Authority Work Beyond the Comfort Zone: Techniques and ResourcesAuthor(s): Julia WisniewskiSource: Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America, Vol. 29,No. 2 (Fall 2010), pp. 70-74Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Art Libraries Society of NorthAmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27949556 .

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Authority Work Beyond the Comfort Zone: Techniques and

Resources_ Julia Wisniewski

When language and subject-specialist catalogers are absent?retired, resigned, or just never in the budget?what can the non

specialist do about authority work? "Nothing" may be the safest answer. Yet it may be possible to create name authority records for names in languages one does not know, and to propose subject headings for unfamiliar topics. The author does not devalue exper tise, but suggests what a prudent cataloger, building on existing strengths, can achieve. Various thought processes and resources are discussed. The article concludes with an annotated list of online resources.

[The following article is based on a presentation given at the

Cataloging Section Meeting, ARLIS/NA Annual Conference in

Boston, April 2010.]

Introduction

To quote the Library of Congress, "Authority records enable librarians to provide uniform access to materials in

library catalogs and to provide clear identification of authors and subject headings."1 Name authority records (NAR) and

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) are available at no charge on http://authorities.loc.gov. After a period of

training and probation, catalogers may contribute NARs and

propose new subject headings. Library of Congress specialists review all of these proposals.2 Catalogers who create authority records, recognizing their impact, may hesitate to research new LC subject headings that fall outside their areas of expertise.

The ARLIS/NA Boston conference theme, "Revolution and innovation: At the Hub of Discovery," prompted a vision of the cataloger as an agent of discovery. Three of the following examples demonstrate what art catalogers can achieve using techniques and resources they already know. They trace a

cataloger's steps in discovering authoritative information for a name authority record and two subject proposals. In a fourth

example, the cataloger assigns an array of existing LC subject headings when a cultural object defies the quest for a specific term.

Example 1: Name Heading for "Alaitz Etxebarria Akaiturri" No NAR and no other publications existed for the author

Alaitz Etxebarria Akaiturri, which appeared to be a Basque name.3 First seeking guidance in the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules and the Library of Congress Rule Interpretations, but finding no directions for Basque names in either source, how should the cataloger determine the form of the heading?

Reasoning that a work published in Spain might already be cataloged in a local source, the cataloger searched the online

catalog of the Biblioteca Nacional de Espa?a. Cat?logo BNE has an English-language interface and an authority file, but in June of 2008 it had no bibliographic record for this name.

It is also reasonable to expect a scholarly author to be listed in an academic directory. However, an Internet search of the author's name with the domain limit sitexdu drew a blank. The successful search, entering the name as it might appear in an alphabetical list and omitting domain limits, retrieved a

bilingual Basque /Spanish document in http: / / www.euskara. euskadi.net/:

14913641 Arostegui Iras corza, Marta Jose 34091399 Arratibel Galarza, Nekane 72724574 Arciera Asso, Oianko

30685885 Tjin iTmi FI mimi f iiflin 14261198 CTErxebarria Akaiturri, Alait^ 45628499 demandez Arranz, kaul 30579397 Fern?ndez Bordegarai, Javier 44674133 Fern?ndez Cebri?n, Henar 16610503 Fern?ndez Crespo, Teresa 09787982 Fuertes Fernandez, Leticia 72395512 Garc?a Garcia, M." Mar 16273947 Garcia Izquierdo, Susana

Figure 1: Screen shot of Bolet?n Oficial del Pa?s Vasco, January 22, 2008, p. 1526.

This "authoritative alphabetic list"4 led to the following name authority record:

010 _ I a 2008040137

040_ |aDLC |beng |cDLC 100 1_ I a Etxebarria Akaiturri, Alaitz

400 1_ I a Akaiturri, Alaitz Etxebarria

670_I a Etxebarria Akaiturri, Alaitz. Los foros romanos

republicanos en la Italia centro-meridional tirrena, 2008:

I b t.p. (Alaitz Etxebarria Akaiturri)

670 _ I a Bolet?n Oficial del Pa?s Vasco, Jan. 22,2008 (via Google) I b (Etxebarria Akaiturri, Alaitz)

675_I a Bib. nac. de Espa?a cat.

Figure 2: Library of Congress name authority record.

