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Authorities in the catalog - User Interface TG

Authorities in the catalog

11/24/2008: Hans loaded 33,679 bib records into the Auth Test PAC. Please try it out.

7/8/2008: The Authorities Test PAC is ready for some preliminary testing. There are still only about 80 bib records in there, but it's enough to get an idea. Here are some of the features that we need to make decisions about:

• The 'i' button: We removed the [LC Authority Record] text from the browse lists, but left the [MeSH Authority Record] text in the MeSH browse list, so that you can compare the relative readability and understandability of the screens. Decision at 10/7/2008 UITG meeting: Use 'i' button only. No text.
• Keyword searching: We turned on a feature that virtually adds unused terms to bib records. This means that if you do a keyword search on one of the unused terms (cross references) in an authority record, you will retrieve any bibs that contain the authorized heading. For example, try a keyword search on "spread of cancer." This is currently the only way to access the power of cross references in keyword searching. 10/2/2008: More keyword searches to try: Ciaikovsky, jazz playalongs, pharmacotherapy, oncogenesis Decision at 10/7/2008 UITG meeting: The group felt that a larger database was needed to test this feature.
• Series index: We removed volume information and 'unauthorized' series titles from the series browse index. They interfered with linking and cross referencing. You can still get from the unused title to the authorized title through cross references. You can still get an ordered list of volumes using the 'View Titles' button.
• Stripping subdivisions: There is an optional feature that strips subdivisions off of subject headings and presents the authority record for the plain heading, even if there are no bib records that contain the plain heading. For example, do an LCSH browse on "communication in organizations." Notice that the plain heading links only to an authority record, not a bib record, and the subject string "Communication in organizations -- Congresses" links only to a bib record and not an authority record. There are a few things to be aware of with this feature:
  • It will be less frequently visible when we have more bibliographic records in the database (fewer instances in which the plain subject heading is not in use on a bib record).
  • It does not aid with cross references, unfortunately, because blind references are suppressed.
• Broader/narrower terms: We have it set so that broader and narrower terms do not appear on the authority record unless they are in use on a bib record in the database (no blind references).

-- Linda

6/5/2008: Time for an update! Here's a link to a v18 test catalog environment with Authorities, as demonstrated briefly at the UITG meeting on June 3. Try a browse search on "author beginning with ..." or "LC subject beginning with ..." to see the results of the latest work on this. At present this catalog includes only a small set of bib records. Work on screen design is continuing, so you may notice changes occuring from day to day. -- Heidi

11/15/2007: Just over a year since my last update to this page ... sigh. But here's an update: thanks to help from Jamie and Hans, I have opened a new library in Aleph that will be our v18 test catalog environment for authorities in PAC. No link just yet - the library has no records in it yet, so there's nothing to see. I will update this page with a link as soon as we get something in there to look at. --Heidi

11/7/2006: Here are our thoughts on usability testing for Authorities.

10/18/2006: I will be adding some snapshots of how particular screens look "out-of-box" to show what we are starting from. --Heidi

10/3/2006: Here is the list of tasks involved in implementing authorities in the catalog, as discussed at our UITG meeting today.

8/24/2006: Here's a link to a test catalog environment where you can see an unpolished version of authorities in the PAC. You'll need to use the advanced search and choose "browse LC subject heading beginning with ... " to see subject authorities. Let's see how we can make this better. --Heidi

Update - 7/27/2006: Earlier this week I had a "guided discussion" with some colleagues here at College Park, to get their thoughts on how we can display authorities information - cross-references, etc. - in the PAC, so it will be more helpful/less confusing for our users. As part of my preparation for this meeting, I collected some examples of subject browse search results from other Aleph catalogs. Here are my examples:

• Subject browse on Literature (valid LC heading)
• Subject browse on Pigs (cross reference to LC heading "Swine")

Here are my notes from the discussion on July 26. We'll also continue this review and discussion at the UITG meeting on August 8. --Heidi

6/22/2006: Here is a list of the Aleph tables related to Authorities (for those who like to look under the hood). --Heidi

3/30/2006: I will look to the UITG for recommendations on screen design as we integrate authorities into the catalog. As I am thinking about this, it seems to me there are two main places the users will encounter authorities:

1. On the browse search results - cross references and links to authority information
2. Authority information - i.e., the screens they see when they click through from the browse results

In addition, we should think about editing help files to provide explanation of the authority information for catalog users.

I've put links to some other Aleph catalogs at the top of this page. If you do some searching, you can see different approaches to presenting this information taken by these libraries. Here are some searches you can start with:

• subject browse on Historiography
• author browse on Clemens, Samuel
• subject browse on Clemens, Samuel (rather surprising results at Harvard! compare to McGill)
• subject browse on Neoplasms
• MESH subject browse on Neoplasms
• title browse on Bible. O.T. Proverbs

Click through to the authority record to see how differently these catalogs are presenting this to their users.

Looking at these examples should give you a good orientation for starting our discussion of this topic at our meeting on Tuesday, April 4. --Heidi