Most catalogs use Library of Congress name and subject headings to optimize patron searches. Many libraries use at least a few other controlled vocabularies that relate to areas of emphasis in their collections. And headings from other authority files are likely to find their way into your records from shared sources of catalog metadata.
Backstage’s authority control service currently has options to control headings from 20 authority files. How many of these can be found in your library’s catalog? How many do you actively maintain? And how many have you never even considered?
National Library Files
- The Library of Congress Names Authority File (NAF) is updated weekly and comprises over 8.2 million entries.
- The Library of Congress Subjects Authority File (SAF) also has weekly updates and is larger than the NAF, with some 8.6 million entries.
- The Children’s Subject Authority File (CHILD) is a smaller list, but it also receives weekly attention and now contains more than 12,500 entries. This file is maintained as part of the Children’s and Young Adults’ Cataloging Program (CYAC) at the Library of Congress.
- The Medical Subject Headings file (MeSH) from the US National Library of Medicine includes 616,000 entries and is updated on an annual schedule. The library made changes in 2015 to reorganize its data in a faceted structure. If you have older medical headings in your catalog, Backstage can deconstruct that legacy MeSH data to fit the current model.
- Library and Archives Canada Names (NLC-N) contains 653,000 entries. Since 2018, new English-language name authorities from LAC are added to the LC NAF under a collaboration with LC/NACO through OCLC WorldShare.
- Library and Archives Canada Subjects (NLC-S) has 659,000 entries which are similarly maintained with a 2019 LC/SACO implementation through OCLC WorldShare.
- Faceted Application of Subject Terminology (FAST) is a faceted data approach developed by OCLC using LCSH as its source. FAST is updated quarterly and contains over 1.8 million headings.
Non-English Authority Files
- The National Library of Spain file (EMBNE) holds steady at just over 4 million entries.
- The Queens Library Spanish Language Subject Headlings file (QLSP) contains over 11,000 terms.
- Répertoire de vedettes-matière de l’Université Laval (RVM) has been providing controlled French vocabularies for more than 70 years and serves libraries in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. We’ll be able to match terms and provide authority records for 4 of their vocabularies:
- RVM (Subjects): 347,302 terms
- RVMGF (Genre): 2,442 terms
- RVMGD (Demographic): 1,934 terms
- RVMMEM (Musical Performance): 840 terms
Subject Specialization
- The Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) clocks in at over 74,000 records, or 503,200 terms. It receives thousands of annual edits and additions.
- The Rare Books and Manuscripts Section Vocabularies manages 1,400 terms with designations for form, genre, and other physical characteristics to benefit researchers in the special collection field.
- The Thesaurus for Graphic Materials (TGM) offers 8,600 entries and helps “to index types of photographs, prints, design drawings, ephemera, and other pictures.”
- The Getty Union List of Artist Names (ULAN) contains over 525,00 records, totaling nearly 1.5 million names/terms. These headings may be beneficial to those institutions with larger art collections or who want to control their existing ULAN entries.
- The Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN) is over 3 million records strong, which accounts for +5.3 million names. The TGN benefits from over 350 contributors.
- Guidelines on Subject Access to Individual Works of Fiction, Drama, Etc. (GSAFD) lists 160 entries.
- The NASA Thesaurus (NASA) includes 18,000 terms.
- The Education Resources Information Center Thesaurus (ERIC) pulls in more than “4,500 descriptors and 7,000 synonyms,” providing fuller terminology related to the field of education.
- Homosaurus (HOMOIT) expands on LGTBTQ terms and currently comprises 3,700 headings.
Genre Terms
- Library of Congress Genre Form Terms (LCGFT) comes from a national library source but is the definition of a genre term list! LCGFT receives weekly attention and comprises 2,000 terms.
- The OLAC Video Game Genre Terms thesaurus (OLACVGGT) is a database of 66 terms.
Local Authorities
Your library’s special collections team may have a file that includes names of locally important people and organizations. Or, you may adopt institutionally preferred terminology that doesn’t match politically charged, historically insensitive, or otherwise problematic headings from widely available files. If you have local headings that should be left untouched by an automated authority matching process, or if you have replacement terms that need to be propagated throughout your catalog, Backstage has ways to help make sure your authority data reflects your library’s priorities.
Room For Growth!
Does your library use an authority source you don’t see here? Let us know. Several entries in the current list came from clients asking to incorporate additional thesauri to fit their processing needs. We’ll certainly add more sources as new vocabularies are created in the library community and as they’re requested by librarians like you.
If you have one in mind today, reach out to us at 1.800.288.1265 or send an email to info@bslw.com.
