MARC authority

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The MARC authority app allows the management of MARC authority records within FOLIO.

Definition of terms related to the MARC authority app:

  • Access point. Element in a bibliographic record intended to be searched, e.g., contributor’s name, title, subject. Also referred to as a “heading.”
  • Authority record. A record that records the authorized forms of names, subjects, and subject subdivisions to be used in constructing access points in MARC records, the forms of these names, subjects, and subject subdivisions that should be used as references to the authorized forms, and the interrelationships among these forms.
  • Authorized access point. An access point that is represented by an authority record.
  • Heading. Same as: access point.
  • Reference. An entry in an authority record that points the user to either the authorized access point or a related authorized access point.

Permissions

The permissions listed below allow you to interact with the MARC Authority app and authority-specific functions in quickMARC. You can assign permissions to users in the Users app.

  • MARC Authority: View MARC authority record. This permission allows the user to view authority records.
  • MARC Authority: Edit MARC authority record. This permission allows the user to edit authority records.
  • MARC Authority: Delete MARC authority record. This permission allows the user to delete authority records.
  • MARC Authority: Create new MARC authority record. This permission allows the user to create authority records.
  • quickMARC: View, edit MARC authority record. This permission allows the user to view and edit MARC authority records.
  • quickMARC: Create a new MARC authority record This permissions allows the user to create a new MARC authority record in quickMARC.

Keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts allow you to perform actions in this app using the keyboard. See Platform Essentials > Keyboard shortcuts for more information.

Viewing a MARC authority record

The full MARC record opens in the third pane once you search for and select an authority record. The heading or reference you selected will be highlighted in the record.

Creating MARC authority records

Creating new MARC authority records via Data Import

MARC authority records can be created via Data import. To create one or more authority records via Data Import, see instructions on starting a data import job.

Creating new MARC authority records in the MARC Authority app (via quickMARC)

To create a new authority record in the MARC authority app, follow these steps:

  1. Open the MARC authority app.
  2. Click Actions > New.
  3. Follow instructions for editing authority records via quickMARC.

Editing MARC authority records

Updating MARC authority records via Data import

MARC authority records can be updated via Data import. To update one or more authority records via Data Import, see instructions on starting a data import job.

Editing MARC authority records via quickMARC

When viewing the MARC authority record you wish to edit, click Edit in the upper right. The record opens in edit mode.

In the Edit MARC authority record window, you can perform the following actions:

  • Add a field. To add a field, click the +. The new field appears below.
  • Delete a field. To delete a field, click the trash can icon. The field is deleted.
  • Move a field up. To move a field up, click the up arrow in the row of the field you want to move. The field is moved one row up.
  • Move a field down. To move a field down, click the down arrow in the row of the field you want to move. The field is moved one row down.
  • Edit text within a field. Click into a field to make changes to the text. To add a literal dollar sign ($) (i.e., not a subfield delimiter) in a field, enter {dollar}.
  • Once you have made your desired changes, click Save & close. A confirmation message appears, and the record is updated.

Validations and restrictions

A subfield is defined by a $ (dollar sign).
Tags must consist of 3 numeric characters.
Indicators must consist of single characters.

The following additional validation rules and restrictions apply:

  • The leader (LDR) field can be edited via dropdown menus under each position. Only Record status (Status, corresponds with position 05), Type of record (Type, position 06), Encoding Level (Elvl, position 17), and Punctuation policy (Punct, position 18) can be edited. Type of record (position 06) must contain a value of “z”.
  • Fields 001 and 999ff are system supplied and cannot be edited or deleted.
  • Field 001 is non-repeatable.
  • Field 010 is non-repeatable and can only contain one $a.
  • 1xx is required and non-repeatable.
  • By default, no other validation is performed. Additional validation rules can be configured at the tenant level via the mod-record-specifications API (see the developer documentation).

Note that validation rules are only applied when creating or editing an authority record in quickMARC, not when records are imported via the Data import app.

Deleting MARC authority records

To delete a MARC authority record, follow these steps:

  1. With the authority record open in the third pane of the MARC authority app, click Actions > Delete
  2. In the Confirm deletion of authority record dialog, click Delete. The authority record is deleted.

Searching for authority records

You can search for MARC authority records in the Search & filter pane. Enter your search terms in the box and click Search. Select the Keyword drop-down list to search through one of the following:

  • Keyword. Keyword search through the title, contributor, and identifier fields.
  • Identifier (all). Keyword search through all identifier types.
  • LCCN. Keyword search through all Library of Congress control numbers.
  • Personal name. Keyword search through the personal name field. The search terms must be ordered as follows: Last Name, First Name, Initial.
  • Corporate/Conference name. Keyword search through the name corporate/conference name field.
  • Geographic name. Keyword search through the geographic name field. The search terms must be ordered as follows: City, State/Province, Country.
  • Name-title. Keyword search through the name-title field. The search terms must be ordered as follows: Last Name, First Name, Title.
  • Uniform title. Keyword search through the uniform title field.
  • Subject. Keyword search through all subject fields. This may include a single term, phrase, or a group of terms.
  • Children’s subject heading. Keyword search through all children’s subject heading fields.
  • Genre. Keyword search through all genre/form fields.
  • Advanced search. Keyword search through multiple fields.

