Unqualified names project in Aleph

Owned by Corinna Baksik
Last updated: Jun 07, 2018

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. 

The system works through a process where the bib headings are linked to a corresponding authority record. (Similar to OCLC when you control headings.) However, in OCLC a cataloger has to manually control any heading that is unqualified. That is, a heading with $a but no $b, $c, $d, or $q. 

In contrast to OCLC, in Alma the headings, even if they are unqualified, will be automatically linked to an authority record, as long as the heading exactly matches a 1XX or 4XX on a single  authority record. The matching (or controlling in OCLC terms) happens when a record gets saved to the server. Then during the night, the headings that matched a 4XX in the LC record gets flipped to the 1XX field. Therefore, there is the possibility of a heading being incorrectly flipped if the bib heading was for a different person than the NAR to which the bib matched via the 4XX. 

For example, a book on cats has the author, Graham, Q. There is this authority record:

  • 100 Graham, Queenie
  • 400  Graham, Q
  • 670  I only ever write about medicine, 2018

The bib heading Graham, Q will match the NAR above due to the 4XX. However this NAR is for a doctor, who is NOT the same person as the person who writes about cats.

 As you can surmise, if the headings are qualified (with $b, $c, $d, or $q) the chance that they would match to the correct NAR is high. If they are unqualified, there is some risk that they may match to a differently entity via the 4XX. Aleph has over 9 million unqualified headings. The Alma RWMG tested a set of about 7,000 unqualified headings, and we found that only 2% matched a 4XX in the NAF, and only .02% matched a different entity. So, the grand majority of unqualified headings will match the correct entity.

However, we are still trying to be cautious. As such, we put together a set of unqualified names at higher risk of matching to the wrong entity, such as CJK records where surnames are fewer, or special collections records with added entries with relator terms such as Former owner. 

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:

  • Fields included: 100, 600, 700
  • Definition of unqualified name heading: contains $a but not any of: $b $c $d $q.
  • Excluded:
    • Any unqualified names on PCC/DLC records
    • HUA theses from last several years. A qualifier was added via batch based on data in 502. 
  • Included: unqualified names with these attributes: 
    • Heading includes $5
    • Heading includes $e with one of these values (case-insensitive):
      • Former owner
      • Printer 
      • Ill. 
      • Ed. 
      • Collector 
      • Tr. 
      • Engraver
    • Bib had library holdings for: HYL, HOU, POE, THE
    • Language of bib: Hebrew, Yiddish, Arabic, Persian, Kurdish
  • Total number of headings: 1.7 million

Send list of headings to Backstage Library Works. They compared headings to NAF and provided a report of all headings that matched a 4XX. 

  • 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: 

  1. You find that a NACO NAR has been created, feel free to change the heading to the correct NAR form of name.
  2. 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.
  3. 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. 

 

 

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