AUTHORITY Headings Maintenance Using Marcive Headings Reports

Owned by Barbara Fleming
Last updated: Jan 10, 2024 by Melanie Shaw

Workflow originally developed by Mavis Molto in 2013, with multiple later revisions, most recently in 2016. Revised and updated by Barbara Fleming in 2023.

This workflows outlines the process for updating bibliographic headings in the Sierra online catalog, using Authority Headings Reports. The reports are downloaded monthly by the assigned Batch Load Cataloger, who will notify the General and Authority Cataloger when the reports have been uploaded to Sierra.

Procedures

Creating Headings Reports

  1. You will be working with two reports, Blind References and Near Matches

  2. To access reports, go to drop-down “Function” menu at top right of Sierra main screen, and choose “Headings Reports”

  3. At left of new screen, under “Report Type”, uncheck “All” and check name of desired report

a. Blind references

OR

b. Near matches

  1. Click on ”Create” icon at top right of screen

  2. There are two possible ways to proceed next

a. Work directly from the screen

OR

b. Work from a printed copy of the report

Working Directly From the Screen

1. Double-click on the first entry; this will bring up the authority record

2. Click on “Browse” arrow at top-left of new screen to search the heading in the catalog

3. Scroll up and down to search for variations of heading

4. Edit search term (for example, use “[last name], [first initial]”, for personal name) and search again

5. If incorrect heading is found, click on bibliographic record(s) and fix the heading(s), then return to the headings report and delete the entry (click on check box at left of entry and then “Clear” icon at top right)

6. If only correct form of heading is found, delete the entry from the headings report as above

  1. If no bibliographic record is found with the heading, add it to the “Delete Headings” list (see below), then delete the entry from the headings report as above

  2. To close report without clearing it, choose “Close” icon at top right of screen

NOTE: The Near Match report will have numerous entries for each heading (one for each bibliographic record), and may be quite extensive, so working directly from the screen, rather than printing, is preferred

Working From a Printed Copy

  1. Print report and then clear (click on “All” at top of the check box column and then “Clear” icon at top right of screen). Close report and return to “Catalog” function

  2. Search each heading by “a” number, using “Record number” search, to bring up authority record

  3. Copy heading and paste into search box and look for bibliographical records with that heading

  4. Continue to search by variations of the heading, as above, correcting bibliographic records with incorrect headings, as needed

  5. If no bibliographic record is found with the heading, add it to the “Delete Headings” list (see below)

NOTE: When printing the report, make sure all pages have printed before clearing

Delete Headings List

  1. If no bibliographic record is found with a heading matching one in the report, it will eventually need to be reported to Marcive

  2. Two spreadsheets should be kept: “DELETES-NAME & TITLE-In Process” and “DELETES-SUBJECT-In Process”

  3. Each spreadsheet should have three columns: a-number – 010 LC control no. – 1xx or 6xx heading

  4. The lists will be given to the Batch Load Cataloger once or twice a year for submission tor Marcive

Deleting Authority Records From Sierra

  1. Before submitting the Delete Headings list to Marcive, the headings need to be manually deleted, one at a time, from Sierra

  2. To delete a record:

a. Copy and paste authority record number (“a” number) to bring up Sierra authority record

b. Copy and paste heading from authority record and search for matching bibliographic records

i. It isn’t necessary to do an extensive search at this point--just search once, by authorized heading

ii. This will catch any bibliographic records with that heading that may have been added since earlier search

c. If bibliographic record with the heading is found, remove the heading from the “DELETES” list

d. If no bibliographic record with the heading is found, delete the authority record from Sierra: Go to “File” at top left of screen and choose “Delete Authority Record” from the drop-down menu

Types of Headings

1. There are two basic types of authority headings: Name/Title, and Subject

2. Sierra has duplicate headings for Name and/or Title (1xx) and Name and/or Title used as a subject (6xx)

a. If authority record is for a name and/or title, search by “Author” or “Title” for matches

b. If authority record is for a name or title used as a subject, search by “Subject” for matches

3. Each entry in headings report will be identified as “Name”, Subject”, “Title”, or “Name/Title”

Name and Title Authority Headings : Personal Names

1. When searching by variations of name, delete elements of heading one by one: from “Jones, George W., #d 1955-” to “Jones, George W” to Jones, George” to “Jones, G”

2. Also copy and paste variations of name from 4xx headings (for example, different surname)

3. Determine if person in bibliographic record is the same as person in authority record (using information in 670 fields, OCLC, internet searches, etc.)

