Authority Control Rules

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To control linking bibliographic headings and preferred term correction using rules, you must have one of the following roles:

Cataloger
Catalog Manager
Catalog Administrator
Repository Manager
General System Administrator

To create and configure the Link BIB Headings rules and preferred term correction rules, you must have one of the following roles:

Catalog Administrator
General System Administrator

Authority control rules give you more control over when linking bibliographic headings should be done and when linking should be skipped. They also provide greater control over the preferred term correction process and the end results from preferred term correction. The Authority Control Rules configuration page can be accessed from the Resources list of configuration options (Configuration Menu > Resources > General > Authority Control Rules).

Authority Control Rules

To learn more about authority control rules, see the Linking Bibliographic Headings Rules and the Managing Preferred Term Correction sections below. Note that these sections assume that you are familiar with the information on the Using the Authority Control Task List page.

Linking Bibliographic Headings Rules

Link BIB Headings rules enable you to control when linking occurs when the link bibliographic headings job is run. See Authorities - Link BIB Headings for more information.

With Link BIB Headings rules, you can define in which cases linking upon save and automatic linking (as part of the Link Bibliographic Headings job) is skipped for bibliographic headings. As an example, you can specify not to perform linking for undifferentiated personal names.

The process of managing the bibliographic headings records that appear in the Authority Control Task List as a result of the linking job can be streamlined by implementing tags to identify certain types of records. See Using Tags for more information.

The Link BIB Headings rules are defined on the Authority Control Rules page (Configuration Menu > Resources > General > Authority Control Rules > Link BIB Headings). To define them, use the parameters below, then specify an operator (=, Contains, In List, Not Equals, or Not in List), and select/enter a value. When records are saved or when the Link Bibliographic Headings job attempts to automatically link bibliographic headings, these rules evaluate the data in your bibliographic records to determine whether to link or not link the records.

When you create rules, you can specify if linking should or should not occur.

Multiple rules can be created and enabled/disabled. When there are multiple rules defined, they are processed in the order in which they exist in the Institution Rules List; and when one rule's conditions are met, the process uses that rule's output and does not process any of the remaining rules. If no rules are created, the default Link BIB Headings rule is used.

Parameters for Link BIB Headings rules:

Authority ID — Refers to the authority ID information stored in the MARC 21 $0 or UNIMARC $3, for example (for details, see Using Originating System IDs for Linking Bibliographic Records to Authority Records).
Bibliographic Headings Value — Use to evaluate the value of the displayed bibliographic headings, to determine if linking should be skipped.
For example, if the Bibliographic Headings Value is configured as contains Human History, and the displayed bibliographic headings contain Human history, the linking is skipped.

Bibliographic Headings Value Parameter
Diacritics — When this rule is set, Alma does not normalize diacritics and instead considers their UTF-16 encoding value when matching. Only diacritics with the same UTF-16 value are considered a match. For example, bib heading 650 $$a Tröll is considered Diacritics = not identical when matched against the authority record with 150 $$a Troll.
Field — When you select this parameter, you can specify a field number as the value.
Language — This parameter refers to the information cataloged in $9 (MARC 21) or $7 (UNIMARC).
Subfield Codes — When this rule is set, Alma compares both the content and the subfields used for matching. For instance, the bibliographic heading 700 $$a Shakespeare, William, $$d 1564-1616 $$t Tragedies is considered Subfield codes = not identical when matched against an authority record with 100 $$a Shakespeare, William, $$d 1564-1616 $$x Tragedies.
Source Code — When this parameter is selected, you may choose from the following drop-down list of values: authority type such as call number/classifications, chronological term, corporate name, genre/form, geographic name, meeting name, personal name, topical name, or uniform title.
Undifferentiated Personal Name — This parameter examines the following:
- MARC 21 authority 008 control field, position 32 = "b"
- UNIMARC authority 120 control field, position 1 = "a"
When this parameter is selected, you may select True or False.

