Authorities Validation

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Introduction

When adding or revising a bibliographic record, validating the headings contained within the record is normal practice. Voyager includes several different tools to assist in this process.

Please note that when Voyager is checking the headings, the use of the correct tags, indicators and subfield codes can make a difference. Voyager is, however, able to take what it considers "cosmetic differences" into account when validating a heading. These "cosmetic differences" include capitalization and punctuation.

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Authority Validation

Normally, part of the process of saving a bibliographic record to the database includes the process of validating any headings in the record. The preferences within the Cataloguing module allow you to specify which types of headings should be checked. Depending on the type of material you catalogue, you may wish to turn off the name/title check. You may also turn off the authorities validation all together; however, this would not be the usual situation.

With authorities validation turned on, when you click on the Save to DB button, Voyager will first check your MARC coding, and then validate the authority records. (You may also select Save to DB from the Record menu, or type ALT-R + V or CTRL-B). Voyager will present you with a validation report.

The validation report will differ slightly depending on whether or not you have checked Display all the headings in your Preferences. If you have this option checked, the report will display the status of all headings in the record. If you do not, the report will only include those headings which are not completely validated. The examples shown below were retrieved with the Display all the headings option checked.

Each heading in the bibliographic record will be checked for a matching authority record, and the status of the heading will be reported. If the heading in the bibliographic record matches an established heading in an authority record, you will be so informed. The Retrieve auth button on the validation report can be used to view the actual authority record.

If you do not have the Display all the headings option checked in your preferences, headings of this type will be omitted from the report.

You may also be informed that the heading matches, but with "cosmetic differences". You would normally correct the form of the heading in the bibliographic record to match.

If a heading in the bibliographic record does not match, you will see the following message:

It will then be up to you to take further steps to find the appropriate form of the heading. The Authority Validation report includes a Search button to allow you to check the database for other variations. Selecting a heading from the list and clicking on the Search button will provide you with a browse list, similar to the following:

From this list you can view the bibliographic records, the authority records or references, and browse forward and back in the indexes.

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Subject Heading Validation

The Authority Validation report will also attempt to validate the subject headings. This process is a little more complicated as Voyager breaks down the heading into its various components, and checks all of them. It will check for:

• an authority record which matches the complete subject heading, including all subdivisions;
• an authority record which matches the main heading;
• subdivision authority records which match the various subdivisions

If Voyager finds an authority record which matches the entire string, the report will indicate that it found the whole thing. It will then also attempt to match the subdivisions alone, and in this type of situation, it will normally report that the subdivisions were not validated. However, since the whole string is correct, you can ignore these reports.

Alternatively, Voyager may locate the main heading, but not the whole string. The report will then indicate that the main heading is validated. Voyager will then check for subdivision records which match; frequently, you will then be told that the subdivision is validated. In this type of situation, consider the complete heading validated.

Please note that Voyager will not always validate a subdivision which contains incorrect subdivision coding; it is therefore advisable to correct subject headings which should contain |v subfield codes before validating the record.

The database does not contain subdivision authority records for geographic subdivisions. As a result, these types of subdivisions will normally not validate. So long as the main heading is coded to accept geographic subdivisions, and the form of the geographic subdivision is correct, accept the heading.

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Validate Heading Command

With a bibliographic record displayed, you may also validate a particular heading. Select the heading by clicking beside it in the Row Label (this is the first column on the left hand side of the record). Select Validate heading from the Record menu (or type ALT-R + L or CTRL + H).

If the heading is correct, you will receive a message to that effect.

If the heading is not correct, a browseable headings list will be brought up for you to use.

You can then use this index to locate the correct form of the heading, or to do a new search. You can browse forward and back in the list by clicking on the and buttons. (Don't use the or buttons, as these will take you to the very beginning and end of the alphabet.) If you can find the correct heading in the list, you can select it and use the Replace button to correct the heading in the bibliographic record.

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Retrieve Authorities Command

With the bibliographic record displayed, you may also call up a list of all verified authorities. Select Retrieve Authorities frm the Record menu (or type ALT-R + A).

This command will only retrieve the authority records which exactly match the headings in the bibliographic records. It will not list any partial matches.

You can call up any or all of these authority records by selecting them from the list.

Any headings which do not appear on this list will need to be checked in a different manner.

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