Report to the MLA Subcommittee on Subject Access
February 10, 1998
Shared, now cooperative, authority files, for both descriptive and subject cataloging, have been a daily reality of bibliographic control in North America for some time now. Similar developments have occurred in other countries and in languages other than English. International exchange of machine readable bibliographic data has continued to increase. It is now coming to include sources outside the English speaking community and to include authority as well as bibliographic records. This presents potentially great opportunities for enhanced bibliographic control of music and information about music. Discussed here are some of the issues to be understood in making best use of projected exchanges for improving subject access to music.
Parallels to Subject Authority File
Several subject authority files parallel to the Library of Congress (LC) subject authority file (SAF) are maintained by national bibliographic agencies in various countries. Some of these are directly adapted or translated from the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). The National Library of Canada has a file which supplements LCSH for distinctly Canadian topics. A French language version, called Rêpertoire des vedettes matières (RVM), is edited at Laval University for the National Library of Canada.1 The British Library has adopted LCSH for use in records created for the British National Bibliography. Where British usage differs significantly from LCSH, a specially coded "use for" field is included in the authority record for the British preferred term.2 In France a shared cooperative SAF called RAMEAU is based on the RVM from Laval. Additional headings are created for RAMEAU as needed.3 Spain has a similar file.4
German Subject Authority File
Of special interest to music libraries is the shared cooperative subject authority file maintained by the libraries of Nord Rhein and Westphalia. Headings from this file are used in the records created for the Deutsche Bibliographie. These records will be of increasing importance in North America with the development of the REUSE Project. Its goal is to make possible the direct loading of these records into the USMARC database.5 Differences in MARC format have been resolved. Attention is now focused on fundamental differences in descriptive cataloging regarding choice of entry.6 The differences must be resolved to support the maintenance of linked authority records for personal and corporate names. This will be an essential aspect of international bibliographic data exchange. Subject analysis has not been approached per se. However, the exchange of descriptive cataloging records will provide a vehicle for such exchange. The Deutsche Bibliographie records which will appear in North American databases will carry subject headings from the German subject authority file. These headings are constructed according to rules and procedures expressed in the new German subject cataloging rules, Regeln für den Schlagwortkatalog (RSWK) (Berlin: Deutsches Bibliotheksinstitut, 1991). They are similar to LCSH in content and structure.7 Supplemental subject cataloging rules for printed music and musical recordings have been prepared.8 As described, they are also similar to LCSH. A high percentage of the materials of every type collected by American music libraries are published in the German speaking countries. Music materials have a much wider international market than do foreign language books. The addition of the German bibliographic records is an especially valuable resource for music libraries.
Implications for Music Librarians
It will not feasible for music librarians to effect international data exchange at this level on our own. It is important however to keep abreast of these developments so that they can be exploited for music collections as fully as possible. It is also important to become informed about and involved in the developments to insure that they proceed in a manner which supports music use. Most apparent is the value of a multi-lingual vocabulary control tool for music terminology (not necessarily a true multi-lingual thesaurus, which presents extremely complex problems). A switching language, or front navigation tool, is required to fully exploit records which include foreign language subject descriptors, not so much to automatically generate correct LCSH as to facilitate retrieval and manipulation.
The Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) has added references from French language equivalent terms to its authority records. These were partially automatically derived from the RVM records corresponding to LC SAF records used as the building blocks for AAT.9 Now AAT is participating in the development of a prototype multi-lingual thesaurus (English, French and Spanish) for Roman Catholic liturgical objects.10 This has an enormous potential for supporting international data exchange in the field of art. Developing an ability in the nascent Music Thesaurus Project database to incorporate foreign SAF records could offer a similar enhancement in music and musicology. Perhaps the means to partially automate integration, as with the machine readable LCSH, DDC and LCC records, or linking, as proposed for name authority file records, can be found.
Further Research Possibilities
Identify foreign language SAFs which include terms for music--in particular those used routinely as a source for descriptors in a national bibliography which includes printed music and sound recordings as well as books about music. Assess their similarity to LCSH and compatibility with USMARC. Those which are dissimilar may present interesting examples for improving the use of LCSH for music. Compare the RSWK supplementary rules for music to the LC Subject Cataloging Manual memos related to music. Explore the feasibility of subject cataloging harmonization between German and Anglo-American traditions.
Notes
1. Ingrid Parent, "Subject Access to Library Materials in Canada:
Overview," Subject Indexing: Principles and Practices in the 90s (Munich: K.
G. Saur, 1995).
back to text
2. I. C. McIlwaine, "Subject Control: The British Viewpoint,"
Subject Indexing: Principles and Practices in the 90s (Munich: K. G. Saur, 1995).
back to text
3. Suzanne Jouguelet, "Evolution of Subject Indexing Practice in
France," Subject Indexing: Principles and Practices in the 90s (Munich: K. G.
Saur, 1995).
back to text
4. Pilar Benedito Castellote, "Subject Indexing at the National
Library of Spain," Subject Indexing: Principles and Practices in the 90s
(Munich: K. G. Saur, 1995).
back to text
5. "Project REUSE: Aligning International Cataloging
Standards," http://www.oclc.org/oclc/cataloging/reuse_project/index.htm
back to text
6. Monika Münnich, "Approach of AACR2 and RAK-WB; or, No Problems
in Future Data Exchange?" Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 24, no. 3
/ 4 (1997): 3-16.
back to text
7. Magda Heiner-Freiling, "Subject Indexing in the Nineties: The
Situation in Germany," Subject Indexing: Principles and Practices in the 90s
(Munich: K. G. Saur, 1995).
back to text
8. The draft of these is described in Helmut Hell, "Sonderregeln
für Musikdrucke und Musiktontrager zu den Regeln für den Schlagwortkatalog," Fontes
artis musicae 39 (April 1992): 179-85.
back to text
9. Michel Fournier & Remi Boucher, "Le AAT: son adaptation en
français par l'equipe du repertoire de vedettes-matiére de l'Université Laval," Art
Libraries Journal 21, no. 3 (1996): 29-33.
back to text
10. Eliza Lanzi, "The Linguistic Challenge of a Multilingual
AAT," Art Documentation 14 (Summer 1991): 19; Murtha Baca, "Vocabulary
Program Involvement in Multilingual Terminology Work," Bulletin of the Vocabulary
Program, no. 1 (1997): 4-5.
back to text
Bibliography
International Standardization in Subject Analysis:
German Advances in Cooperative Subject Cataloging:
German Advances in Music Subject Cataloging and Analysis:
Return to Subject Access Subcommittee Home Page
Last updated April 18, 2000