May 09, 2008
Number of Controlled Headings in OCLC WorldCat to Increase
OCLC has begun to use automated processing to identify, modify and control specific types of personal name headings in WorldCat bibliographic records. This processing, based on data used to build WorldCat Identities and developed by Thom Hickey, chief scientist in the OCLC Office of Programs and Research, is projected to control more than 26 million headings over the next few weeks.
In this phase of processing, personal name headings that consist of more than a single subfield and that match the established form or a reference in the authority record are being updated (if necessary); the heading is then controlled and the record is replaced. Records affected by this processing can be identified by the symbol OCLCG in field 040 $d. When a problem is encountered, the record is skipped and reported for manual intervention.
Dr. Hickey has posted a description of the project on his blog, Outgoing.
Glenn E. Patton, OCLC, edited