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Summary of Name Authority Search It would be easy to get sidetracked seeking the unknow

able. Is this a compound surname? Is the author a woman ...

perhaps a married woman with a husband's name as one of the name's elements? A simple Internet search of Etxebarria

Akaiturri, Alaitz, with the elements arranged as they were listed in a bibliography, without limits, was the successful strategy here.

What familiar techniques and resources are likely to help? Knowledge of the Library of Congress and WorldCat catalogs makes foreign online catalogs accessible, even if one does not read the interface language. Basic keyword searches are simple to execute, and national libraries may be the first to receive and catalog books published in their respective countries. The Virtual Internet Authority File is another source of headings from libraries worldwide. Indexes of published articles or disserta tions with the indexer's choice of name heading provide even

more options. One can search the Internet, with or without domain limits. An Internet search limited to sitexdu may elimi nate commercial sites and turn up a name in a faculty directory, but this domain is limited to United States postsecondary insti tutions.5 If an author's nationality is known, however, limiting a search of a common name to one country's domain may eliminate many false hits.

Most of these searches are free, not too time-consuming, and therefore worth trying.

Example 2: Subject Heading for "Tazias"

At first glance, the cover of Ghulam Abbas's Tazias of Chiniot seemed to promise Churrigueresque altarpieces. In fact, the book is about ceremonial objects carried during an annual

Muslim ritual procession. With an English-language work in hand and a clearly-defined topic, the cataloger first looked for "tazias" in Library of Congress Subject Headings.

LCSH had already established a variant spelling of the term for the ritual itself:

010 _ I a sh 85132915

040 _ I a DLC | c DLC

150_ I a Ta'ziyah

450_ I a Passion-plays, Shiite

450_ I a Shiite passion-plays

450_|aTazia

550_ I w g I a Islamic drama

550_ I w g I a Persian drama

550_I w g I a Religious drama

550_|wg | a Tenth of Muharram

Figure 3: Library of Congress subject authority record.

This discovery posed a new dilemma: should the cataloger assign the existing Ta'ziyah and other LC subject headings to "best summarize the overall contents of the work and

provide access to its most important topics"6 or propose a new

heading? The cataloger first checked the standard resources:

Art & Architecture Thesaurus, Oxford Art Online, and Britannica Online. Although unsuccessful, these online searches wasted little time.

At this point, the cataloger recalled having used encyclo pedias of Christianity and Judaism, and quickly located the

Encyclopaedia of Islam in her institution's collection of electronic resources. By searching both spellings of "tazia"?as found in the work in hand and in LCSH?an authority for the new

concept was found. Drawing further on related experience with Christian headings, the cataloger chose a qualifier.7

The resulting proposal became:

Summary of Subject Authority Search

For a cataloger unacquainted with religious art objects, the

simplest course would be to assign Ta'ziyah, plus Ceremonial

objects and Islamic art and symbolism with appropriate geographic subdivisions,8 to express the artistic, religious, and geographic aspects of the work.

How does one approach an unfamiliar discipline? Finding an LC Subject Heading for a different dictionary definition

simply means choosing a qualifier to distinguish the new term. In this example, Tazias of Chiniot and Encyclopaedia of Islam were

written in English a non-specialist could understand. Precise

descriptions that make the subject matter accessible should

encourage a cataloger to continue looking for authority. What familiar techniques and resources are likely to help?

Encyclopedias and dictionaries are recognizable in every field of study. If one has consulted the New Catholic Encyclopedia, an

equivalent resource may logically be expected for Islam. Here,

010 _ I a sh2008004318

040_ I a DLC |beng |cDLC 150_ I a Ta'ziyahs (Ceremonial objects)

450_ I a Tazias (Ceremonial objects)

550_ |wg I a Ceremonial objects

550_|wg I a Devotional objects

550_ I w g I a Islamic art and symbolism 670 _ I a Work cat.: Abbas, Ghulam. Tazias of Chiniot, 2007: I b t.p. (Tazias) p. 1, etc. (tazia; a replica of the shrine of Imam Hussain; devotional art form, feature of the

Muharram rituals)

670 _ I a Encycl. of Islam, June 4,2008 | b (Ta'ziya: the Sh?'?

passion plays; on the Indian subcontinent, ta'ziya signifies the bier and mausoleum of al-Husayn carried in

procession during Muharram; sizes and shapes of the

portable ta'ziyas vary greatly; the ta'ziya more often resembles the architecture of a standard Indian mosque than it does al-Husayn's mausoleum)

675 _ I a AAT, June 4, 2008; |a Britannica online; |a Oxford art online

952_ I a 0 bib. record(s) to be changed

952_I a LC pattern: Processional crosses

Figure 4: Library of Congress subject authority record.

