GMEOW Creative Works Module

• IRI: https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/slices/creative-works
• Tier: core
• Group: core

What This Slice Covers

This slice owns 153 terms and contributes 173 mapping or projection rows. Use it when its terms match the native fact you want to preserve; use the linkage tables to see how those facts leave GMEOW for consumer vocabularies.

Dependencies

• gmeow:slices/citations
• gmeow:slices/coreference
• gmeow:slices/documents
• gmeow:slices/kernel

Consumers

• The foundational WEMI 4-tier spine (Work/Expression/Manifestation/Item) plus the universal Contribution and CreativeDerivation relators, consumed by the documents, software-products, citations, narrative, and music slices; projects to FRBR/LRMoo/CIDOC/schema.org by reference (Principle 5).

Local Map

Examples

Wemi Novel

• Source: slices/core/creative-works/examples/wemi-novel.ttl
• GMEOW terms: gmeow:Expression, gmeow:Item, gmeow:Manifestation, gmeow:Work, gmeow:embodies, gmeow:exemplifies, gmeow:realizes, gmeow:title

# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Blackcat Informatics® Inc. <paudley@blackcatinformatics.ca>
# SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0
#
# Worked example: the WEMI spine (WEMI spine, ). One abstract Work is realized by
# Expressions (the original text and a translation — distinct intellectual
# realizations of the same work), each embodied by Manifestations (the hardback
# and the ebook of the English text), each exemplified by Items (a specific
# physical or licensed copy). The four tiers are kept distinct so a translation,
# an edition, and a single library copy each sit at the right level — where
# surface vocabularies collapse all four into one "book" record.
@prefix gmeow: <https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/> .
@prefix ex:    <https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/examples/creative-works/> .

# --- Work: the abstract intellectual creation, independent of any text or copy.
ex:novel a gmeow:Work ;
    gmeow:title "The Lighthouse at World's End"@en .

# --- Expressions: two realizations of the one Work (P9-style co-equality — the
#     translation is not a lesser version, just another Expression).
ex:englishText a gmeow:Expression ;
    gmeow:realizes ex:novel .

ex:frenchText a gmeow:Expression ;
    gmeow:realizes ex:novel .

# --- Manifestations: two embodiments of the English Expression (print + digital).
ex:hardback a gmeow:Manifestation ;
    gmeow:embodies ex:englishText .

ex:ebook a gmeow:Manifestation ;
    gmeow:embodies ex:englishText .

# --- Item: one exemplar — a specific physical copy of the hardback.
ex:libraryCopy a gmeow:Item ;
    gmeow:exemplifies ex:hardback .

Terms

Classes

Properties

Individuals

Linkages

• Rows: 173
• Projection profiles: bibframe, codemeta, dcterms, doap, foaf, lrmoo, mo, oai_dc, odrl, pon, schema-org
• External vocabularies: bibframe, codemeta, credit, dc, dcterms, discogs, doap, fabio, foaf, frbr, lrmoo, mbz, mo, odrl, pav, pon, prov, schema, wd

Guide

Creative-Works Mapping Guide

This document describes the WEMI (Work / Expression / Manifestation / Item) spine introduced in WEMI spine, its design rationale, and its mappings to external vocabularies.

The WEMI spine in GMEOW

GMEOW reconstructs the four-tier FRBR/LRMoo distinction using native primitives:

gmeow:CreativeWork is the gufo:Category umbrella over all four tiers. It replaces the former flat gufo:Kind (pre-WEMI spine) so that surface-vocabulary alignments become projections from the umbrella rather than core equivalences.

Key design decisions

• Expression variance by reference frame (gmeow:hasReferenceFrame): A translation is the same Work realized in another language frame; a musical arrangement is the Work in another notation frame. No subclass taxonomy explosion (Principle 9).
• Creation as reified Events (gmeow:eventType values): Work conception, Expression creation, and Manifestation production are event types, not Event subclasses (Principle 12).
• Contribution relator + flat shortcuts: gmeow:Contribution binds contributor × target × role with provenance/period/confidence; flat shortcuts (hasAuthor, hasTranslator, …) cover the 80% case.
• Open value vocabularies: CreativeWorkType, ContributionRole, ManifestationFormat, and CarrierMedium are individuals, never subclasses (Principle 9).
• No primary/privileged claim: Co-equal multilingual titles, no canonical edition. Superseded values use gmeow:displayable false (Principles 9–10).

External mappings

FRBRcore (equivalence by reference)

gmeow:Work/Expression/Manifestation/Item are owl:equivalentClass to their FRBRcore counterparts. The spine relations (realizes, embodies, exemplifies) are owl:equivalentProperty to FRBR R-relations.

FaBiO / SPAR ontologies (closeMatch)

FaBiO's WEMI classes are scholarly-publication-scoped; GMEOW's are universal. Mapped as skos:closeMatch with confidence 0.95.

LRMoo (equivalence by reference)

gmeow:Work ↔ lrmoo:F1_Work, Expression ↔ F2, Manifestation ↔ F3, Item ↔ F5. Creation event types map to F27 and F28 as skos:closeMatch.

BIBFRAME 2.0

Manifestation ↔ bf:Instance and Item ↔ bf:Item are owl:equivalentClass. Work ↔ bf:Work is skos:closeMatch (lossy: BIBFRAME conflates Work+Expression).

schema.org (lossy projection)

CreativeWork → schema:CreativeWork (skos:closeMatch, confidence 0.8). The WEMI spine collapses to one flat node in schema.org; relations flatten to workExample / exampleOfWork. BookRelease → schema:Book; MediaObject → schema:MediaObject; WebPage → schema:WebPage.

