Authority Control in Organizing and Accessing Information

Definition and International Experience

International authority control will soon be a reality. Examine the projects that are moving the information science professions in that direction today!

In Authority Control in Organizing and Accessing Information: Definition and International Experience, international experts examine the state of the art and explore new theoretical perspectives. This essential resource, which has its origins in the International Conference on Authority Control (Italy, 2003), addresses standards, exchange formats, and metadata-with sections on authority control for names, works, and subjects. Twenty fascinating case examples show how authority control is practiced at institutions in various nations around the world.

Authority Control in Organizing and Accessing Information provides an essential definition of authority control and then begins its sharply focused examinations of essential aspects of authority control with a section entitled “State of the Art and New Theoretical Perspectives.” Here you’ll find chapters focusing on:

• the current state of the art-with suggestions for future developments

• the importance (and current lack) of teaching authority control as part of a library/information science curriculum

• the guidelines and methodology used in the creation of Italy’s SBN Authority File

Next, “Standards, Exchange Formats, and Metadata” covers:

• Italy’s Bibliografia Nazionale Italiana UNIMARC database, which was created using authority control principles

• the past and present activities of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), and an examination of IFLA’s Working Group on Functional Requirements and Numbering of Authority Records (FRANAR)

• metadata standards as a means for accomplishing authority control in digital libraries

• traditional international library standards for bibliographic and authority control

• the evolution and current status of authority control tools for art and material culture information

• the UNIMARC authorities format-what it is and how to work with it

“Authority Control for Names and Works” brings you useful, current information on:

• changes and new features in the new edition of the International Standard Archival Authority Record (Corporate Bodies, Persons, Families)

• Encoded Archival Context (EAC)-and its role in enhancing access to and understanding of records, and how it enables repositories to share creator description

• the LEAF model for collection, harvesting, linking, and providing access to existing local/national name authority data

• national bibliographic control in China, Japan, and Korea, plus suggestions for future cooperation between bibliographic agencies in East Asia

• authority control of printers, publishers, and booksellers

• how to create up-to-date corporate name authority records

• authority control (and the lack of it) for works

“Authority Control for Subjects” updates you on:

• subject gateways-with a look at the differences between the Program for Cooperative Cataloging’s SACO program and browsable online subject gateways

• MACS-a virtual authority file that crosses language barriers to provide multilingual access

• OCLC’s FAST project, which strives to retain the rich vocabulary of LCSH while making the schema easier to understand, control, apply, and use

• the efforts of Italy’s National Central Library toward semantic authority control

• the interrelationship of subject indexing languages and authority control-with a look at the “semantics vs. syntax” issue

• how subject indexing is done in Italy’s Servizio Bibliotecario Nazionale

“Authority Control Experiences and Proje