Three views of the "musical work": bibliographical control in the music domain

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of the "musical work", and its consequences for library information provision.Design methodology approach - Analysis of journal and monograph literature is supported by interviews with music editors, examination of documents, and self-reflection on music cataloguing practice.Findings - The nature of a musical work is shown to be complex, and influenced by many contextual factors. Phenomenological and ontological models can prove useful in understanding practical issues of information provision. The work of music editors has a strong relation to that of cataloguers and curators. Bibliographic models such as FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records) can gain from, and contribute to, music information, through the centrality of the concept of "work".Research limitations implications - The literature review is selective rather than comprehensive.Practical implications - The study provides direct guidance for library information practitioners in the music domain, and an insight into issues of relevance to information provision in any specialized subject.Originality value - The paper is a contribution to the literature on the application of philosophical and conceptual analysis to documents and bibliographic entities in specialized subject areas, and to domain analysis.