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Authority Control at the University of Louisville Libraries
Allen B. AshmanUniversity of Louisville
[email protected] Valley Group of Technical Services Librarians Conference
Evansville, IndianaMay 2012
Old heading: Harris, R. Cole ‡q (Richard Cole), ‡d 1939-
New heading: Harris, Cole, ‡d 1936-
Old heading: Browne, Clarence George, ‡d 1907-
New heading: Browne, C. G. ‡q (Clarence George), ‡d 1907-1993
Reasons Headings ChangePeople die:
Clark, Dick, 1929-2012
Reasons Headings ChangePeople die:Changes in nomenclature:
Old heading: College librarians
New Heading: Academic librarians
Reasons Headings ChangePeople die:Changes in nomenclature:New works, authors, conferences, corporate
headings require more delineation of old headings:
Old heading: Doctor Zhivago (Motion picture)
New heading: Doctor Zhivago (Motion picture : 1965)
Reasons Headings ChangePeople die:Changes in nomenclature:New works, authors, conferences, corporate
headings require more delineation of old headings:
Research discovers previous dates were wrong:
Old heading: Hamilton, Elizabeth, ‡d 1758-1816. New heading: Hamilton, Elizabeth, ‡d 1756?-1816.
Reasons Headings ChangePeople die:Changes in nomenclature:New works, authors, conferences, corporate headings
require more delineation of old headings:Research discovers previous dates were wrong:Research offers better dates:
Old heading: Bernard, Francoise, ‡d fl. 1965- New heading: Bernard, Francoise, ‡d 1921-
Reasons Headings ChangePeople die:Changes in nomenclature:New works, authors, conferences, corporate headings require
more delineation of old headings:Research discovers previous dates were wrong:Research offers better dates:New delineations made with old subject headings:
“Crime and criminals” became two headings “Crime” and “Criminals”
Reasons Headings Change
People die:Changes in nomenclature:New works, authors, conferences, corporate headings require
more delineation of old headings:Research discovers previous dates were wrong:Research offers better dates:New delineations made with old subject headings:People request their birth years be dropped:
“Communication from the author, Nov. 23, 2010 ‡b (please remove my date of birth)”
Reasons Headings Change
People die:
Changes in nomenclature:
New works, authors, conferences, corporate headings require more delineation of old headings:
Research discovers previous dates were wrong:
Research offers better dates:
New delineations made with old subject headings:
People request their birth years be dropped:
Others? [Changes in transliterations and cataloging rules]
2011 March 23 9:52 AM 33 seconds
Library of Congress OPAC
Wikipedia.org
Suggested Reading
“The Persistence of Superseded Subject Headings in Online Catalogs” Technical Services Quarterly 24 (2006) 27-34.
Obviously, headings get changed for multiple reasons and sometimes -- but not other times -- very quickly.
So what?
BackgroundILS to 1996 – Lists of new headings that were added to
the ILS system were checked for conflicts and the presence of authority records.
1997 - 2008 – Catalogers verified headings as encountered and downloaded authority records as needed. There was no systematic check made of new LCSH headings or headings new to the ILS.
2008 One time major clean-up followed by monthly service from an outside vendor.
2007-2008
Internal discussions
Vendors approached at the 2007 ALA Conference
Vendor selected and profile created
Local authority records deleted, 1.2 million bib records sent to vendor, records returned and reloaded, new authority records loaded, manual clean-up conducted based on printed reports, monthly processing established and continues.
Monthly Processing
StatsWe have been sending about 3,100 records a
month. That comes to 37,520 records a year.
During 2011 we received 55,745 authority records from our vendor.
Labor: Three days a month of a cataloger’s time, a half a day a month of a systems librarian, and a few seconds for each record to mark “Okay to Export.”
Things we don’t do!
Check unmatched headings reports
Unmatched Heading Report
Things we don’t do!
Check unmatched headings reports.
Keep track of unused headings and report them to our vendor.
Follow-up on new authority records that are sent.
Hypothetical Example
Unmatched heading in an existing bib:
Smith, Francis Y.
Heading in new authority record:
Smith, Francis Yvonne, #d 1882-1928.
Our Results
OPAC is much cleaner.
Added efficiency for catalogers.
Increased communication across processing units.
Unsolicited Advice
Consult with colleagues….then do it again!Consider local practices v. national standards.Complete “profile” very carefully and accept any help
offered from your vendor.Don’t try to get too clever!Use this as an opportunity to do more than authority
work. Clean-up your bibs!Communicate with colleagues after the fact.
The Future
Non-MARC metadata. How do we control? Can we?
WorldCat Local: Perhaps none of this matters! What do you think?
