YALE POLICIES for NACO INDEPENDENCE
General Comments
Yale University Library is an independent NACO institution. With this privilege comes responsibility for developing and maintaining our own internal quality control procedures. If the overall quality of our records were to become unacceptable, our institutional independence could be revoked by the Library of Congress.
The following guidelines will be used to help the members of the NACO Coordinating Committee determine when an individual cataloger may be granted independence for NACO work. The guidelines are intended to ensure that each cataloger is reviewed in a consistent and fair manner.
Catalogers who have achieved independence are no longer required to submit their authority records for review; they may produce their own records. However, they are responsible for proofreading their records carefully and sending any BFM notices to the NACO Coordinator. They are encouraged to ask for advice and to submit any particularly difficult or unusual headings for review. If an independent cataloger has had a long absence from doing NACO work, it is recommended that he or she submit headings for review for a short period when resuming NACO activities.
Types of Independence
Independence will usually be granted in stages, with each stage corresponding to a particular heading type:
- Personal names
- Corporate/conference names
- Jurisdiction names
- Non-series uniform titles
- Series uniform titles
These stages do not have to be completed in any particular order.
Review Process
Reviewees may send no more than 10 records at a time (fewer than 10 is fine) and must wait until their reviewer has responded before sending another batch. Each batch may include a mix of heading types.
Reviewers must return the records to the reviewee within 2 weeks of receipt. If the batch contains a heading that is particularly problematic (and the reviewer has had to ask the NACO Coordinator to forward a query to LC), then the reviewer should return the batch minus the problematic heading and inform the reviewee that he or she may send another batch while the reviewer is waiting for the response from LC. Reviewers taking significant vacation or other approved release time should inform their reviewees and make interim arrangements as needed (e.g., asking reviewees to hold their headings or submit them to a designated temporary reviewer).
Both quantitative and qualitative standards will be used to evaluate the records submitted for review (see below). Each record will be counted as either being of acceptable or unacceptable quality.
Quantitative Standards
The cataloger must contribute a minimum number of authority records of acceptable quality to be eligible for independence for a particular heading type. The minimum numbers required are:
- Personal names: 50 records
- Corporate/conference names: 25 records
- Jurisdiction names: 10 records
- Non-series uniform titles: 25 records
- Series uniform titles: 25 records
For each record type, the minimum number of acceptable records must be submitted consecutively and the number of unacceptable records within the sequence should constitute no more than 10%. For example, if a cataloger has submitted 60 personal name records in the last couple of months, 54 of the 60 records must be of acceptable quality for the cataloger to be granted independence.
This system allows the reviewee to make mistakes during the initial "learning phase" without being penalized. Example: if a cataloger submits 20 unacceptable series records in her first two batches, learns from her mistakes, and then submits 25 acceptable series records, the first 20 records may be ignored and she may be granted independence.
Qualitative Standards
The cataloger must contribute a mix of new and updated authority records. The cataloger must also contribute a mix of "simple" headings and headings that require cross references.
Ideally, the cataloger will contribute a broad range of authority records that demonstrate the application of a variety of rules. Some of the heading types that it is desirable to see demonstrated include:
- surname vs. non-surname entry elements
- compound surnames
- names containing articles and prepositions
- expansion of initials
- pseudonyms vs. real names
- name changes
- undifferentiated names
- authors vs. non-authors
- pre-1800 names
- government bodies
- subordinate body vs. direct entry
- title changes
- numbered vs. unnumbered series
- subseries
- series-like phrases
If the cataloger does not encounter a broad enough spectrum of headings in his or her everyday work, the NACO reviewer may devise some other method for testing the cataloger's knowledge (e.g., asking the cataloger to establish a heading for a hypothetical item or for an item found in Orbis). Such testing should be kept at a minimum, however, and used only as a method of last resort.
If the reviewee regularly reports duplicate authority records encountered in the LC/NAF, or discovers errors in existing authority records, the reviewer should interpret this as additional evidence that the cataloger is developing the qualitative expertise needed to function as an independent NACO contributor.
