[Koha-devel] Authority control - request for comments

[Jared Camins-Esakov]

Good time of day!

I plan to do a great deal of work on the authority module, and I wanted to
request that anyone with thoughts on the matter please share them with me.
The RFC is on the wiki at
http://wiki.koha-community.org/wiki/C_%26_P_Authority_Control_Improvements_RFCand
I have copied the description below.

Description

The development is divided into 14 parts:

   1. A dropdown box will be added to the authority browser in the OPAC
   allowing the user to choose which index to search in authorities: the
   keyword index, the match heading index (i.e. all heading fields), the
   preferred heading index, or the main entry only index. (bug 8206)
   2. Because importing large authority files can result in unused
   authority records overwhelming used authority records in OPAC authority
   browse results, some libraries may want to disable the display of
   authorities which are not used in the bibliographic database. In order to
   make this possible (while still retaining the existing behavior of
   displaying all records in the authority file as a default), a system
   preference OPACShowUnusedAuthorities will be created, and a "Show all
   results" link added to search results when it is enabled. (bug 8205)
   3. Because see also references in authority records are intended to
   refer to other authority records, they really ought to be turned into
   hyperlinks in the various authority displays. They will be made into
   hyperlinks (using the authid in $9 if available, or a search string
   otherwise) in both the OPAC and the staff client. (bug 3462)
   4. At present, the only authority record view available in the OPAC is
   an "expanded MARC" view which is of no use to patrons, and limited use to
   librarians. We propose adding a user-friendly authority details view
   similar in design to the bib details view. (bug 8204)
   5. Although the batch import functionality was originally designed with
   importing both bibliographic and authority records in mind, authority
   import was never actually implemented. This will be done quite simply, by
   adding an option to choose which type of record to import in the Stage MARC
   records tool. (bug 2060)
   6. Match points will also be extended for use with authority records,
   again completing a feature for which stubs already existed. (bug 7475)
   7. There is no way to export authority records other than via a direct
   SQL query, which makes it difficult for hosted libraries to get their data
   out of Koha without the help of their support vendors. We propose to change
   the "Export bibliographic/holdings" tool to the "Export data" tool, and add
   a tab to enable librarians with the proper permissions for the export tool
   to export their authority records directly from the staff client. (bug 8202)
   8. Some librarians have requested the ability to save individual
   authority records, so a "Save authority" button will be added next to the
   "Edit" button when viewing authority records. (bug 8203)
   9. One of the great promises of DOM indexing in Zebra (and the adoption
   of solr as an indexing technology) is the ability to incorporate alternate
   forms of headings into bib records when exporting bibs for indexing. We
   will add the plumbing for arbitrary record filters, and implement a filter
   that checks each heading in bib records for alternate forms, and includes
   them prior to exporting the record for indexing. (bug 7417)
   10. Instead of using only textual strings for see also links, the
   ability to use $9 in see also fields in authority records (5xx in MARC21,
   NORMARC, and UNIMARC) will be added, to simplify heading disambiguation.
   This will enable us to create a value builder plugin using the existing
   thesaurus functionality that will automatically populate the see also
   heading control fields with metadata about the link (broader term, narrower
   term, etc.) (bug 8207)
   11. Right now when cataloging, catalogers have only two options for
   adding a new authority: turn on AutoGenerateAuthorities, and later edit the
   authority record to justify its creation, or save the bib record they are
   working on, create a new authority record in the authority module, wait for
   the new record to be indexed, and open the bib record back up to use the
   authority finder plugin. We intend to add a "Create authority" button to
   the authority finder plugin which will allow the cataloger to create an
   authority in a new window and (similar to fast add in circ) automatically
   fill out the selected heading field in the bib record. (bug 8208)
   12. At times, people may want to search for terms that are related to
   the one they search for. For example, someone interested in books about
   Feet may also be interested in all books about specific parts of feet,
   including books about Toes, Heels, etc. We will add three new special
   pseudo-CCL search prefixes which will first search the authority file for
   the specified heading, then search not just for that term but also for
   broader terms (pseudo-CCL prefix su-br:), narrower terms (pseudo-CCL prefix
   su-na:), or all related terms (pseudo-CCL prefix su-rl:). (bug 8211)
   13. Because patrons may not always realize that they want to search for
   a related term instead of the term they entered, we will also add a "Did
   you mean?" feature to the OPAC, which suggests terms related to authorities
   that match the user's search. (bug 8209)
   14. Although not all authority records contain useful information, many
   do, and depending on the type of collection, access to that information can
   be critical to both librarians and patrons. In order to simplify looking up
   authorities referred to in particular records, a link from subject headings
   to their related authorities will be added to the OPAC. A patch which adds
   this to the "normal" mode bib details display has already Passed QA (bug
   5888), so unless an unsolvable problem is found with that patch,
   implementation will focus on the XSLT view. (bug 8210)

Any questions or comments are welcome.

Regards,
Jared Camins-Esakov

-- 
Jared Camins-Esakov
Bibliographer, C & P Bibliography Services, LLC
(phone) +1 (917) 727-3445
(e-mail) jcamins at cpbibliography.com
(web) http://www.cpbibliography.com/
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