About Authority Records

Certain tags and subfields in a MARC record contain data used for searching—such as author, subject, and series—where uniform entries are important for accuracy and consistency. To make sure that these entries are uniform throughout the database, Horizon controls these tags and subfields, referred to as authority‑controlled tags or subfields.

Horizon stores each authority‑controlled tag (complete with any appropriate subfields) in a separate MARC record called an “authority record.” Only one authority record should exist for each authority entry. This authority record is then linked to all the bib records that display information that the authority record contains. (For example, Isaac Asimov wrote hundreds of books. Isaac Asimov as an author should have only one authority record in a database, while each of his titles has a bib record that points to Isaac Asimov as the author.) Authority records can also be linked to other authority records.

Because Horizon stores authority records separately from bib records, you can maintain authority records separately. This diagram illustrates the separate existence of authority and bib records and the way that authority records are linked to bib records:

Sometimes Horizon generates an authority record. A system-generated record is not a full MARC authority record. Horizon creates these records in this way:

Generates the main heading tag number based on the bib tag, the See Also tag, or the See tag.
Copies the non-filing indicator, if it is defined for both the link from tag and the link to tag.
Sets other indicators to the default indicator value for the specific indicator number, based on the link to tag number.
Generates the text of the heading based on the subfields in the link from tag that are defined to be controlled, or linking, subfields.
Copies punctuation from the link-from tag for each subfield, regardless of how the punctuation should be handled based on matham settings.
Saves the use code set based on the link from type (author, subject, or series).
If the link from is a Subject type authority, places the subject scheme into the generated record.
If the system-generated record is created from a See Also reference, places a reciprocal See Also reference into the system-generated record that links back to the original record.

Horizon handles some changes to system-generated authority records in specific ways:

If the system-generated record is valid for an author and a matching heading is imported that is valid as a subject, Horizon changes the system-generated authority to valid for both author and subject. Then Horizon updates the subject scheme.
If the system-generated authority is valid as a subject and a matching author heading is imported, it links to the system-generated record and Horizon sets the system-generated record as valid for both author and subject.
If the last reference to the system-generated record is deleted, the system-generated record is deleted.
If any manual change is made to the MARC data using the MARC Editor, Horizon no longer considers the authority record to be system-generated. The cataloger must either complete the record or find a complete matching authority to import and overlay the incomplete authority record that resulted from the manual change.

System-generated authority records function as placeholders that Horizon uses for several purposes:

To let Horizon index and search on headings. When Horizon imports a bib record with an authority tag that is new to the library’s database, Horizon generates an authority record. Horizon can use this record for indexing in a browse or keyword index. This lets borrowers and staff search that authority and find the bibs that reference that authority.
To let Horizon search on a See Also reference in an authority record. When Horizon creates a system-generated See Also record, searching on the See Also heading displays another line in the search results (for example, “Related Author” or “Related Subject”) that shows the related heading.
To let Horizon search on a See reference in an authority record. When Horizon creates this type of system-generated authority record, the record is marked “invalid.” Horizon’s search results display an “Author Is,” “Subject is,” or “Series is” heading that points to the valid form of the heading. You cannot make changes to an invalid authority record.
To let multiple references to a heading link to a single authority record. Once Horizon creates a system-generated authority record, any new references created in Horizon link to that record. New references can come from either importing or manual cataloging. References can come from a bib record, a See Also reference (for a valid heading), or from a See reference (for an invalid heading).
To offer match and overlay points for importing of the full authority record. Importing the full authority record will overlay the system-generated authority record.

You maintain authority records under a variety of circumstances, depending on the cataloging standards your library has set. Some of these circumstances include:

Editing an authority record while working with a bib record that contains a reference to that authority
Updating an authority record when the source (such as Library of Congress) changes that authority
Creating a new authority record if your catalog does not yet contain the authority
Merging duplicate authority records
Deleting outdated or otherwise unused authorities from your library’s catalog

 


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