Maintaining Authority Control
Once the six steps for setting up Authority Control are complete, maintenance is simple. You should perform the following four steps on a regular basis.
Step 1: Verify New Bibliographic Records
Whenever you import or create new bibliographic records, they need to be verified. There are two ways to verify records in the Cataloging module:
• In the Cataloging window, select all of the new or imported bibliographic records. Right-click in the pane containing the bibliographic records, then click Verify Selected Records on the command menu.
• On the Edit menu, select Bibliographic, select Update Authority Control, and then click Verify New. This verifies all unverified bibliographic records (that is, those bibliographic records without a MARC field 950 – Authority Control Flag).
Step 2: Search for Unverified Bibliographic Records
You should periodically search your bibliographic table for unverified records. Unverified bibliographic records are missing MARC field 950 – Authority Control Flag. A missing MARC field 950 indicates that the record was never verified and its bibliographic fields are not linked to any authority records. To perform this search in the Cataloging module:
1. On the Edit menu, click Search. This displays the Search dialog box.
2. In the Search For list, select Bibliographic.
3. In the first record field list, type 001 over the default field name.
4. In the keyword box below, type an asterisk (*).
5. In the first Boolean operator list, select NOT.
6. In the record field list next to NOT, type 950 over the default field name.
7. In the keyword box below, type 1.
8. Click Search. This displays all unverified bibliographic records. Review them to check for completeness and misspellings.
9. On the Edit menu, select Bibliographic, select Update Authority Control, and then click Verify New.
NOTE: You can perform step 9 without first searching for the unverified bibliographic records. However, it is always a good idea to review your bibliographic records before verifying them.
Step 3: Review Your Authority Records
Authority records are constantly changing. Authors get married and change their names. New subjects are added. Unless you subscribe to the Library of Congress database, you will have to update and maintain your authority records on a regular basis.
If you subscribe to the Library of Congress database, Mandarin is developing a way to dynamically update your authority records whenever a change is made to the database. Currently, in order to download the updated records, you have to re- verify your records.
In M3, any changes you make to your authority records are automatically reflected in the linked bibliographic fields. For example, you notice a misspelling in one of your authority records and correct it. As soon as you save that correction, all bibliographic fields that are linked to that authority record are automatically updated. No manual intervention is necessary.
Step 4: Review Your Skeletal Authority Records
You should periodically review your skeletal authority records to make sure they were created correctly. For more information, see “Step 6: Check Your Skeletal Authority Records".