Vocabulary — When this parameter is selected, you may select any of the local authority or Community Zone vocabulary codes to which you have access.

For more information about creating rules that use these parameters, see Creating Link BIB Headings Rules.

How to Set Up the Linking Rules:

If not active, check the Active checkbox.
Verify that the default rule is set up according to your institution's preference. Alma checks the rules starting from the top and applies the first rule where all input parameters are met. If none of the rules apply, the default rule is used. We recommend setting up the default rule to link.
Set up the first rules with input parameters that should always apply – use a single parameter per rule to ensure this parameter always applies, without depending on other parameters. For example, if an institution never wants a record to link if subfields are mismatched, it could set its top rule to be:
1. Input parameter: Subfield codes = not identical
2. Workflow setup: Do not link
Below these, set up rules that only apply if certain other conditions are met. You can combine parameters to have these apply only for a specific mix of circumstances. For example, if a library wants to prevent normalizing diacritics for a specific vocabulary, it could set up a rule such as:
1. Input parameters:
  1. Vocabulary = Finnish Name Authority File
  2. Diacritics = not identical
2. Workflow setup: Do not link
If there is a specific sub-case in which the institution wants to enable linking, add a rule with Workflow setup: Link above the rule that prevents the general case from linking. You can also add a tag when linking to help catalogers identify these headings in the Authority Control Task List.

Authority Control – Exclude Heading from Linking

Users can exclude specific headings from being linked to an authority record by automatic processes, by adding $$9 no_linkage to the authorized field.
This is especially useful when a field contains data that is similar to an existing heading but is not really related to that heading. This prevents the field from incorrectly getting associated with the heading and improves the integrity of the library's metadata.
This is advantageous in cases where a creator's name is identical to an authorized creator, and not enough data exists to distinguish the two and prevent linking (for example, a library catalogs an old thesis work by John Smith and has no further biographic information on the creator).

This functionality is not available for Community Zone records or Community Zone-linked bibliographic records.

Creating Link BIB Headings Rules

Link BIB Headings rules can be created using the Authority Control Rules configuration option.

To create a Link BIB Headings rule:

Open the Authority Control Rules page (Configuration Menu > Resources > General > Authority Control Rules), and select the Link Bib Headings tab.
In the Institution Rules List section, select Add Rule.
Enter a name and description for the rule.
Enter input parameters.
1. In the Input Parameters section, select Add Parameter.
2. From the drop-down lists, select an option (for Name), and select an operator.
3. Enter or select a value and select Add Parameter.
Enter workflow setup parameters.
1. Select one of the following application methods:
  - Link – Select this option when you want the Authorities - Link BIB Headings job or linking upon Save (in the MD Editor) to link the bibliographic headings when the criteria of one of the Link BIB Headings rules is met.
  - Do not link – Select this option when you want the Authorities - Link BIB Headings job or linking upon Save (in the MD Editor) to not link the bibliographic headings when the criteria of one of the Link BIB Headings rules is met.
2. Select a tag from the Tag as drop-down list (optional).
  Note that the Authority Control Rule Tags appear for both Link BIB Headings rules and preferred term correction rules (when enabled for your system; see Managing Preferred Term Correction for more information).
  Tags are only used for automatic link bibliographic headings jobs (when you select the Link option) and streamlines the process for working with records in the Authority Control Task List. Note that when you select Do not link, there is no option to specify a tag.
  
  If no tags exist, add them by doing the following:
  - Select Add Tag.
  - Select Add Row.
  - Enter a tag code (that appears in the Authority Control Task List in the Tag column and as a facet), description, and select Yes or No to indicate if this is the default tag.
  - Select Add Row.
  - Repeat this process to add other tags.
  - Select Customize or Save. Note that all the tags that you create appear in the Tag as drop down list.
Select Save.
Your rule is added to the Institution Rules List section. After a rule is created, you can select to edit, duplicate, or delete it. When there are multiple rules, you can also change the order of the rules using the Move Up and Move Down features. Each rule can be individually enabled or disabled.
Select the Activate Rules checkbox for the rules that you create to be applied when records are saved or when the Link Bibliographic Headings job attempts to automatically link bibliographic headings. Note that both the Link BIB Headings and Preferred Term Correction tabs have an Activate Rules checkbox so that each type of rule can be activated/deactivated independently.

