Congress American librarians American women librarians 1946 births Living people 21st-century American women {{Library-bio-stub