Authority Control in Organizing and Accessing Information:
Definition and International Experience
Edited by Arlene G. Taylor and Barbara B. Tillett
An important, but often overlooked, misunderstood, or underappreciated aspect of library cataloging is authority control. As all catalogers (and, hopefully, all librarians) know, authority control facilitates access to a library's holdings by means of organization, standardization, accuracy, and consistency. It is essential for effective and seamless searching of any library catalog. The increasing amount of digital information available via online library catalogs makes authority control increasingly important and difficult, but it also affords opportunities to find creative solutions to old problems. The editors and contributors of Authority Control in Organizing and Accessing Information: Definition and International Experience understand this, and they strive to make a significant contribution to the world of authority control. They certainly succeed. This large and impressive volume, which was simultaneously co-published in two issues of the journal Cataloging and Classification Quarterly, is comprised of papers presented at the 2003 International Conference on Authority Control, in addition to several solicited articles contributed afterwards.
The book consists of five sections, each focusing on various aspects of authority control. The first section, "State of the Art and New Theoretical Perspectives", consists of three thought-provoking articles. One of the most interesting papers in the entire book is Arlene Taylor's discussion on teaching authority control in library schools. She conducted a survey of library school professors, and the results are enlightening and perhaps surprising. Survey respondents noted that teaching authority control is an important endeavor in library science, but just how much it is taught and what barriers exist for someone wanting to teach it may surprise the reader. The eight articles within the second section, "Standards, Exchange Formats, Metadata", address a wide variety of pertinent and fascinating topics of interest to all catalogers, especially metadata specialists. These include IFLA's attempts at developing the UNIMARC standard for authority data, the relationship between authority control and various bourgeoning metadata standards, and the challenge of establishing and maintaining authority control in an era of networked interoperability. The third section, "Authority Control for Names and Places", consists of eight articles that are particularly practical. One highlight in this section is Qiang Jin's fascinating discussion on using the Web pages of corporate entities as bases for established headings in authority records. The next section, "Authority Control for Subjects", addresses issues in subject authority records in its six articles, highlighted by Ana Lupe Cristán's discussion on SACO and subject gateways.
The final, and by far lengthiest, section of the book is "Authority Control Experiences and Projects", which consists of twenty articles detailing case study results of a wide variety of projects involving authority control that were recently undertaken by librarians around the world. These international experiences should have universal appeal to all catalogers. This section, which takes up nearly half of the book's 651 pages, is arguably the best reason to acquire and read this tome. It is tremendously rewarding to read about, and learn from, librarians from around the world who are finding creative solutions to such authority control problems as multiple names and language differences.
A worthwhile addition to these five sections is Michael Gorman's opinionated and incisive article on the history, current state, and future of authority control. This excellent overview of the process and rationale for authority control should be required reading for all librarians and library science students. Gorman's strong thoughts on "real cataloging" versus Dublin Core metadata (which he calls "wretched Dublin Core") and Google searching will undoubtedly cause a reaction.
This book is both practical and theoretical in nature, and focuses on both "real cataloging" and metadata. The issues addressed are not just touched upon; rather, they are explored in depth. A tremendous amount of research is conducted on authority control and librarians around the world are obviously putting a great deal of creative thought and effort into this essential aspect of cataloging. The authors' contributions are remarkably thorough and comprehensive, but the articles are as readable as they are instructive and consist of a large amount of useful information that the reader can apply to his or her own job as cataloger or metadata specialist. Those who are merely looking for a comprehensive history of authority control will find it within the book's pages. Additionally, those interested in the current state of authority control will be thrilled. And finally, those seeking ideas on where authority control may be heading will also be satisfied. The consistently high quality of writing and thinking found within the book's pages is inspiring. As an invaluable resource for practitioners and educators alike, it should find its way into library science classrooms, onto library shelves and catalogers' desks everywhere.
Published in 2004 by: Haworth Information Press, Binghamton , New York . (651 p.) ISBN 0-7890-2715-1 ($59.95); 0-7890-2716-X ( pbk . - $34.95). Co-published simultaneously as Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, Vol. 38, Nos. 3/4, 2004 and vol. 39, nos. 1/2, 2004.