Use Case Examples

Link When Specific Field Values are Met

If you want a rule to include the Authorities - Link BIB Headings job link bibliographic headings when specific field values occur, use the following configuration:

Link When Specific Field Values Are Met Example

Link When Source Code Values are Met

If you want a rule to include the Authorities - Link BIB Headings job link bibliographic headings when source code values are met, use the following configuration:

Link When Source Code Values Are Met Example

Authority Control Task List

With Link BIB Headings rules, the Authority Control Task List provides an additional column and facets for tags (see Using Tags).

Note that some columns are hidden by default. To view these columns, select the Configuration icon

in the table actions list to open the configuration pane. Select the Tag column option to add this column to your view of the table if it is not already visible.

Using Tags

With Link BIB Headings rules, you can configure tags for managing records in the Authority Control Task List (see the Creating Link BIB Headings Rules procedure). For a list of Authority Control Rule Tags, see the example below. Note that these tags appear for both Link BIB Headings rules and, when enabled, preferred term correction rules (see Managing Preferred Term Correction for more information).

Authority control rule tags.png

Authority Control Rule Tags

When the tags are used in the Link BIB Headings rules, they appear as facets that you can use to filter the list of records on the All tab in the Authority Control Task List (Resources > Cataloging > Authority Control Task List).

Authority Control Rule Tag Facets

Source Code Facet / Authority Control Rule Tag

Managing Preferred Term Correction

Configured preferred term correction rules enable you to control the population of the preferred term correction process when the preferred term correction job is run. See Authorities - Preferred Term Correction for more information.

With Preferred term correction rules, you can mark and stop corrections from occurring automatically when the preferred term correction job is run. Subsequently, staff can review/mediate marked changes in the Authority Control Task List before they are executed.

When you configure preferred term corrections rules for mediation (by selecting Apply mediated preferred term correction), the preferred term correction job identifies the correction that needs to be made and adds an entry to the Authority Control Task List that shows the current term and the term that it will be changed to if corrected.

With preferred term correction rules, you can create tags for identifying certain types of records in order to streamline your process for working with the Authority Control Task List (see Identify Certain Records for Mediation and Tags for more information).

With Alma's preferred term correction rules, you can define:

Which records should be corrected automatically
Which records should not be corrected at all
Which records should be suggested in the Authority Control Task List for correction but not done automatically (held for mediation/manual review)

This capability is managed through preferred term correction rules that are processed when the Authorities - Preferred Term Correction job runs. With these rules, you control the preferred term correction population in the Authority Control Task List. See the Use Case Examples section for ideas regarding this capability.

To define the rules for managing the Authorities - Preferred Term Correction job (see Authorities - Preferred Term Correction for more information), use the parameters below, specifying an operator (=, Contains, In List, Not Equals, or Not in List) and selecting or entering a value. When processed, these rules evaluate the existing data in your bibliographic records to determine how to process preferred term correction.

Authority ID — This parameter refers to the authority ID information stored in the MARC 21 $0 or UNIMARC $3, for example (for details, see Using Originating System IDs for Linking Bibliographic Records to Authority Records).
Field — When you select this parameter, you can specify a field number as the value.
Indication rules — When you select this parameter, all the indication rules that you have created appear in a drop-down list from which you can select. Indication rules are executed in the authority record’s metadata.
For more information, see Working with Indication Rules.
Language — This parameter refers to the information cataloged in $9 (MARC 21) or $7 (UNIMARC).
Normal and linked fields are linked to different authority records — This option appears if the 880 field is enabled (by Ex Libris) as an authorizing field. This option can be used to identify cases where a field and its linked 880 field are linked to different multilingual authorities. Your options are to select true or false.
Source Code — When this parameter is selected, you may choose from the following drop-down list of values: authority type such as call number/classifications, chronological term, corporate name, genre/form, geographic name, meeting name, personal name, topical name, or uniform title.
Vocabulary — When this parameter is selected, you may select any of the local authority or Community Zone vocabulary codes to which you have access.

