The xISBN web service supplies ISBNs and other information associated with an individual intellectual work that is represented in WorldCat. Submit an ISBN to this service, and it returns a list of related ISBNs and selected metadata.
Ideal for web-enabled search applications—such as library catalogs and online booksellers—and based on associations made in the WorldCat database, xISBN enables an end user to link to information about other versions of a source work.
"What is a Work?" is an oft-discussed question. Answers tend to come down on one side or another of what is essentially a philosophical reaction to the inherent abstractness of the nature of the FRBR Work.
E. Bennett. Library Collections, Acquisitions, and Technical Services, 27 (1):
45-59(2003)This pdf-document is an e-print version of an article published in Library Collections, Acquisitions, and Technical Services 27,1 (Spring 2003). The e-print file was posted on 28 March 2003 at http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/archive/2003/lavoie_frbr.pdf. Please cite the published version..