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Editing existing name authority records

Changes to the 1XX

Edits to the 1XX field in an authority record must be made carefully because any change to a 1XX will impact every bib record in every library that uses that heading.

Edits to the 1XX field fall into two categories, as described in LC's BMF Guidelines:

  • "Non-reportable BFM" - The edits in this category are automatically tracked by OCLC software so they do not need to be reported manually to NACO Bibliographic File Maintenance (BFM). These edits include:
    • Adding diacritical marks to subfield ‡a
    • Adding a death date to a subfield ‡d that already contains a birth date
    • Correcting misspellings and typos 
    • Changing a corporate heading from subordinate entry to direct entry
    • Exact duplicates of 1XX
    • Revising other subfields
  • "Reportable BFM" - These are edits that require manual processing by NACO staff. Any changes to the 1XX that are not listed above should be reported to naco@loc.gov.

Changes to other MARC fields

375 (Gender) - Remove this field from records unless there is a reason for its presence noted in the record

400 - When adding variants, justify each one with a 670 and alphabetize the 400s

Change Rules byte from c to z and add ‡e rda to the 040

Creating new personal name authority records

A. Preferred name (MARC 100)

RDA 9.2.2.3 says to "choose the name by which the person is commonly known" to determine the preferred name. If you're making a NAR for someone who was published for the first time, the preferred name is likely the one on the title page of the item being cataloged because there are no other examples. When establishing a name heading, it's important to thoroughly search the OCLC database (and possibly the VIAF database, for international authors) for variations of the name to see which one is the most commonly used (and to populate any 400s if necessary, see below).

Searching OCLC

Search for the person's name in OCLC in the Personal Name index (pn: or pn= or pnw=) which checks the 100 and 700 fields in the bibliographic records in OCLC's database. Make sure that the language of cataloging box is not checked. 

Searching VIAF

If the OCLC search doesn't turn up any records, search at https://viaf.org/ for the author, especially if they write in a language other than English.

B. Variants (MARC 400)

Steps to adding variants

  1. Add 400s for variants of the name
  2. Remove unnecessary variants
  3. Add 670s justifying each valid 400
  4. Check each 400 for conflicts in the NAF and differentiate if necessary
  5. Put the 400s in alphabetical order
  6. Change the Ref status byte from n to a (unless variants are in non-Roman script, then use b)

Possible sources of variants

  • The item itself. Sometimes variations of the name appear on the cover, back cover, spine, in the About the Author section, etc.
  • OCLC database search. Cite them like this:
    670    OCLC database, DATE ACCESSED ‡b (access points: VARIANT 1; VARIANT 2; VARIANT 3; usages: USAGE A; USAGE B)
    Example:
    670    OCLC database, Oct. 26, 2023 ‡b (access points: Sigarroa Santamarina, Olimpia; Sigarroa, Olimpia; Sigarroa, Olympia; usage: Olimpia Sigarroa Santamarina; Olimpia Sigarroa; Olympia Sigarroa)
  • VIAF database search. Cite them like this:
    670    VIAF cluster, DATE ACCESSED ‡b (access points: VARIANT 1; VARIANT 2 ; VARIANT 3)
    670    VIAF cluster, Jan. 12, 2024 ‡b (access points: Cantel, Jeanne; Cantel, Jeanne, 1873- ; Jeanne Cantel; Cantel, J.)
    670    BLBNB in VIAF, April 16, 2024 ǂb (access point: Santana, Ademir Eugenio de,‏ ‎1957- ; variant: Santana, Ademir E.‏ ‎(Ademir Eugênio de), 1957- ) 
  • For two-part last names, with or without hyphens, add a 400 with the 2nd part as the first element. For example,
    100 1_ Catalla-Buscaino, Pat Lindsay C.
    400 1_ Buscaino, Pat Lindsay C. Catalla-

VIAF identifier

If the name is found in thte VIAF database, optionally add the VIAF cluster ID number to a 024 (and remove the ǂu from the VIAF 670):

024 7_ 74695981 ǂ2 viaf ǂ1 https://viaf.org/viaf/74695981/

Invalid variants

Do not add variants that go beyond the first element to the right of the comma:
100 1_ Stern, Allison
400 1_ Stern, Allison Maher

Instead, the information should go into a 378 (fuller form of name):
378    ‡q Allison Maher

This variant is valid because it is within the first element to the right of the comma:

100 1_ Clayton East, H.
400 1_ Clayton East, Helen

C. See Also references (MARC 500)

In situations where a MARC 500 See Also reference is required, the first 670 should be for the name in the 100 and the 2nd 670 should be for the identity in the 500.

D. Dates

Birth (and death) dates can be found in the item itself, from an existing heading in OCLC or VIAF, or another source.

  1. Add the birth date to the 100 $d and to the 046 $f
  2. Cite the source in a 670.

E. Other information (associated place, field of activity, occupation, etc.)

Add information about the person to 370 (associated place), 372 (field of activity), 374 (occupation), etc. 

Cite the source in a 670.

It is okay to repeat the 

F. Literary authors

Optionally add a literature class number in an 053 if an appropriate number can be found that works in both Fondren's and LC's shelflist. Example:
053 _4  PQ7442.S265 ‡5 TxHR





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