For more information about creating rules that use these parameters, see Creating Preferred Term Correction Rules.

When you create rules, you can specify what is applied or not applied during the preferred term correction job, and you can specify which changes you want to mediate.

Multiple rules can be created and enabled/disabled. When multiple rules are defined, they are processed in the order in which they exist in the Preferred Term Correction Rules List. When one rule's conditions are met, the process uses that rule's output and does not process any of the remaining rules.

If no rules are created, the default preferred term correction rule is used when the preferred term correction job is run. The default preferred term correction rule is also utilized when the enabled rules are evaluated in priority order and none of those rules have logic that applies to the record being analyzed for preferred term correction.

As part of the rules functionality, you can set up custom tags that can be applied when the preferred term correction job runs and, subsequently, be used to more easily locate information in the reports presented in the Authority Control Task List. See Tags for more information.

MARC 21 Preferred Term Corrections May Swap Headings with Cross-References Across Fields

Alma enables libraries to be configured to correct bibliographic headings based on authority cross-references, updating them to the preferred term and changing the field tag in the bibliographic record accordingly (such as from 610 to 630). This ensures bibliographic data stays aligned with authority records' preferred terms.

To enable this functionality in your institution, input the vocabulary codes for the relevant authority vocabularies into the customer parameter authority_ptc_ignore_suffix (Configuration Menu > Resources > General > Other Settings), separated by commas. For more information on the parameter, see Configuring Other Settings (Resource Management).

When a bibliographic field is updated to an X30 field, the non-filing indicators in the bibliographic record is adjusted based on the linked authority record. According to MARC21 standards, the 1st indicator of authority field 130 (Nonfiling characters) are copied to the 2nd indicator of the X30 bibliographic field.

Once enabled, headings updated by this new behavior appear in the Authority Control Task List under a new report type, Preferred Term Correction - Bib Heading updated and tag modified, enabling catalogers to review and make further updates as necessary (such as adjusting indicators). For more information on the report type, see Using the Authority Control Task List.

A bibliographic heading that is linked to an authority record through a cross-reference, but the preferred and non-preferred terms are in different fields (for example, the preferred term is in authority field 130, and the cross-reference is in authority field 410), also addresses fields containing an Alternate Graphic Representation.

Libraries that configured Alma to manage this scenario for any of their authority vocabularies after the November 2024 release can now see preferred term corrections applied to cases with a linked Alternate Graphic Representation while preserving the link.

This enhancement applies to bibliographic headings linked to authorities starting from the November 2024 release date onward. To apply this option to already-linked headings, either manually re-link them using F3 or run the Unlink bib records from authority records job (Admin > Manage Jobs and Sets > Run a Job) on a selected set of records.

Creating Preferred Term Correction Rules

Preferred Term Correction rules can be created using the Authority Control Rules configuration option.

To create a Preferred Term Correction rule:

Open the Authority Control Rules page (Configuration Menu > Resources > General > Authority Control Rules), and select the Preferred Term Correction tab.
In the Institution Rules List section, select Add Rule.
Enter a name and description for the rule.
Enter input parameters.
1. In the Input Parameters section, select Add Parameter.
2. From the drop-down lists, select an option (for Name), and select an operator.
3. Enter or select a value and select Add Parameter.
Enter workflow setup parameters.
1. Select one of the following application methods:
  1. Apply preferred term correction
  2. Apply mediated preferred term correction
  3. Do not apply preferred term correction
2. Select a tag from the Tag as drop-down list (optional). Note that when you select Do not apply preferred term correction, there is no option to specify a tag.
  
