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Hi all,

I have a question about how to model a resource expressed in BIBFRAME. We
are digitizing some unique collections. Ideally, I'd like to have one URI
like http://example.org/myuri that returns one RDF document containing data
about the Work, the Instance, and the Item. There are two ways I could do
this:

1. Use Work as the parent type and include the Instance as a child blank
node using the Work.expressionOf property, and then include the Item as a
second-level child node using the Instance.hasItem property. Example:

bf:Work:
  bf:title: [title node here]
  bf:hasInstance:
    bf:Instance:
      bf:bookFormat: [bookFormat node here]
      bf:hasItem:
        bf:Item:
          bf:shelfMarker: [shelfMarker node here]


2. Use some parent container class like rdf:Description and include the
Work, Instance, and item as immediate children blank nodes of that
container. Example:

rdf:Description:
  bf:Work:
    bf:title: [title node here]
  bf:Instance:
    bf:bookFormat: [bookFormat node here]
  bf:Item
    bf:shelfMarker: [shelfMarker node here]


3. If neither 1 nor 2 are acceptable, I could have separate URI endpoints
for the Work, Instance, and Item. This has the advantage of using less
blank nodes:

http://example.org/myuri_Work
http://example.org/myuri_Instance
http://example.org/myuri_Item

I really prefer option 3 the least, but I am very uncertain between 1 and
2. Thoughts on which is best practice? If 2, what should I use as the
container class? And in any case, how much should I worry about the
proliferation of blank nodes?

Joshua Welker
Information Technology Librarian
James C. Kirkpatrick Library
University of Central Missouri
Warrensburg, MO 64093
JCKL 2260
660.543.8022