This property identifies an instance of F22 Self-Contained Expression that has been chosen as the most characteristic expression of
the instance of F1 Work of which it is an expression. There is no other semantic implication to this notion of being characteristic than
to be an adequate candidate to uniquely identify the Work realized by it. Prototypically, this is the instance of F22 Self-Contained
Expression that is deemed characteristic of an instance of F15 Complex Work. Typically, any expression that is not regarded as
“representative” for the work it expresses, would require a controlled access point, with qualifiers specifying the differences between
that expression and a representative expression, although this may not always be done in practice. The title of a Work may not be one
taken from a representative expression. A given work can have more than one representative expression, provided the differences between
these expressions are not deemed “substantial.” If the anticipated needs of users are not considered to call for bibliographic
distinctions between variant expressions of a work, then even expressions that differ significantly from each other can be regarded as
equally representative for the work. (See FRBR: Final Report, p. 19-20). A given expression can be deemed representative for a work with
regard to some of its aspects (e.g., the text contained in an edition the title proper of which reads ‘The tragicall historie of HAMLET
Prince of Denmarke’, and the language of that text), and not representative for it with regard to some other aspects (e.g., the title
proper ‘The tragicall historie of HAMLET Prince of Denmarke’ itself, which, being different from the title that is regarded as
“representative” for Shakespeare’s work, will require the use of a controlled access point). R40 has representative expression is a
shortcut of the more developed path F1 Work R50i was assigned by F42 Representative Expression Assignment R51 assigned F2 Expression.