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looking for parallel object types, the cataloger's familiarity with LC subject headings for Christian art objects made the choice of qualifier and broader terms straightforward. In short, the abundance of English documentation and the cataloger's knowledge of similar objects made for an effective proposal.

Example 3: Subject Heading for "Lagoons" In this case, the cataloger first needed to decide whether

the "lagoon" in the title Constructing African Art Histories for the Lagoons of C?te d'Ivoire was a proper name. If so, she needed to propose Art, Lagoon?simply done by citing a pattern,9 e.g.,

Art, Akan. Further study indicated the need for a heading for

Lagoons, the African people.10 The cataloger reasoned that a

recently established subject heading on another African people would provide relevant resources in the 670 citation fields,

making authority research for a new subject in ethnology less

daunting. The resulting proposal became:

Summary of Subject Authority Search

How does one approach an unfamiliar discipline? Using LCSH, one can identify broader concepts, such as "African

peoples," notice their cross-reference structure, find the

concepts closest to yours (i.e., an ethnic group), and look in the works cited for authority for the proposal.11 The existing subject heading Lagoon languages informed the cataloger that

"Lagoon" was a proper name. Broadcasting keyword searches

across disciplines also works. The periodical archive JSTOR was especially helpful, taking keyword searches across many disciplines, and the full text of a French article with an English summary helped justify a cross-reference from Lagunaires (African people).12

Parallels in subject hierarchies can inform one's research. As with ceremonial objects, so with ethnological terms. An established heading shows the structure to follow?the cata

loger may not know what broader terms to assign, but quickly discovers them, as well as reference works in the 670 citation fields. In the case cited here, the State Department docu

ment, efficiently located by keyword search limited to the .gov domain, also provided authority for the broader term Akan

(African people). Probably more resources were cited than neces

sary, as the cataloger compensated for not using the obvious reference African Ethnonyms: Index to Art-Producing Peoples of Africa (frequently cited in other subject authority records). In the end, however, the non-specialist provided enough docu

mentation for the LC Subject editorial review process.

Example 4: When Not to Propose In this example, the "rule of 20 percent"13 called for

providing subject access to a book that included a discussion of small items left with infants, a parting token from parents consigning them to foundling homes. These poignant items of material culture, though distinctive, could not be named.

Lacking anything specific to search, much less document as a new subject heading, the cataloger simply chose two existing headings to express the topic:

650 _0 I a Child welfare | Italy | Milan | History. 650 _0 I a Foundlings | Institutional care | Italy | Milan

I History. 610 20 I a Ospedale maggiore di Milano | History. 610 20 I a Pia casa degli esposti e delle partorienti in S. Caterina alla Ruota (^lanjftaj^

6? ̂ " I a Foundlings | Italy | Milan | Miscettalte^v

/Catalogs. \

Nq^_0 | a Souvenirs (Keepsakes) |z Italy |z Milan J y

651 _0 I a Milan (Italy) | Social life and customs | y 19th

century.

Figure 6: Array ofLC subject headings express the topic.

Conclusion

Works in unknown languages or on unfamiliar topics may

challenge the art specialist cataloger. Some of these may require creating name authority records or LC subject proposals. The realist will consider each case on its own merits and decide

whether an authority record is something to undertake. "First,

010 _ I a sh2009010965

040_ |aDLC |beng |cDLC |dDLC 150_ I a Lagoons (African people)

450_ I a Lagunaires (African people)

550_ I w g I a Akan (African people) 550_ I w g I a Ethnology | C?te d'Ivoire

670_I a Work cat.: Vison?, Monica Blackmun. Constructing African art histories for the Lagoons of C?te d'Ivoire, 2010: | b CIP t.p. (Lagoons of C?te d'Ivoire) galley (Lagoon Peoples, or

lagunaires, a dozen populations who live in the southeastern C?te d'Ivoire, just west of the country's border with Ghana)

670 _ I a Africa update (via Google), Summer 2003 |b (Lagunaires) 670 _ I a Cahiers d'?tudes Africaines (via JSTOR), v. 35, cahier 138/139, 1995: |b p. 406, etc. (soci?t?s lagunaires de C?te d'Ivoire; Lagunaires) English abstract, p. 454 (Ivory Coast Lagoon societies)

670 _ I a Oxford art online, Dec. 23, 2009 | b (under C?te d'Ivoire: Lagoon groups)

670_ I a U.S. Department of State Background notes, Cote d'Ivoire (via Google), Nov. 2009 | b (Cote d'Ivoire has more than 60 ethnic groups, usually classified into five principal divisions: Akan (east and center, including Lagoon peoples of the southeast), Krou (southwest), Southern Mande (west), Northern Mande (northwest), Senoufo/Lobi (north center and northeast))

952_I a 0 bib. record(s) to be changed

952 _ I a LC pattern: Akyem (African people); Lagoon languages

Figure 5: Library of Congress subject authority record.

