Checking name authorities

1. Australian authors

The authority for Australian authors is Voyager.

Ctl + H gets you into the authority file.

NB Libraries Australia author authorities uses Voyager as their authority, and LC uses Libraries Australia for its Australian author authorities.

If there are errors, let the authority person know.

2. Overseas authors

The authority for overseas authors is the Library of Congress (LC) Authorities

This is located at:-
http://authorities.loc.gov/

Check all names against this authority list.

If the Voyager authority differs from the LC Authority, let the authority person know

Subject headings

Number of headings:

2 Subject Headings for medium level.
6 Subject Headings for high level.
1 Subject Heading for more than 20% of the work.
Generally do not assign subject headings for literary works unless they are on a specific topic.

Order of headings:

For original cataloguing, use the guidelines on Order of Subject Headings in the LC Subject Cataloguing Manual (H80).
For copy cataloguing, do not change the original order of the headings.

Existing 6XXs:

For copy cataloguing, it is not necessary to update existing $x to $v.

If a record only contains juvenile LCSH, MeSH or other local headings, add LCSH heading/s as appropriate.

690 / 691 Local subject access fields

For maps and music, institution specific subject headings (691 and 690 respectively) are used for Australian items.

This copied from "National Library of Australia Cataloguing Guidelines"

Exporting Authorities to LA - May 09

*LA will start accepting files of authorities soon.
*Voyager will export authorities each night. Exports will include any new authorities created and any changes to existing authorities.
*LA will only accept new records or changed records containing an 016.
--Voyager authorities imported from OCLC must have 016 added.
--All records without 016 will be taken as new and added to LA.
*LA have a minimum requirements standard based on NACO standard.
*Authorities must either contain 010 or 042 anuc (with some rare exceptions).
*Authorities must contain a 670 to justify all elements of a heading & references.
*Authorities that include non-Latin script must include a note:
--667 $aRecord has non-Latin script (Chinese).

Exporting 856 fields to LA - May 09

There are problems with exporting 856s to LA. This situation is not resolved. It is being worked on by Bemal’s staff in LA.
*If a changed 856 field is exported to LA, there is no guarantee that the new 856 will overlay the one on LA.
*LA calculates the similarity between the incoming 856 and the existing 856 and decides to either:
--Overlay the 856
--Discard the incoming 856
--Add the incoming 856 as new
*Possible problems will result. Sometimes this will result in two 856s on LA – one correct, one old incorrect;
*OR we lose the incoming 856 and we are left with the old wrong 856 on LA.
*If you absolutely must have the correct URL in the record you will have to do it manually through the LA client.

040 Cataloguing Source

1.) Creating a new record: always use $a ANL $b eng.
2.) Creating a new record by transcribing from a catalogue card: use $a ANL $b eng $c ANL.
3.) When copy cataloguing do not delete or replace any existing 040 data.
4.) Always add $b eng in copy cataloguing if not already present.
5.) Always add $d ANL if making any changes at all, even if ANL is already in $a. This includes upgrading of ANL CiP or prepub ISSN records. However, if $d ANL is already present, do not add a new $d ANL if the two would be adjacent.
6.) Do not add $d ANL if no changes are made and you are only adding ANL holdings.
7.) For existing records in Voyager, if no 040 exists, check Libraries Australia for the correct 040 data and insert. Then add $d ANL as appropriate.