Wikidata

Work → wd:Q386724 (work). Manifestation → wd:Q3331189 (version, edition or translation) as skos:broadMatch (lossy: muddles edition and translation). CreativeWorkType seeds map to specific Wikidata items (Q571 book, Q7725634 literary work, Q47461344 written work, etc.).

Refactor impact on existing classes

The former flat documents.ttl classes were re-homed:

• Work specializations: Document, Article, Patent, Dataset, SoftwareProject
• Manifestation specializations: BookRelease, SerialInstallment, MediaObject, WebPage

CreativeWorkTitle, hasTitle, title, identifier, and datePublished retain their domains (now the CreativeWork umbrella) and continue to function for all WEMI tiers.

Terms

The WEMI spine, its relations, the contribution relator, the derivation relator, and the open value vocabularies this slice declares, anchored to the design above.

gmeow:Work · gmeow:Expression · gmeow:Manifestation · gmeow:Item

The four-tier WEMI spine as native gufo:Kind classes: a gmeow:Work is abstract intellectual content, a gmeow:Expression its realization in a language / notation / arrangement frame, a gmeow:Manifestation an edition / format / release, and a gmeow:Item a single exemplar. gmeow:CreativeWork is the umbrella over all four.

gmeow:realizes · gmeow:embodies · gmeow:exemplifies · gmeow:realizedThrough · gmeow:embodiedIn · gmeow:exemplifiedBy

The tier-binding relations (FRBR R-relations by equivalence): gmeow:realizes (Expression → Work), gmeow:embodies (Manifestation → Expression), and gmeow:exemplifies (Item → Manifestation), with gmeow:realizedThrough, gmeow:embodiedIn, and gmeow:exemplifiedBy their inverses descending the spine.

gmeow:CreativeWorkType · gmeow:RealizationMode · gmeow:realizationMode

The work's kind and mode: gmeow:CreativeWorkType is the open vocabulary of work types (literary, musical, software, film, dataset…); gmeow:realizationMode over gmeow:RealizationMode records how an expression is realized (notated, performed, oral, improvised, machine-generated…) — individuals, never subclasses (Principle 9).

gmeow:Contribution · gmeow:contributor · gmeow:contributionTarget · gmeow:contributionRole · gmeow:ContributionRole · gmeow:contributionDegree

The contribution relator: gmeow:Contribution binds gmeow:contributor × gmeow:contributionTarget × gmeow:contributionRole (over the open gmeow:ContributionRole vocabulary) with provenance, period, and gmeow:contributionDegree. The reified form behind the flat 80%-case shortcuts.

gmeow:hasContributor · gmeow:hasAuthor · gmeow:hasEditor · gmeow:hasTranslator · gmeow:hasIllustrator · gmeow:hasComposer · gmeow:hasLyricist · gmeow:hasArranger · gmeow:hasConductor · gmeow:hasPerformer · gmeow:hasNarrator · gmeow:hasProducer

The flat contribution shortcuts: gmeow:hasContributor and its role-specialized siblings (gmeow:hasAuthor, gmeow:hasEditor, gmeow:hasTranslator, gmeow:hasIllustrator, gmeow:hasComposer, gmeow:hasLyricist, gmeow:hasArranger, gmeow:hasConductor, gmeow:hasPerformer, gmeow:hasNarrator, gmeow:hasProducer) cover the common case; promote to a gmeow:Contribution when period, confidence, or degree must be recorded.

gmeow:CreativeDerivation · gmeow:derivationSource · gmeow:derivationProduct · gmeow:derivationType · gmeow:DerivationType

The derivation relator: a gmeow:CreativeDerivation binds a gmeow:derivationSource work to its gmeow:derivationProduct, classified by gmeow:derivationType over the open gmeow:DerivationType vocabulary (arrangement, cover, remix, sample, parody, transcription, translation…).

gmeow:arrangementOf · gmeow:coverOf · gmeow:remixOf · gmeow:samples · gmeow:transcriptionOf · gmeow:quotesWork

The flat derivation shortcuts: gmeow:arrangementOf, gmeow:coverOf, gmeow:remixOf, gmeow:samples, gmeow:transcriptionOf, and gmeow:quotesWork name the common work-to-work derivations directly, with the reified gmeow:CreativeDerivation available when provenance must be carried.

gmeow:ManifestationFormat · gmeow:hasManifestationFormat · gmeow:CarrierMedium · gmeow:hasCarrier · gmeow:medium · gmeow:Genre · gmeow:hasGenre · gmeow:audience

The manifestation and classification facets: gmeow:hasManifestationFormat over the open gmeow:ManifestationFormat vocabulary, gmeow:hasCarrier / gmeow:medium over gmeow:CarrierMedium, and the descriptive gmeow:hasGenre (over gmeow:Genre) and gmeow:audience — all individuals, never subclasses.

gmeow:MusicalWork · gmeow:Recording · gmeow:ScoreEdition · gmeow:hasVersion · gmeow:requires · gmeow:isRequiredBy · gmeow:conformsTo

The music-spine specializations and structural relations: gmeow:MusicalWork (a Work), gmeow:Recording and gmeow:ScoreEdition (manifestation-tier embodiments), plus gmeow:hasVersion, the gmeow:requires/gmeow:isRequiredBy dependency pair, and gmeow:conformsTo for standard conformance.

References

1. IFLA Library Reference Model (LRM), 2017.
2. FRBR — Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records, 1998/2009.
3. FaBiO and the SPAR ontologies (Peroni & Shotton).
4. CIDOC-CRM Conceptual Reference Model.
5. LRMoo (CIDOC-CRM Issue ID-360).
6. BIBFRAME 2.0 Model — Library of Congress.
7. schema.org CreativeWork.
8. OpenWEMI — Code4Lib Journal.