[Koha-devel] The logic of BiblioAddsAuthorities and AutoCreateAuthorities...

[dcook at prosentient.com.au]

Hi all,

Here's the current state of BiblioAddsAuthorities and AutoCreateAuthorities:

1. You can manually input text into an authority controlled field if
BiblioAddsAuthorities is enabled.
2. Automatic linking between bib records and authority records *only*
happens if BiblioAddsAuthorities is enabled.
3. AutoCreateAuthorities will automatically generate authorities if
BiblioAddsAuthorities is enabled.

I think that this all makes sense when manually inputting records, but it
doesn't make sense when you're using automation like Z39.50, Staged MARC
Upload, or other bulk tools. In those cases, you might want automatic
linking between bibs and authorities (with or without automatic authority
creation), but you might still want authority controlled fields to be
read-only when manually working with records.

I am wondering if anyone else has any insight into this. 

In my mind, BiblioAddsAuthorities should probably be "BiblioAddsAuthorities"
and "BiblioAutolinkAuthorities". 

Or maybe the "read-only" flag could be on MARC frameworks... 

I'm waiting to see what some librarians say, but keen to gather ideas.

David Cook
Software Engineer
Prosentient Systems
Suite 7.03
6a Glen St
Milsons Point NSW 2061
Australia

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