Glenn E. Patton

As a step toward understanding how authority data is used currently in the library context, five functions of that data were identified:

First, the data documents decisions made by the cataloger when choosing the appropriate controlled access points for a new bibliographic record or when formulating new access points.

Second, information recorded in authority data serves as a reference tool for those same two activities as well as providing information that can be used in distinguishing one person, corporate body or work from another. It may also serve to help the cataloger to determine that none of the existing access points is appropriate and that a new access point is needed. It can also serve a broader reference function for other library staff.

Third, authority data can be used to control the forms of access points in bibliographic records and, in an automated environment, change those access points when the authority data itself is changed.

Fourth, authority data supports access to bibliographic records by leading the user from the form of name as searched to the form of name used in the bibliographic file.

Finally, authority data can be used to link bibliographic and authority files in ways that, for example, allow the conversion of data elements into languages and scripts most appropriate to the user’s needs.