Authorities
Authority records are a way of controlling fields in your MARC records. Using authority records will provide you with control over subject headings, personal names and places.
Adding authoritiesNote
Only staff with the editauthorities permission (or the superlibrarian permission) will be able to create authority records.
To add a new authority record you can either choose the authority type from the ‘New authority’ button or search another library by clicking the ‘New from Z39.50’ button.
If you choose to enter a new authority from scratch, the form that appears will allow you to enter all of the necessary details regarding your authority record.
You can also change the authority type of the record in the ‘Settings’ menu above the cataloging form.
To expand collapsed values simply click on the title and the subfields will appear. To duplicate a field or subfield just click the plus sign (+) to the right of the label. To use field helper plugins simply click the ellipsis (…) to the right of the field.
When linking authorities to other headings, you can use the authority finder plugin by clicking the ‘Tag editor’ button to the right of the field.
From there you can search your authority file for the authority to link. If you can’t find the authority to link, you can click the ‘Create new’ button and add the necessary authority for the link. This plugin also allows for you to choose the link relationship between the authorities.
You can also import an authority record by clicking on ‘Z39.50/SRU search’ above the cataloging form. The Z39.50/SRU search form will open in a new window.
From the results you can use the ‘Actions’ menu to the right of the record you would like to add to Koha and select ‘Import’ to import it.
You will then be presented with the form to edit the authority before saving it to your system.
From the authorities page you can search for existing terms and the bibliographic records they are attached to.
From the results you will see the authority record, how many bibliographic records it is attached to, an ‘Actions’ menu that includes the ability to edit, merge and delete (if there are no bibliographic records attached).
Clicking on the ‘Details’ link to the right of the authority record summary will open the full record and the option to edit the record.
If the authority has ‘See also’s in it you will see those broken out on the search results, clicking the linked headings will run a search for that heading instead.
Note
Only staff with the editauthorities permission (or the superlibrarian permission) will be able to edit or delete existing authority records.
Authorities can be edited by clicking on the authority summary from the search results and then clicking the ‘Edit’ button above the record. Or by clicking on the ‘Edit’ link to the left of the authority on the search results.
Once you’ve made the necessary edits, simply click ‘Save’.
Depending on the number of bibliographic records this authority record is linked to, the bibliographic records may be updated right away. This depends on the value in the AuthorityMergeLimit system preference (the default is 50). If the number of bibliographic records is under the value of AuthorityMergeLimit, the bibliographic records will be changed right away. If the number of bibliographic records exceeds the value of AuthorityMergeLimit, they will only be updated when the merge_authorities.pl script is run.
To delete an authority record you first must make sure it’s not linked to any bibliographic records. If it is not used by any bibliographic records a ‘Delete’ link will appear to the right of the record on the search results and as a button that appears after clicking on the summary of the authority record.
Merging authoritiesNote
Only staff with the editauthorities permission (or the superlibrarian permission) will be able to merge authority records.
If you have duplicate authority records you can merge them together by clicking the ‘Merge’ link, found in the Actions menu, next to two results on an authority search.
After clicking ‘Merge’ on the first result you will see that authority listed at the top of the results.
Next you need to click ‘Merge’ next to the second result you’d like to merge.
You will be asked which of the two records you would like to keep as your primary record and which will be deleted after the merge.
You will be presented with the MARC for both of the records (each accessible by tabs labeled with the authority numbers for those records). By default the entire first record will be selected, uncheck the fields you don’t want in the final (destination) record and then move on to the second tab to choose which fields should be in the final (destination) record.
Once you have completed your selections click the ‘Merge’ button. The primary record will now contain the data you chose for it and the second record will be deleted.
If you have two authority records for the same heading in different frameworks, you can merge them together by clicking the ‘Merge’ link, found in the actions menu, next to two results on an authority search. For example, these authority records using different frameworks can be merged.
If you select the ‘Merge’ link, found in the action menu of the top record.
You will see that authority record listed at the top of the results.
Next you need to select ‘Merge’ next to the second result you’d like to merge.
You will be asked which of the two records you would like to keep as your primary record and which will be deleted after the merge. You will also use the dropdown menu to pick which framework to use.
You will be presented with the MARC for both of the records (each accessible by tabs labeled with the authority numbers for those records). By default the entire first record will be selected, uncheck the fields you don’t want in the final (destination) record and then move on to the second tab to choose which fields should be in the final (destination) record.
The “ref” record (the primary record) will be in the framework that you chose:
Once you have completed your selections click the ‘Merge’ button. The primary record will now contain the data you chose for it and the second record will be deleted.
The MARC tag of the linked headings will have been updated accordingly.
