No. 119, May 2001

The Current Status of Authority Control of Author Names 
in the National Diet Library (continued)

YOKOYAMA Yukio
Book Processing Division, NDL

1. NDL Cataloging distribution
2. Authority control procedure
3. JAPAN/MARC(A) - Authority file
4. Chinese/Korean Names
5. Problems in the future
(Continued)

3. JAPAN/MARC(A)
The magnetic tape version of JAPAN/MARC(A) released in 1997, containing the Japanese authors' data in JAPAN/MARC(M) since 1868. The format conforms with the UNIMARC/Authorities format, and data are created according to the NCR (Nippon Cataloging Rules). When the CD-ROM version was released at the end of January 2001, western names and corporate body names were added. The number of records is about 600,000. 

Table 3 shows the data element list of JAPAN/MARC(A). Not all the data elements in the UNIMARC/Authorities are used. Some fields and codes that do not exist in the UNIMARC/Authorities are added in order to correspond to the situation of the authority work in Japan. The added fields are shown in gray on Table 3. 

Table 3: Outline of data elements of JAPAN/MARC(A) 

Record Label		Record Length, Record Status, Type of Record, Indicator Length, Subfield Identifier Length, Base Address of Data, Encoding Level, and Directory Map
0xx	Identification Block
001 005	Record Identifier Version Identifier
1xx	Coded Information Block
100	General Processing Data	Date Entered on File, Status of Authority Heading Code, Language of Cataloging, Transliteration Code, Character Set, Script of Cataloging
152	Rules
2xx	Heading Block
200	Personal Name
210	Corporate Body Name
3xx	Information Note Block
300	Notes for Names
301	Notes for Dates	Date of birth/death, establishment/abolition
4xx	See Reference
5xx	See Also Reference
7xx	Linking Heading Block	Used for Subject Headings (not provided)
8xx	Source Information Block
801	Originating Source
810	Source Data Found
830	General Cataloguer's Note
831	Notes for Kanji
835	Deleted Heading Information
9xx	National Use Block	Provided in CD-ROM only
911	Type of Heading
915	Governmental Code
981	Notes for Kanji

Fields shown in gray do not exist in the UNIMARC/Authorities format. 

In the UNIMARC/Authorities, dates of birth and death, or dates of establishment and abolition are recorded in the general cataloger's note, but in JAPAN/MARC(A) these data are recorded in the independent field. 

And, because not all the kanji characters can be recorded in machine-readable form, information about character replacement is needed. This information is recorded in the field 831. In the CD-ROM version, this note is recorded in the field 981. 

a. Heading
We adopted the method of inputting three kinds of data for one author, in kanji form, katakana reading and in romanized form, by repeating the heading. 

The first one is recorded in Kanji (Sino-Japanese script). 

The second is the katakana reading of the kanji form. The cataloger has to decide the appropriate reading, as most Kanji have several katakana readings each. The katakana reading is sometimes found in the item cataloged, on the title page, colophon, cover, or in the text. However, the readings found in the item are less reliable than the data found in directories, so the cataloger uses the directories frequently. Recording headings in katakana and their consulted source is very important, as it is not yet possible to retrieve kanji data in every OPAC system, and card catalogs and book-form catalogs are arranged by katakana reading. For the purpose, in addition to the field 810 equivalent to the same field in the UNIMARC/Authorities, we add the field 811 in the authority file we maintain for the staff, so the source citation of the katakana reading can be recorded.  In JAPAN/MARC(A), the data in the field 811 are absorbed in the field 810. 

The third datum recorded by repeating the heading is in romanized form. It is automatically generated from the katakana reading, and these data do not need to be input in usual authority work. 

For a western name, neither kanji nor katakana data are recorded but only the original spelling in the Roman alphabet. The katakana reading for a western name is treated in a See Reference field. 

b. Reference, notes, etc.
For See Reference, See Also Reference, and Note, their usage is shown in Table 3. 

The field 801 is automatically generated. The two-digit country code 'JP', the abbreviation of the cataloging agency 'NDL', and last update date with eight-digit code are included. 

In the field 830, various notes are recorded. For personal names, occupation, specialty, and other information required for identifying the heading are frequently recorded. This information is occasionally recorded in the Heading Block as additions to distinguish one heading from others. 

In the field 835, information on the correction and the deletion of the heading is recorded. 

The data in the National Use Block are provided only in the CD-ROM version. In the field 911, the heading type is encoded. For example, code 'P' stands for a personal name, 'G' for a corporate body name, and 'A' for author. In the field 915, the government code is recorded. The government codes include governmental office codes, prefectural codes and university codes. As for corporate bodies, some bodies are a part of another body while a subordinate unit or division sometimes gets entered directly as heading. Government codes enable users to retrieve all headings belonging to one government organization. 

4. Chinese/Korean Name Authority Record
Now I will talk about the treatment of Chinese and Korean names in the NDL authority control system. The NDL creates authority records only for the Chinese/Korean personal/corporate authors who write in Japanese or whose work is translated into Japanese. 

Usually, these authors' names are written in a similar way to Japanese names. Therefore, the form of heading becomes the same, that is, in kanji, katakana reading, and the romanization. However, Chinese and Korean names have several katakana readings each. For Korean names, we prefer the Korean way of reading. So we record the Korean reading in the katakana data field when it can be easily obtained, and the Japanese reading in the See reference field. On the other hand, for Chinese names, we record the Japanese way of reading in the katakana data field, and the Chinese way in the See reference field. 

Because the katakana reading is important, we especially record encoded information for identification. The data are recorded in a certain subfield in our system, and the value is embedded in the control subfield '$0' in JAPAN/MARC(A). 

5. Problems in the future
Finally, I will describe some problems that we are faced with. 

First, expansion of the objects of authority control. Which material group is to be covered? 

Second is the integration of author headings and subject headings. Authority control work for each is being done separately in the NDL, so there is some disconformity, for instance, in the form of headings. This is the reason for using the Linking Field block for subject headings. 

Third is the problem of the character code. We now uses the JIS C-6226 kanji character code that was established in 1978 and is becoming obsolete. Moreover, it is necessary to consider developing the data-input system, the search engine, and other relating systems that can treat character sets other than Japanese.