[Koha] Authorities help

[Rick Welykochy]

Ben Ide wrote:

> We use authority records rather extensively here.  The best example
> that I can use to explain why would be "Mark Twain."
> 
> Samuel Longhorn Clemens chose the name Mark Twain as a writing
> pseudonym, but his pen name became so widely recognized that nearly
> everyone refers to him that way.
> 
> Having an authority record would allow you to redirect people looking
> for "Samuel Longhorn Clemens" to the recognized name "Mark Twain."
> 
> ...or "Sam Clemens," or "Marc Twain," or one of the other pen names
> that he used.
> 
> It gets more useful for people like Tchaikovsky, who has multiple
> recognized alternate spellings of his name.
> 
> We also use it to pull together iterations of musical works, which can
> get more byzantine.  (How many "symphony no.3" titles are there?)
> 
> Hope this helps.

Welcome to the list, you delurker :)

Thanks for the simple explanation on what authorities are. Being a
techie, often the library related terminology and concepts can leave
me flummoxed.


cheers
rickw



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Rick Welykochy || Praxis Services

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