Major vs. Minor Errors
To determine whether a record is of acceptable quality, NACO reviewers will differentiate between major and minor errors using the chart below as a guide. Generally, a record containing a major error is not considered an acceptable record. A record that contains multiple minor errors may sometimes also be considered unacceptable. NACO reviewers should use their judgment on such matters.
| MARC Tag | Type of Error | Description of Error | |
| 008 | Major | incorrect coding | |
| 022 | Minor | field missing (if needed) | |
| 050 | Major | field missing (if needed) | |
| Major | incorrect indicator | ||
| Major | incorrect or missing subfields | ||
| 1XX | Major | incorrect choice or form of heading | |
| Major | heading conflicts with another 1xx heading or 4xx reference | ||
| Major | heading already established (duplicate record) | ||
| Major | parent body or qualifier in heading not established | ||
| Major | incorrect tag, indicator, or subfield | ||
| Major | incorrect spacing, capitalization, or punctuation | ||
| Major | typos | ||
| Minor | when doing a record update: -forgot to delete final period -forgot to delete obsolete 2nd indicator -forgot to add diacritic to initial capital letter (French, Spanish, Portuguese) |
||
| MARC Tag | Type of Error | Description of Error | |
| 4XX | Major | incorrect choice or form of reference | |
| Major | parent body or qualifier in reference not established | ||
| Major | reference needed but not added | ||
| Major | reference added but prohibited by rules | ||
| Major | reference conflicts with an established 1xx heading | ||
| Major | incorrect tag, indicator, or subfield | ||
| Major | incorrect spacing, capitalization, or punctuation | ||
| Major | typos | ||
| Minor | when doing a record update: -forgot to delete obsolete 2nd indicator -forgot to add diacritic to initial capital letter (French, Spanish, Portuguese) |
||
| 5XX | Major | incorrect choice or form of reference | |
| Major | reference needed but not added | ||
| Major | reference added but prohibited by rules | ||
| Major | reference conflicts with a 4xx reference | ||
| Major | reference does not match an established 1xx heading in another record | ||
| Major | incorrect tag, indicator, or subfield | ||
| Major | incorrect spacing, capitalization, or punctuation | ||
| Major | typos | ||
| Minor | when doing a record update: -forgot to delete obsolete 2nd indicator -forgot to add diacritic to initial capital letter (French, Spanish, Portuguese) |
||
| MARC Tag | Type of Error | Description of Error | |
| 640 | Major | field missing (if needed) | |
| Major | incorrect use of field (e.g., information should be in 667 field) | ||
| Major | incorrect indicator | ||
| Major | incorrect subfield | ||
| Minor | incorrect spacing, capitalization, or punctuation | ||
| Minor | typos | ||
| 641 | Major | field missing (if needed) | |
| Major | incorrect use of field (e.g., information should be in 667 field) | ||
| Major | incorrect indicator | ||
| Major | incorrect subfield | ||
| Minor | incorrect spacing, capitalization, or punctuation | ||
| Minor | typos | ||
| 642 | Major | field missing (if needed) | |
| Major | incorrect form of numbering | ||
| Major | $5DPCC missing in new SAR (post-1981 series) | ||
| Major | $5DPCC added in new SAR (pre-1981 series) | ||
| Major | when doing a record update: added $5DPCC | ||
| 643 | Major | field missing | |
| Major | information doesn't match the 260 field in the bib record | ||
| Major | incorrect subfield | ||
| Minor | incorrect spacing, capitalization, or punctuation | ||
| Minor | typos | ||
| MARC Tag | Type of Error | Description of Error | |
| 644/ 645/ 646 | Major | field missing | |
| Major | incorrect decision | ||
| Major | $5DPCC missing in 645 field in new SAR (post-1981 series) | ||
| Major | $5DPCC added in 645 field in new SAR (pre-1981 series) | ||
| Major | when doing a record update: added $5DPCC (645 field) | ||
| 667 | Major | field missing (if needed) | |
| Major | incorrect use of field (e.g., the information should go in 640/641) | ||
| Minor | incorrect spacing, capitalization, or punctuation | ||
| Minor | typos | ||
| 670 | Major | field missing (for item cataloged or to justify heading or reference) | |
| Major | information missing (to justify heading or reference) | ||
| Major | information doesn't match the 245/260 fields in the bib record | ||
| Major | incorrect subfield | ||
| Minor | redundant or unnecessary 670 field | ||
| Minor | incorrect spacing, capitalization, or punctuation | ||
| Minor | typos | ||
| 675 | Major | field missing (if needed) | |
| Minor | incorrect spacing, capitalization, or punctuation | ||
| Minor | typos | ||
| 781 | Major | incorrect choice or form of subdivision | |
| Major | incorrect indicator or subfield | ||
| Major | incorrect spacing, capitalization, or punctuation | ||
| Major | typo | ||
| Major | when doing a record update: forgot to revise 781 if changing 151 heading |
||
URL: http://www.library.yale.edu/cataloging/authorities/independence_policy.htm
Document issued by the NACO Coordinating Committee.
Contact: Rick Sarcia
Last revised: 12 September 2007