Authorities in Koha
Koha has a number of ways of managing authority records. Here are a few options.
Automatically Link Authority Records
Libraries can link authorities while cataloging. A button in the Basic Editor will link the authorities in the record with existing authorities in the database.
To use this feature, the library will need to set the system preference AutoCreateAuthorities, to "don't generate". The ability to automatically link authorities using a button is currently only available in the Basic Editor and not in the Advanced Editor.
Once the linking has occurred, Koha displays an informational box to indicate which authorities linked to existing authorities and which did not. This information box makes it easy to know what authorities need to be created.
Within the authority record, Koha will highlight the authorities in green, meaning it found a match, or red, meaning no match was found.
No other interaction needs to happen - the user can then save the record.
Adding a See Also to an Authority Record
Here is a short tutorial on adding a 'See Also' to an authority record.
See Also
Koha gives libraries the ability to modify their authority records to include 'See Also' links. These 'See Also' links can be new authority records, existing authority records, or authority records added via z39.50.
To add a 'See Also' to an authority record, you will search for your authority record in the Authorities module. Once you have found the authority record, click on the Actions button and choose Edit. This will bring you into the full authority record. The 5 tab is where the 'See Also' options live.
Here is an example of what an authority record looks like with 'See Also' included:
Authority Search Library of Congress
To add a new authority record from the Library of Congress database for authorities, either Names or Subjects, staff can utilize the ‘New from Z39.50/SRU’ search within the Authorities Module. SRU (Search/Retrieve via URL) index mappings allow the query of the LC catalog using standard Context Set shortcodes.
The Koha Manual covers adding an SRU target within administration. The Library of Congress provides Z39.50/SRW/SRU Server Configuration Guidelines to ensure proper set up.
Adding MARC fields to authority search
The system preference AdditionalFieldsInZ3950AuthSearch gives libraries the ability to add more fields to the z39.50 authority search. This is similar to the system preference AdditionalFieldsInZ3950ResultSearch, which allows libraries to add more MARC fields in the bibliographic search using z39.50.
Within this system preference, libraries can add a MARC field and subfield to display when a search is performed. Search results will include this additional field.
Authority Notes
In authority search, 6xx notes are clickable. A pop-up window will display all the notes found in the authority record.
Preview of Authority Record in MARC View
Koha has a link from within the authority record to show a MARC preview:
Customizable Authority Fields
In Koha 22.05+, libraries can customize the values in fields found in the authority record using the system preferences GenerateAuthorityField667 and GenerateAuthorityField670.
Previously, when Koha created a machine-generated authority record, default text was included in the fields 667 and 670. Now, Koha will allow libraries to edit this text to fit the library's workflow.
Each of these system preferences has a text box with the default text included, which can be added to or edited.
Update Headings When Linking Authorities
Functionality exists in Koha so that bibliographic headings are properly formatted when linked. Koha checks the control fields of the authority record and updates the heading indicators and adds a $2, if necessary. This change helps to enforce better data quality and authority control. When importing and linking a large batch of authorities, either through regular authority updates or a data migration, it is important to check the control fields because the authorities may be updated unexpectedly.
Bug 40119 introduced an enhancement that updated the second indicator and added a $2 for cataloging sources for subject headings. Koha now checks these fields of the authority record:
- 008 space 11 = z
- 040$f = source
In this scenario, if Koha sees that 008 space 11 contains a Z for other and has a cataloging source defined in the 040$f, then the corresponding subject heading will be updated. For example:
650 #0 $aRandom Subject
will be updated to:
650 #7 $aRandom Subject $2 source
This will happen when the authority is manually linked for the first time or when a script is run to link the authorities in bulk.
If tag 008 space 11 is blank and 040$f is also blank, the heading will be updated to:
650 #4 $aRandom Subject
The second indicator defines what should appear in the heading. If the second indicator is a '7' then there should be a subfield 2 that defines a source. Koha attempts to enforce that requirement if the authority record is configured to include a source. A second indicator of '4' indicates the source is not specified.
Authority records should be checked prior to a bulk import to look at the 008 space 11 and the 040$f. If libraries do not want the headings updated, the authority records will need to updated prior to importing and linking.
How Can I Identify Unused Authorities?
The Unused Authorities Report plugin can help libraries identify authorities with no bibliographic records attached.
Once it is installed under Administration > Manage plugins, libraries can run the plugin:
Staff will have options for whether to output the results to the screen or a .csv file, and searches can be filtered by specific authority types. Displaying results to the screen will provide a direct link back to the authority record. The .csv output will provide enough information to search for the records via the Authorities module if staff prefer to make an initial sweep and come back to investigate later. The plugin recommends searching no more than 5000 records at a time, so it may be a resource-intensive undertaking for a large consortium with many of authorities. However, it is good housekeeping, especially before utilizing a third-party service for authority cleanup.
Considering Heading Use
The system preference ConsiderHeadingUse will cause the authority linker to reference the control tag 008, spaces 14, 15, and 16. These spaces define whether an authority can appropriately link to a heading.
If an authority is marked as not appropriate for heading use, then the linker will not allow the heading to link to the authority. Once enabled, any new linking will check whether the link is appropriate or not. Any previously linked heading will maintain their existing link. Because ConsiderHeadingUse impacts linking, the linker settings may need to be adjusted.
- AutoLinkBiblios
- CatalogModuleRelink
- LinkerRelink
If a library with existing linked headings would like to enable this preference in order to clean up records, then it is recommended to disable the CatalogModuleRelink and possibly the LinkerRelink preferences. These two system preferences will re-link a heading to the previously linked authority, even if the authority indicates it is not appropriate. If disabled, the heading will not automatically relink and the heading will be left unlinked until an appropriate authority is available.
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