The Authority File in the Union Catalog of the Egyptian University Libraries Consortium: Experimental Study

Abstract

The study objective is to evaluate the automatic subsystem of the authority control for the future system in the unified catalog of the Egyptian universities. In addition, to build authority files according to the MARC 21 reference standard for names (whether the name of a person or the name of a body or a conference), Titles (whether unified name or serials) and Subjects (Subject - geographical name) in the unified catalog of the Egyptian universities, to contribute to the standardization of the authorities access points. Moreover, the subsequent reduction of the frequency. Consequently, to identify the pros and cons of the built-in authority files. Then develop a proposed scenario for the standard quality control of the authority records. The thesis based on two approaches: the case study methodology to describe, analyze and evaluate the automatic subsystem of the authority control of the future system in the unified catalog of the Egyptian universities, to determine the functional requirements that should be available. The experimental approach to construct the authority file in the unified catalog of Egyptian universities, the standardization and consolidation of the authorities access points of bibliographic records (sample study) and was based on the two checklists as a tool to collect student data.
The main results of this study were as follows:
1-Integration of the authority control subsystem with the cataloging subsystem.
2-The future system is flexible in modifying the definition of fields, indicators and subfields in the authority records in accordance with the latest amendments to the rules, but this feature was not used until the time of study.
The future system is not compatible with the description rules of resources and made available from the RDA, and does not comply with the standard contact form MARC 21 in its latest updates (April 2017).
The experimental authority file contributed to the increase in the validity and standardization of the authority access points in bibliographic records, and also contributed to reducing the time and effort of bibliographic recorders.