Maxwell's Guide to Authority Work

by Robert L. Maxwell

Authority work is the linchpin of the library catalog. As the author puts it, "Without authority control, the burden is placed on the user to think of all the possible forms a cataloger might have used to give access in the catalog to a given author or subject." If a subject is not sorted by its authorized heading, then the library and its users and staff are left without a system and ultimately the cost of an unsatisfied user. From one of the preeminent experts in the field, this is the step-by-step guide for ensuring that your library and staff are creating and maintaining authority records with the end user in mind. Comprehensive and definitive, Maxwell's Guide to Authority Work is a must-have.In this readable text, authority work is broken down to its most basic components so that you can trace and follow the preparation of a complete authority record. Helpful illustrations identify the key characteristics of good authority records, common acronyms are defined, and cross-references throughout reinforce material. Step-by-step, you'll learn how * Form and record uniform access points * Keep thorough and accurate records * Share information in an environment of international databases and cooperative catalogingThe authoritative tool for making certain a person, author, corporate body, organization, book, or other media is appropriately classified under its authority name, subject, and form, Maxwell's should be part of any library's toolbox.

Genres: Library Science

Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2002

About the author

Robert L. Maxwell is a senior librarian at the Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah, USA, where he is chair of the Special Collections and Metadata Catalog Department. He is the author of books on cataloging, including FRBR: A Guide for the Perplexed (Chicago: American Library Association, 2008); Maxwell’s Guide to Authority Work (Chicago: ALA, 2002), which won the 2002 Highsmith Library Literature Award; and Maxwell’s Handbook for AACR2 (Chicago: ALA, 2004). He has taught cataloging at Brigham Young University and the University of Arizona, and is a voting member of ALA’s Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access, the ALA body responsible for developing official ALA positions on AACR2 and RDA. In addition to an MLS from the University of Arizona, he holds a JD from Brigham Young University and a Ph.D. in classical languages and literatures from the University of Toronto.

Reviews

[Rusty del Norte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good if your library uses MARC21 and AACR2 bibliographic records. If your library uses RDA with MARC, it can still have some value. If your library uses newer bibliographic standards like BIBFRAME, XML, or MODS instead of MARC, then this work would not be as helpful.