Advanced Search allows you to add additional requirements to your search.

To use Advanced Search, follow these steps:

  1. Select Advanced Search in the Search segment drop-down list on Search & filter pane. A pop-up box will appear.
  2. Enter a search term into the first box.
  3. On the same row, click the Contains all drop-down list and select an option from the list below:
  • Exact phrase. Results include records that contain only an exact match to the search term.
  • Contains all. Results include records that contain the entire search term, but individual words can appear in any order.
  • Starts with. Results include records that contain a field that starts with the search term.
  • Contains any. Results include records that contain any of the words included in the search term.
  1. On the same row, click the Keyword drop-down list and select a field. See searching for authority records for a list of fields.
  2. To enter search terms into additional rows, you must select an operator from the AND drop-down list.
  3. Click the AND drop-down list and select an operator from the list below:
  • AND. Results include records containing all of the search terms.
  • OR. Results include all records containing at least one of the search terms.
  • NOT. Results do not include records containing the search terms in this row.
  1. Continue entering additional search terms and selecting the appropriate fields for each row.
  2. Click Search.

After performing a search, you can limit results by selecting any of the filters in the Search & filter pane.

The following filters can be applied to search results:

  • Authority source. The authority source is the name of the authority file. Authority sources can be added, edited, or marked as inactive (See Settings > MARC Authority).
  • References. “See from” and “See from also” references can be excluded from the search results.
  • Thesaurus. The thesaurus for authority records is assigned according to the 008 field Subject heading system/thesaurus (position 11).
  • Type of heading. The type of heading is assigned according to the 1XX field. Options are personal name, corporate name, conference name, topical, geographic name, genre, uniform title, and other.
  • Date created. The date the record was created, entered as a range.
  • Date updated. The date the record was most recently updated, entered as a range.

When using filters, keep the following in mind:

  • Multiple filters can be combined to limit searches further.
  • Multiple values in the same filter are combined with “OR.”
  • Multiple values in different filters are combined with “AND.”

Browsing authority headings and references

You can browse for MARC authority records in the Search & filter pane. Enter your search terms in the box and click Search. Select the Select a browse option drop-down list to search through one of the following:

  • Personal name.
  • Corporate/Conference name.
  • Geographic name.
  • Name-title.
  • Uniform title.
  • Subject.
  • Genre.

The following filters can be applied to browse results:

  • Authority source. The authority source is the name of the authority file. Authority sources can be added, edited, or marked as inactive (see Settings > MARC Authority).
  • References. “See from” references can be excluded from the browse results.
  • Type of heading. The type of heading is assigned according to the authority record’s 1XX field. Options are personal name, corporate name, conference name, topical, geographic name, genre, uniform title, and other.

When using filters, keep the following in mind:

  • Multiple filters can be combined to limit searches further.
  • Multiple values in the same filter are combined with “OR.”
  • Multiple values in different filters are combined with “AND.”

Exporting MARC authority records

  1. Open the MARC authority app.
  2. In the Search & filter pane, search for the records you want to export. In the MARC authority pane, for each record you wish to export, select the checkbox in the first column. Note that associated references in the results list can also be checked; the message at the top of the pane will display the accurate number of records selected.
  3. Click Actions > Export selected records (CSV/MARC). Depending on your browser and its configurations, the file automatically downloads or you are prompted to save it. The export is logged in the Data export app.

To view the exported records, follow the instructions in Retrieving data export results

Reporting

Users can generate reports within the MARC Authority app and retrieve them via Export Manager. Two reports are available, MARC authority headings updates and Failed updates: linked bibliographic fields.

The MARC authority headings updates report shows which MARC authority records' 1XX fields have been updated during a particular date range. It contains the following fields: date and time that the authority record was last updated, original heading, new heading, original 1XX, new 1XX, authority source file name, number of bibliographic records linked, and the FOLIO account name of the record updater.

To generate the MARC authority headings updates report:

  1. Open the MARC authority app.
  2. Click Actions > MARC authority headings updates (CSV)
  3. Enter a start date and end date.
  4. Click Export
  5. Open the Export manager app.
  6. Locate the correct job and click its Job ID to download the CSV report.

The Failed updates: linked bibliographic fields report shows when a MARC authority record’s 1XX or 010$a field is updated but the linked bibliographic field(s) has not updated. It contains the following fields: date and time of the failed link, bibliographic title, bibliographic UUID, MARC tag of the bibliographic field that failed to update, linked authority identifier, and reason for error.

To generate the Failed updates: linked bibliographic fields report:

  1. Open the MARC authority app.
  2. Click Actions > Failed updates: linked bibliographic fields (CSV)
  3. Open the Export manager app.
  4. Locate the correct job and click its Job ID to download the CSV report.
Last modified December 5, 2024