BACKGROUND
Upon migration to Alma, Harvard will be using Alma's automated authority control process. This process attempt to link every access point to an LC authority record. The Alma Resource Management Working Group has done significant testing of this feature and found that it works well about 98% of the time. This feature will be extremely helpful in keeping our headings up to date. For example, we currently use MARS to inform us when a death date has been added to an author in the LC record. We then have to go into Aleph and correct hundreds of headings either manually, or in small batches. With Alma, if an authority changes, all our corresponding bibliographic headings will automatically change.
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For this set, we will be adding a qualifier to any headings that match a 4XX in the NAF such that the Alma authority control process does not flip them. The qualifier in subfield c will be: (Harvard local name). This will be done prior to the Alma migration. This qualifier is not recommended for prospective cataloging. The Metadata Standards group will be issuing a document on how to qualify names prospectively when they match NAF 4XX headings.
PROCESS
Identify appropriate set of headings to compare to NAF:
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- Match rate was < 2%, about 29,000 headings.
- BSLW reports: SYSUNH.zip
Add qualifier to these headings via a batch process. Qualifier is $c (Harvard local name).
- Fields with subfield t were excluded.
- A small number of names in the BSLW reports were not updated due to technical issues.
FUTURE
After the Alma migration, staff can work with LTS to remove these qualifiers from sets of records, if appropriate.
For prospective cataloging of unqualified names, refer to forthcoming Metadata Standards guidelines regarding name qualification when a heading matches to a NAR 4XX headings.
If you are updating a record with one of these headings, and:
- You find that a NACO NAR has been created, feel free to change the heading to the correct NAR form of name.
- You do not find a NACO record, and you can create NACO records, feel free to create a NACO record and change the heading accordingly, if necessary.
- You do not find a NACO record, nor are you going to create one, please leave the heading as it is, or qualify it per forthcoming Metadata Standards guidelines.