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do no harm" is the watchword! If venturing outside one's comfort zone to create an authority record is justified, start with what is known?cataloging tools, subject expertise, and how information is organized.

Of the preceding examples, three illustrate what catalogers have achieved using known techniques and resources: a name

authority record for a personal name, and successful subject proposals for a ceremonial object and an ethnic group. It may be a pleasant surprise to find that a simple Internet search for an unusual name can yield quick results from authoritative sources. Equally, an unknown topic presented in accessible

language, and relevant related knowledge, can lead to a successful subject proposal. When considering a new term, a

cataloger can use the LCSH hierarchy to find pattern head

ings and parallel concepts: the references cited will serve as an introduction to the bibliography of the field. A specific type of

object, ironically, defied a cataloger's quest for one appropriate subject heading. The fourth case shows the concept expressed

with existing LC subject headings. Internet access is essential. Thesauri, government reports,

academic directories, and national library catalogs are all

free, reliable sources of information on names and subjects. However, financially-strapped institutions may not subscribe to potentially useful subscription databases. If one's employer does not provide the necessary cataloging resources, seek them out elsewhere, such as at a university whose range of programs reflects a similar mission and offers off-site access to databases for "friends of the library" or alumni donors. One can visit other libraries to do research in person as an investment in the

quality of one's work. When the situation really is beyond (authority) control,

accept that fact and focus on bibliographic control. A basic

bibliographic record will serve as a finding aid until a knowl

edgeable cataloger can enhance it. Assign a less-than-full

encoding level to the record, consider assigning uncontrolled

subject keywords,14 and then send the book on its way. Most

importantly, avoid time sinks. Bank the hours for future occa sions when additional efforts can bear fruit. A non-specialist

who applies transferable knowledge may be well equipped to make a contribution to authority control.

Notes 1. Library of Congress, "What is an Authority Record?"

Library of Congress Authorities: Frequently Asked Questions, http: / / authorities.loc.gov /help /auth-faq.htm#l.

2. Follow the process of authorizing a new subject heading in "SACO Proposal Workflow," http://www.loc.gov/catdir/ pec / saco / SACOWorkflow.html.

3. For help identifying languages, see: C. G. Allen, Manual

of European Languages for Librarians (London ; New Providence, NJ: Bowker-Saur, 1999).

4. AACR 22.4A: "If a person's name ... consists of several

parts, select as the entry element that part of the name under which the person would normally be listed in authoritative

alphabetic lists in his or her language or country of residence or

activity." Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd edition (Ottawa: Canadian Library Association; Chicago: American Library Association, 2002-2005).

5. See http: / /net.educause.edu/edudomain/show fag.

asp?code=EDUELIGIBILiTY for information on eligibility for the .edu domain.

6. SCM:SH, H 180,1. General Rule. Subject Cataloging Manual: Subject Headings (SCM:SH) (Washington, DC:

Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, 1985- ). 7. SCM:SH, H 357,1. b. Categories of Objects. 8. SCM:SH, H 180,4. Specificity. 9. SCM:SH, H 202,1. Citation ofLC pattern. H 320 requires

that subject headings with ethnic qualifiers be established. H 351 explains where to place the ethnic qualifier.

10. SCM:SH, H 187. 11. For general guidance, see SCM:SH, H 202,2. b. Where to

Search for Authority. 12. The English language work in hand mentions lagun

aires and the official language of C?te d'Ivoire is French, but

SCM:SH, H 315 prefers the English term. 13. SCM:SH, H 180,1. General rule. The rule states that

20 percent of an item must be about a given concept before a

subject heading is applied. 14. For use of the 653 field in fully cataloged records, see

SCM:SH, H 160. Uncontrolled Subject Terms in the 653 Field.

