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Available authority files

Find an overview of the authority files and indexes available in Connexion and WorldShare Record Manager.

Authority files and records

You can search and browse an authority file to determine if an authoritative heading exists. If an authorized heading exists, it is described in an authority record.

An authority record contains information about a name or a subject heading. Each authority record may contain the established form of the heading, see from references, see also from references, and notes. The record also contains coded data that describes characteristics of the heading or record.

Records have fixed-length fields that contain coded information from the MARC 21 Leader, 005, and 008 fields. Records have variable-length fields that contain coded and textual information.

Available authority files

Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT)

Source: The Getty Research Institute

AAT contains terms used in museums, libraries, and other cultural heritage institutions to describe art, architecture, decorative arts, material culture, and archival materials. The thesaurus contains concepts that include both topical headings and genre terms. The AAT database contains more than 97,000 authority records.  AAT has no subdivisions, so only subfield $a will be controllable when entered in 650 and 655 fields.  AAT headings with subdivisions will not be controllable.

Work with AAT authorities

AAT indexes and indexed fields

Biblioteca Nacional de España (BNE) Authority File

Source: Biblioteca Nacional de España (National Library of Spain)

The Biblioteca Nacional de España (BNE) authority file contains more than 4.1 million authority records, including personal, corporate, conference, and geographic names, name-titles, uniform titles, series titles, subjects, genre, and subdivision headings.

Work with the BNE authority file

BNE indexes and indexed fields

Canadiana (Autorités de noms Canadiana en français)

Source: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada

Canadiana Name Authorities in French are used by Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and other Canadian libraries when creating bibliographic descriptions in French.

The database contains over 2.1 million records for names, names/titles, uniform titles, and series titles. The appropriate forms of names, names/titles, uniform titles, and serials titles in English, if applicable, are present in 7XX fields. When cataloguing in English, LAC uses the Library of Congress/NACO Authority File (LC/NAF).

Work with Canadiana authorities

Canadiana indexes and indexed fields

Canadian Subject Headings (CSH)

Source: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada

Canadian Subject Headings (CSH) is a list of access points in the English language, using controlled vocabulary, to express the subject content of documents on Canada. The scope of CSH is mostly limited to the Canadian cultural, economic, historical, literary, political and social experience, with few subject headings in other fields of study.

The database currently contains around 2,200 subject and geographic name headings in English.

Work with Canadiana authorities

Canadiana indexes and indexed fields

Integrated Authority File (GND)

Source: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (German National Library)

The Integrated Authority File (GND) is an authority file that contains over 9.3 million records for personal, corporate, conference, and geographic names, name-titles, uniform titles, and subjects. It is operated cooperatively by the German National Library, all German-speaking library networks, the German Union Catalogue of Serials and numerous other institutions.

Work with the GND integrated authority file

GND indexes and indexed fields

Library of Congress authority records

Source: Library of Congress

LC/NACO Name Authority File (LCNAF): contains over 10.9 million for personal names, corporate names, conference names, titles and geographic names.

Subject authority file: contains over 444,000 authority records in the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), 900 authority records in the Children's Subject Headings, and 2,400 authority records in the Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms for Library and Archival Materials (LCGFT).

Work with Library of Congress authority records

Library of Congress indexes and indexed fields

Māori Subject Headings File

Source: Ngā Upoko Tukutuku

Subject authority file: contains over 1,800 subject heading authority records.

Māori Subject Headings provide subject access in te reo Māori to materials for and/or about Māori. The thesaurus framework offers a structured path to a Māori world view within library and archival cataloguing and description. The headings are developed by Te Whakakaokao, the Māori Subject Headings Working Group, guided by the three groups who oversee the headings: Te Rōpū WhakahauLIANZA, and the National Library of New Zealand.

Work with Māori subject headings

Māori indexes and indexed fields

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

Source: U.S. National Library of Medicine

Subject authority file: contains approximately 640,000 records, including subject, geographic, subdivision, and genre/form headings

A controlled vocabulary maintained by the U.S. National Library of Medicine that provides uniformity and consistency to the indexing and cataloging of biomedical literature.

Work with MeSH subject headings

MeSH indexes and indexed fields

Nederlandse Thesaurus van Auteursnamen (NTA Names)

Source: Koninklijke Bibliotheek (National Library of the Netherlands)

Nederlandse Thesaurus van Auteursnamen (NTA Names), or the Dutch National Thesaurus for Author names, offers access to nearly 2.8 million authority records, representing only personal names.

