Development of an authoritative file of subject headings

Abstract

At present, the formation of authoritative files system is an obligatory condition for organizing and managing electronic catalogues of large scientific libraries. SPSTL SB RAS is managing its own authoritative file of subject headings, the work on which began in 2008, and is actual until today.

The paper describes the results of creating and managing an authoritative file of subject headings of SPSTL SB RAS in the period of 2011 – 2020: the history of the file creation is mentioned; the importance of linguistic support of the electronic catalogue for conducting information search is marked; the necessity for analyzing the current state of affairs and evaluating the authoritative file quality is pointed out.

The analysis is based on the results of implementing the statement of work for creating the authoritative file; the program of step-by-step works is reproduced and the results of accomplishing each stage, the complexity of the tasks are evaluated.

The article indicates the need to edit subject headings in accordance with the requirements of the method of objectification; to pair information search languages: library and bibliographic indices of classification and subject headings. It also indicates the problem of filling the authoritative file with new subject headings, reveals the necessity of checking the vocabulary by alphabetical index. The conclusion forms the notion about the current state of the authoritative file, the terms of work on implementing the statement of work. The main problem of completing the creation of an authoritative file of subject headings of SPSTL SB RAS is indicated; ways to solve this problem are suggested.