Selected Resources

Listservs

ARLIS-L, http: / / www.arlisna.org/about/ arlisl.html

AUTOCAT, http: / / listserv.syr.edu/scripts /wa.exe?AO=autocat In ARLIS-L the focus is art; in AUTOCAT, cataloging. Both have

searchable archives. Check them to see if your situation has

already been addressed. If not, then post a question for the

experts ("collective wisdom").

Periodicals/Indexes

JSTOR http: / /www.jstor.org Search full text of journals simultaneously across many disci

plines and in many languages, for topics, author headings, etc.

Art Full Text

http: / / www.hwwilson.com/databases/artindex.htm

Bibliography of the History ofArt/International Bibliography of Art

http: / / library, getty.edu/bha Art Full Text and BHA/IBA index visual art publications in

many languages. Search for concepts and named works of art as scholars have written about them. Also, look for

headings their indexers have composed.

Online Catalogs (OPACs)

Gateway to Library Catalogs http: / / www.loc.gov/z395Q / gateway.html Online catalogs of national and other major libraries have

bibliographic records. Check them for author headings. Some (like Spain's) also have authority records.

Cat?logo BNE (Biblioteca Nacional de Espa?a) http: / /catalogo.bne.es/uhtbin/webcat

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List of National Libraries

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List of national libraries

National Library Catalogues Worldwide

http: / / www.library.uq.edu.au /natlibs /

WorldCat

http: / / www, worldcat.org/ Try searching compound surnames by different entry

elements?or by just one of the elements.

Virtual International Authority File

http://viaf.org/ "VIAF is a joint project of several national libraries, imple

mented and hosted by OCLC."

Dictionaries/Encyclopedias Britannica Online

http: / /search.eb.com/ Broad scope; always worth a keyword search.

Library of Congress Databases and E-Resources

http: / / www.loc.gov/rr/ElectronicResources/ A great site to check when you do not know where to start.

Keyword-search resource titles as well as descriptions.

Remember to use your institution's subscription databases

as well.

Oxford Art Online (includes Grove Art Online)

http: / / www.oxfordartonline.com/public/ Even terms not featured in articles devoted specifically to them

may be mentioned in others. Quote these in a 670 for a

subject proposal.

Encyclopaedia of Islam

http: / / www.brillonline.nl/public /demo#islam.

Try searching variant spellings or truncating search terms,

especially foreign words.

Thesauri

Art & Architecture Thesaurus

http: / / www.getty.edu/ research/ conducting research/vocabu

laries/aat/ Search for cultural objects, building details, traditional tech

niques, etc.

Library of Congress Subject Headings http: / / authorities.loc.gov/ Search a broader term, in case yours is a narrower-term

synonym. Search for your term established in a different

meaning. Find hierarchy patterns and reference citations.

Thesaurus for Graphic Materials

http: / / www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/tgm/ Search for visual material genre and format terms, and for

subjects commonly depicted in visual materials.

WebSites

UNESCO World Heritage Centre, World Heritage List

http: / /whc.unesco.org/en/list UNESCO's list describes sites worldwide in English.

Archaeological sites and other cultural areas are Type 2

headings?check the LC Subject Headings Manual, H 450.

Amazon.com

http: / /www.amazon.com

Scroll to bottom of screen for links to http: / /www.amazon.ca,

http: / 7www.amazon.de, etc. Try author name searches in

Germany, Canada, France, United Kingdom, China and

Japan, and different elements of compound names.

Google Books

http: 7 7books.google.com Search for words in older written contexts, e.g., lost buildings

described in contemporary guidebooks, proper names, monuments, etc.

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, Root Zone Database

http : 7 7 www.iana. org 7 domains 7 root 7 db 7 IANA lists country code and other top-level domains helpful in

search limits, such as site:edu, site:uk, etc.

Languages

Manual of European Languages for Librarians / CG. Allen LCCN Permalink: http://lccn.loc.gov/99Q13806 An invaluable print resource that identifies languages and gives

sample texts.

Lexilogos http:/ / www.lexilogos.com/ Resources for world languages, including keyboards for

various alphabets.

Google Translate

http:/ / translate.google.com Translates text as you type.

Acknowledgments Special thanks to my colleagues Robert Bratton, Mark

Freidin, Bryan Lane, and Kathleen Miller for their assistance.

Julia Wisniewski,

Cataloging Librarian,

Library of Congress, Washington, DC,

jzvis@loc.gov

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