Our RDA authority control options, which are useful for matching your AACR2 & RDA bib headings in unique ways, have undergone several different changes over the past several months. As you may know, Backstage has employed 7 different options <http://ac.bslw.com/community/wiki/index.php5/RDA_7.1> for matching your bib headings against AACR2 and RDA authority records. During the testing phase, catalogers were asked to create equivalent RDA versions of headings based on the access points they were reviewing. If no AACR2 authority existed, then catalogers were asked to create a new RDA authority record. If an AACR2 authority did exist, however, catalogers were asked to add an RDA-compliant heading to the existing AACR2 authority record, in a 7XX-4 field. Some 18,000+ 7XX-4 fields were added to existing AACR2 authorities during this testing phase, 80% of which were 700-4 fields (personal names). Nearly 66% of the total 7XX-4 fields were, byte for byte, exactly the same as the AACR2 authorized (1XX) version. Almost 97% of the remaining unique fields were for personal names. Our RDA options 3.0 <http://ac.bslw.com/community/wiki/index.php5/RDA_7.1#RDA_OPTION_3.0> & 3.5 <http://ac.bslw.com/community/wiki/index.php5/RDA_7.1#RDA_OPTION_3.5> included the possibility of matching against these 7XX-4 headings and flipping/changing to the RDA version. We had 8 large academic institutions and 1 large public library that have requested we apply either 3.0 or 3.5. When the 7XX-4 fields were created, their ultimate fate was debated within the library community: 1. Move the 7XX-4 fields to their own RDA authority, and remove from existing AACR2 authorities 2. Remove the 7XX-4 fields entirely and just start over for those particular test records Eventually, PCC members decided that the RDA headings created within AACR2 authorities during the testing phase should be removed entirely by Day One Implementation of RDA <http://ac.bslw.com/community/blog/2012/07/set-phasers-to-stun/> . For a while, Backstage has been maintaining 3 separate authorities databases: 1. AACR2 authorities 2. AACR2 authorities where 7XX has been moved to 1XX (and existing 1XX was moved to 4XX) 3. RDA authorities Navigating between the 3 databases has proven to be a little tricky on our side. But we wanted to have options in place that made sense for our customers. With the 7XX-4 fields being considered effectively obsolete by PCC, Backstage will consolidate our existing authority databases back into one cohesive database. One other reason why we decided to make this change at this time: * AACR2 authorities deleted, then replaced by an RDA authority Our system was struggling to link up the older LCCN of the AACR2 authority, which now existed in the new RDA authority (as 010 $z). By combining the authority databases on our side, we have ensured that the system will now return authorities that used to be AACR2, but have now been replaced by RDA authorities. Due to our handling of older forms of headings <http://ac.bslw.com/community/wiki/index.php5/Step_6.4> , the older AACR2 version of the heading will be included as a 4XX in the new RDA authority record. This gives you the peace of mind that, even though your replaced record is RDA, your bib headings will change based on that older link (4XX) within the RDA authority record. We will also be removing the possibility of matching against 7XX-4 fields, primarily because PCC will be removing them at some point in the near future. This change is to ensure that we aren't caught flat-footed when the 7XX-4 fields are ultimately removed. Not doing so would mean we could potentially be changing bibliographic headings to authorized forms which will not exist in the coming weeks, potentially resulting in blind references. Due to this announcement, RDA options 4.0 <http://ac.bslw.com/community/wiki/index.php5/RDA_7.1#RDA_OPTION_4.0> , 4.5 <http://ac.bslw.com/community/wiki/index.php5/RDA_7.1#RDA_OPTION_4.5> , and 5.0 <http://ac.bslw.com/community/wiki/index.php5/RDA_7.1#RDA_OPTION_5.0> are also affected since they treat the 7XX-4 as a 4XX during matching. We have 11 institutions that currently choose one of these last 3 options. This also means we will be updating our RDA authority control options soon since some of these will be combined into others. We fully anticipate creating new options or adjusting our existing options as we get closer to Day One <http://ac.bslw.com/community/blog/2012/05/rda-naf-conversion-and-day-on e-implementation/> , as we are continually seeking to fulfill our customers' needs. This change is effective after July 20, 2012. Please let us know any questions you may have. As always, your feedback is welcome. Nate Cothran Vice President, Automation Services 533 East 1860 South Provo, Utah 84606 Phone: +1.800.288.1265, ext. 697 Direct: +1.801.342.5697 nate@bslw.com <mailto:nate@bslw.com?subject=Automation%20Services%20-%20Inquiry> * www.bslw.com