Work with NTA names

NTA indexes and indexed fields

Répertoire de vedettes-matière (RVM) authority file

Source: Université Laval

The Répertoire de vedettes-matière de l'Université Laval (RVM) is a controlled vocabulary made up of four mostly bilingual thesauruses: subject, genre/form, demographic group, and medium of performance. It is designed for document indexers, organizations that want to describe the content of their documents or of their products and services, as well as anyone who wants to clarify vocabulary in English and French as part of their work or research.

The Répertoire de vedettes-matière section of the Université Laval Library creates and maintains the nearly 300,000 authority records.

Work with the RVM authority file

RVM indexes and indexed fields

Available indexes

 

Index name AAT BNE Canadiana GND Library of Congress Maori MeSH NTA RVM
Agency Control Number     x   x        
Cartographic Data   x   x x        
Cataloging Source x x   x x x     x
Children's Subjects         x        
Chronology   x   x         x
Control Number x x x x x x x x x
Corporate/Conference Names   x x x x       x
Descriptive Conventions   x x x x       x
Entity Attributes   x x x x     x x
Established Heading Linking Entry Phrase: $0       x          
Established Heading Linking Entry Phrase: Corporate/Conference   x x x x        
Established Heading Linking Entry Phrase: Geographic Name   x x x x        
Established Heading Linking Entry Phrase: Personal Name   x x x x     x  
Established Heading Linking Entry Phrase: Subdivision Linking Entry   x     x        
Established Heading Linking Entry Phrase: Topical Term   x   x          
Established Heading Linking Entry Phrase: Uniform Title     x x x     x  
Established Heading Linking Entry Words: $0         x        
Established Heading Linking Entry Words: Corporate/Conference Name         x        
Established Heading Linking Entry Words: Geographic Name         x        
Established Heading Linking Entry Words: Personal Name         x     x  
Established Heading Linking Entry Words: Uniform Title     x x x        
Genre x x     x   x   x
Genre Phrase x x     x   x    
Geographic Names   x x x x   x   x
Geographics Phrase   x x x x   x    
Global Chronology Words       x          
Global Corporate Name Phrase       x          
Global Corporate Words     x x x        
Global Entity Attributes     x x x        
Global Established Heading Linking Entry Phrase: Corporate/Conference     x x x        
Global Established Heading Linking Entry Phrase: Geographic Name     x x x        
Global Established Heading Linking Entry Phrase: Personal Name     x x x        
Global Established Heading Linking Entry Phrase: Subdivision Linking Entry         x        
Global Established Heading Linking Entry Phrase: Topical Term     x x          
Global Established Heading Linking Entry Phrase: Uniform Title     x x x x      
Global Established Heading Linking Entry Words: Corporate/Conference     x   x        
Global Established Heading Linking Entry Words: Geographic Name     x   x        
Global Established Heading Linking Entry Words: Personal Name         x        
Global Established Heading Linking Entry Words: Uniform Title     x x x        
Global Geographic Words     x x x   x    
Global Keyword     x x x x x x  
Global Notes     x x x x x x  
Global Personal Name Words     x x x     x  
Global Relationship     x x x        
Global Subject Words       x x x x    
Global Title Words     x x x        
ISBN   x     x        
ISSN   x x   x        
ISSN-L         x        
Keyword x x x x x x x x x
LC Corporate/Conference Name Phrase             x    
LCCN         x        
Linking Entry, $0 Record Number       x          
Linking Entry, Corporate/Conference Name   x   x         x
Linking Entry, Genre/Form                 x
Linking Entry, Geographic Name   x   x         x
Linking Entry, Personal Name   x   x         x
Linking Entry, Subdivision   x             x
Linking Entry, Topical Term   x   x         x
Linking Entry, Uniform Title       x         x
Local Data       x          
Medium of Performance                 x
Notes x x x x x x x x x
Personal Name Phrase     x x x     x  
Personal Names   x x x x   x x x
Publication Type             x    
Publication Type Phrase             x    
Relationship x x x x x        
See Also subfield 0 x   x         x  
See also, $0 Record Number       x          
Subdivision   x             x
Subdivision Headings         x   x    
Subdivision Phrase   x     x   x    
Subject x x       x     x
Subject Phrase x x x x x x x   x
System Control Number   x x            
Title Phrase   x x x x        
Titles   x x x x   x   x