What it is: Authority Control is the process of gathering all works by an author or a specific subject and putting them together under the same access point (Humeston & Lesniaski, 2008). It defines the relationships between names and terms that may or may not be used and keeping these consistent, which helps maintain the organizational structure of the catalog (Karpuk, 2008). The Library of Congress and OCLC keep large, up-to-date databases of authority records, which can be downloaded for library use to save time and stress over the creation of these records. How it Works: Authority Control begins with a cataloger reviewing the descriptive catalog record and determining how users will search and use the catalog. Some access points that require authority control include (Karpuk, 2008):
Personal Names
Corporate Names
Geographic Names
Jurisdictions
Conference Names
Uniform Titles
Series Titles
Name-title combinations
Subject Headings
The cataloger then creates an authority record to organize the information they have created. There are three parts to an authority record: 1) The exact form of an author's name, a place, or things that are access points, called the authorized heading. 2) Cross references, such as "see" and "see also."
The "see" reference refers a user to an authorized headings and makes them aware of related ideas to what they are looking for.
"See also" is a useful tool when an author might write under more than one name during their career. This reference is included in an authority file if a library has items under a numberof different names for one creator. With a catalog, this reference is used to show users other related materials that might interest them based on their original search.
3) Sources that verify how a librarian determined headings, cross references, and notes.
Example: School libraries will find authorty control most useful when a student ot teacher requests a book that is similar to one they have read or know the author by one of their pseudonyms.
For example, a teacher might come in looking for books by Daniel Handler. When the teacher goes to search for this author in catalog, it will not come up with what she may expect, but will find a "see" reference that will point the teacher to books by "Lemony Snicket," which is the pseudonym the author has written under the most for children .