4. If a bib record is found for the person

a. Paste 1xx from the authority record to 1xx or 7xx in bibliographical record

i. Period at end of 1xx: Smith, John.

ii. NO period if ( ) or - at end: Smith, John, #d 1882-

iii. Comma before #e: Smith, John, #e author.

iv. NO comma if - at end: Smith, John, #d 1882- #e author.

b. Check off/mark entry on printout or clear from report

  1. If no bib record is found for the person: add the heading to the NAME & TITLE delete list, then checkoff/mark entry on printout or clear from report

Name and Title Authority Headings : Corporate names, Conferences, Places (used as corporate names), Titles

  1. Search Sierra by author (110, 111, 151) or by title (130) heading

  2. Ignore extra subfields in bibliographic headings (e.g., #v no. 10)

  3. Also search by 4xx headings, keywords, and other variations of name or title

  4. If a match is found: update bibliographic record (adding period at end, if needed), then check off/mark entry on printout or clear from report

  5. If no match is found: add the heading to the NAME & TITLE delete list, then check off/mark entry on printout or clear from report

  6. When searching heading consisting of Name AND Title (e.g., Dickens, Charles, #d 1812-1870. #t Great expectations), search by author alone, omitting the title. Scroll down to find entries that include the title, and check to see that they match the authorized heading

 

Subject Authority Headings (Including Names and Titles used as Subjects)

  1. Search Sierra by subject for the heading in the authority record

  2. If authority record has no subdivisions (e.g., Minnesota.) – but bib headings have subdivisions (e.g., Minnesota #v Maps) – treat it as a match

  3. If authority record has a subdivision (e.g., Minnesota #x History) – but no bib headings have this subdivision – treat it as a no match and add it to the SUBJECT delete list

  4. Also search by 4xx headings

  5. If subject heading is a personal name, search by shortened versions of the name, as with a name heading

  6. If a match is found: update bibliographic record (adding period at end, if needed), then checkoff/mark entry on printout or clear from report

  7. If no match is found: add the heading to the SUBJECT delete list, then check off/mark entry on printout or clear from report

 

Electronic Resources

  1. Be careful when working with bib records for electronic resources; some fields (830, 710, and 690) are used for local references in USU bib records, e.g.:

a. 830 ebrary Academic Complete

b. 710 ProQuest (Firm)

c. USU ETD

  1. DON’T update these headings

  2. You may update other headings in these records, or you can skip them

TIPS

Authority Record In Sierra Differs From Form in Report

  1. Verify heading in LC authority file (via OCLC)

  2. Use the most recent heading when updating bib records

Conferences, Symposia, etc.

  1. If authority record has the following field:

667 THIS 1XX FIELD CANNOT BE USED UNDER RDA UNTIL THIS RECORD HAS BEEN REVIEWED AND/OR UPDATED

a. Look for matching bib headings (format of place may vary)

b. Update only main bib heading (not date or place), if needed

  1. If authority record does not have a 667 field (as above)

a. Look for matching bib headings (format of place may vary)

b. Update the full bib heading (with date and place), if needed

Genre Terms in 155 Field

  1. USU uses genre terms from various thesauri (e.g., RBMS, Art & Architecture Forum), as well as LC genre terms (#2 lcgft)

  2. In most cases, we don’t update genre terms included in the subject headings report, unless the LC genre term in the Sierra bib record has been updated

Name/Title Headings

  1. Name -- if there’s an authority record for the name:

a. But no bib with the name, only a bib for a name/title

b. Keep authority record for the name

  1. Name/title -- if there’s an authority record for the name/title (old name)

a. And there’s also an authority record for the name (newer name)

b. And name/title in bib record has the newer name

c. Then do not change the name to the older form--keep the newer form

  1. 1xx with subfield #t versus 1xx and 240

a. If Sierra has: 1xx with 240, retain it

b. Do not change to: 1xx with subfield #t

Undifferentiated Names

  1. If 667 field in authority record indicates “undifferentiated record”

  2. Keep authority record if you see a potential match (even if it’s not exact); when the entries on the undifferentiated record are differentiated, our heading may then be automatically updated

 

General Tip: If you’re unsure about an authority record, err on the side of keeping it