Archival Name Authority in
a Library Setting
Susan Hamburger, Ph.D.
Manuscripts Cataloging Librarian
Penn State University Libraries
SAA session #707: Making a Contribution: Archives Catalogers’ Participation in
NACO and SACO
August 20, 2005
1
Background

Archivist and Librarian

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
Catalog archival and manuscript
collections
Create name authority headings
Review and approve other catalogers’
name authority headings
Organization


Six format-based teams
Internal review process
2
Archivist as Reviewer

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
Name authority and standards
proponent
Experience searching Library of
Congress Authority File (LCAF)
Natural editor
Understand AACR2 rules
NACO training
Volunteer
3
The Penn State Experience



Review from email list of Save File
numbers
Accept batches of ten names
Reviewing workload



Shared among several staff
Increased as productivity increased
More manuscripts cataloged = more
NACO headings created
4
The Penn State Experience

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Maintaining productivity and interest
Additional staff trained
One-on-one consultation
Refresher training
Unmatched headings reports

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Outside vendor (OCLC/MARS)
2 staff (part-time duties) do maintenance
5
The Penn State Experience

Workflow to creating name authorities

Special Collections staff gives to Manuscripts
Cataloger to catalog

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Finding aids
Small, foldered collections
Manuscripts Cataloger catalogs from finding aids,
boxed collections she processes, and small,
foldered collections, and creates authority records
Special Collections Cataloging Team catalogs and
create authority records
6
The Penn State Experience

OCLC Connexion
(new)

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Search in new
window while
bibliographic record
is open
Click button “Edit
Control Headings
Single”

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
OCLC Passport (old)



Separate logon to
LCAF
Search LCAF
Cut and paste heading
Searches LCAF
automatically
Inserts correct
heading
7
The Penn State Experience

Connexion (new)

Creating LCAF


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Put cursor on 1xx
Click on Tools –
Macros – Manage –
OCLC – Generate
Authority Record Run
Imports name and
title
Finish manually

Passport (old)

Creating LCAF


Set up macro to
import name and title
Finish manually
8
The Penn State Experience

Authority records

Decision to create

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Discretion of each cataloger
No conflict with established heading
Our responsibility for authors we collect and Penn
State related names
Likelihood of contributing useful name


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For other Penn State collections
For others’ use outside Penn State
Decision not to create

Obscure, minor, local person

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Never published anything
No conflict with established heading
No substantive information about him/her
9
Researching Names

General

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Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
American National Biography
Biography and Genealogy Master Index (BGMI)
Encyclopedia Britannica
Who's Who in . . .
Oxford Guide to . . .
Cambridge Guide to . . .
Literary

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Contemporary Authors
Dictionary of Literary Biography
10
Researching Names
Musicians

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New Grove Dictionary of Music Online
Artists

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Union List of Artists’ Names Online
http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_researc
h/vocabularies/ulan/
Dictionary of Art 34 vol. (Gale, 1996)
Bénézit’s Dictionnaire Critique et Documentaire
des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs & de Tous
les Temps et de Tous le Pays 4th ed. 14 vol. (Paris,
1999)
Artist Biographies Master Index (Gale, 1986)
11
Researching Names

Architects

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Brief Biographies of American Architects Who Died
Between 1897 and 1947
http://www.sah.org/oldsite06012004/aame/bioint.html
Photographers (from SAA Visual Materials Section
Web page
<http://www.lib.lsu.edu/SAA/vm_bib.html#hgwpdb>)


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Macmillan Biographical Encyclopedia of Photographic
Artists & Innovators
International Guide to Nineteenth-Century Photographers
and Their Works
Directory of Civil War Photographers (Vols. 1-3)
12
Researching Names

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Local files and county histories
Internet sources
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FamilySearch, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’
online genealogical database
<http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp>
Google
RootsWeb.com <http://www.rootsweb.com/>
Others’ finding aids (e.g., Columbia University’s
<http://www.columbia.edu/cu/libraries/indiv/rare/guides/Appleton/i
ndex.html>)
Famous Americans <http://www.famousamericans.net/>
Internet Movie Database <http://www.imdb.com/>
Political Graveyard <http://politicalgraveyard.com/>
13
Conclusion

Archivists’ relationships with Cataloging


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One-stop shopping within Special Collections
dept.
Compartmentalized and specialized
Parallel operations between archives and library
Archivists and LCAF

Archival catalogers

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Coursework, experience
Collaborative work culture

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Inclusiveness
Respect
Sharing research
14