  If no tags exist, add them by doing the following:
  - Select Add Tag.
  - Select Add Row.
  - Enter a tag code (that appears in the Authority Control Task List in the Tag column and as a facet), description, and select Yes or No to indicate if this is the default tag.
  - Select Add Row.
  - Repeat this process to add other tags.
  - Select Customize. Note that all the tags that you create appear in the Tag as drop down list.
Select Save.
Your rule is added to the Institution Rules List section. After a rule is created, you can select to edit, duplicate, or delete it. When there are multiple rules, you can also change the order of the rules using the Move Up and Move Down features. Each rule can be individually enabled or disabled.
Select the Activate Rules check box.
This check box must be selected in order for the rules that you create to be applied when records are saved or when the link bibliographic headings job attempts to automatically link bibliographic headings. Note that both the Link BIB Headings and Preferred Term Correction tabs have an Activate Rules checkbox so that each type of rule can be activated/deactivated independently.

Use Case Examples

See the following sections for examples of Preferred Term Correction rules used to control preferred term correction processing and results.

Skip Certain Records for Preferred Term Correction

If you want a rule to have the Authorities - Preferred Term Correction job skip preferred term correction for certain records, the configuration could be entered as shown below with Do not apply preferred term correction selected. See Authority Control Task List for more information.

Preferred Term Correction Not Applied

Identify Certain Records for Mediation

If you want the Authorities - Preferred Term Correction job to tag certain records for mediation, the configuration could be entered as shown below with Apply mediated preferred term correction selected and tagging for LCNAMES (or other tag that you created). See Authority Control Task List for more information.

Tag Records for Mediation

Selectively Automate Certain Corrections While Identifying Others for Mediation

If you prefer to have subject headings corrected automatically, but prefer to mediate personal name corrections, see the example rules below.

Mediate Personal Names

Fields linked to LCNAMES can be automatically corrected, while fields linked to medical subject headings (MESH) can be identified for mediated reporting/review.

MESH Identified for Mediation

Authority Control Task List

With preferred term correction rules, the Authority Control Task List provides additional columns and facets (see Using Modes and Tags) and options for applying corrections (see Applying Changes for Mediated Corrections in the Authority Control Task List).

Using Modes and Tags

With Preferred Term Correction rules, you can specify that changes are made automatically or that they should be identified for mediation. The options in the Authority Control Task List provide a method for filtering the records using these specifications. Tags that you specify in your preferred term correction rules can also be filtered in the Authority Control Task List. See the examples below.

Mode — identifies when rules were applied automatically or specified mediation.

Mode Column

Mode Facet
Tags — For the tags that you identify in your preferred term correction rules, you can view and filter the Authority Control Task List reports with these tags.

Tag Column and Facet

Note that the Mode and Tag columns are hidden by default. To view these columns, select the Configuration icon

in the table actions list to open the configuration pane. Select the Mode and Tag options to add them to your view of the table.

Mode and Tag Options

Applying Changes for Mediated Corrections in the Authority Control Task List

After reviewing mediated corrections in the Review tab of the Authority Control Task List, you can apply the corrections for the bibliographic headings that you want to correct. This results in the bibliographic record being corrected with the authority record data. The mediated corrections may be applied in the following manner:

Individual rows — For each row in the Authority Control Task List to which you want to apply the changes, you can select the Apply action from the row actions, or you may select the check box at the beginning of the row and, subsequently, select Apply Selected.
Multiple rows — You can select multiple records across multiple pages, up to 100 records, and use Apply Selected.

Additionally, you can use the column check box in the header row to select all the check boxes for each row of the page on which you are working and, subsequently, select Apply Selected. Note that this option does not work across multiple pages.

All mediated rows — Select the Apply All option to apply the mediated corrections on all the mediated rows that appear in the list (across pages).