Authority file of personal names in SBN and Alphabetica: problems and perspectives

Abstract

The article presents the results of the qualitative and quantitative analysis of SBN authority records for personal names, by the comparison of two datasets, the former based on data sent to VIAF in 2021 (PRE) and the latter on data taken from the SBN OPAC shortly after the publication of Alphabetica, the new ICCU portal (POST). The aim of the study was to establish whether the quality of the authority records actually corresponds to the requirements specified by SBN for the entries of level 90 and above. In addition, the study aimed to verify whether the system of production and publication of authority records, based on the authority levels of entries and of cataloguers, is still current or not, also with respect to the novelties introduced by Alphabetica. The analysis shows that a re-levant percentage of authority records (both in PRE and in POST) do not meet the requirements, that the choice of publication of records according to the levels of authority does not match to the standards and to the choices of other national bibliographic agencies, and that the innovations introduced in Alphabetica sug-gest a change of perspective in the organisation of SBN authority work.

Keywords

• iccu
• sbn
• authority control
• nomi di persona
• wikidata
• viaf
• ubc
• universal bibliographic control