FAQ - General

I need to evaluate a migrated record that has a 667 note « CETTE NOTICE VERSÉE EN LOT DOIT ÊTRE ÉVALUÉE AVANT D'ÊTRE UTILISÉE, POUR S'ASSURER QU'ELLE RÉPONDE AUX NORMES DU PFAN ». 1XX should be modified to a $XX field according to PFAN practices. What value should I use in 4XX $w/2?

Canadiana is a national authority file and any record that has been added to it is considered part of it, even if it has not been evaluated. The appropriate value is therefore "e" (Established form of the earlier heading (National Authority File)).

What if the record has a 670 added at the CIP stage and I need to add information from the same work after it is published? Should I add another 670 or add the information to the existing 670?

The information must be added to the existing 670 field.

Example :

670 current	Mon labo dans un pot Mason, 2020 : $b formulaire du CIP de BAC (Jonathan Adolph; non-Canadien)
670 modified	Mon labo dans un pot Mason, 2020 : $b formulaire du CIP de BAC (Jonathan Adolph; non-Canadien) page de titre (Jonathan Adolph) quatrième de couverture (concepteur d'activités scientifiques pour le magazine FamilyFun et professeur de journalisme)

When "CIP" appears without further specification in subfield $a, this should be entered as a location in subfield $b with the name of the entity in field 1XX as the information found in parentheses. Record personal names in direct order.

Example :

Record before modification	100 1# Bédard, Brigitte, $d 1968- 670 ## Et tu vas danser ta vie, 2015. CIP.
Record after modification	100 1# Bédard, Brigitte, $d 1968- 670 ## Et tu vas danser ta vie, 2015 : $b CIP (Brigitte Bédard) page de titre (Brigitte Bédard) page 4 de la couverture (née à Montréal; journaliste indépendante; écrit régulièrement pour le magazine catholique Le Verbe)

I need to modify a record locked by another participant, what can I do?

In Record Manager, when creating a new authority record, or when modifying an existing record, you may save the record in the “In Progress” file, in order to continue working on the record without immediately replacing the master record in Canadiana.

If you save your record in the In Progress file without locking the master record, any other contributor may modify the master record in Canadiana; if that happens, you will no longer be able to replace the master record by your own version of the record. Therefore, you risk losing the work you have done. Of course, it will always be possible to copy and paste each field individually from your In Progress record to the master record, but this is time-consuming, and additional information, as well as additional fields, may have been added to the master record by the other cataloguer, which represents a collective duplication of searching and typing efforts.

If you save and lock your record in the In Progress file, you will avoid these issues, as this will prevent all other contributors from modifying the record. Please note that a record will remain locked for 90 days, unless you unlock it yourself or replace it. After 90 days, the record will automatically unlock, unless you extend that duration by saving the record again in the In Progress file.

Records may remain in the In Progress file as long as work isn't finished, but they may be forgotten there, being therefore uselessly inaccessible to other institutions.

IMPORTANT: Should a PFAN member need to work on a locked record, she/he should forward the following message to the PFAN discussion list, to alert members.

Bonjour,
Message adressé aux personnes répondantes des institutions du PFAN.
Nous avons besoin de modifier la notice suivante : [Control number]
Est-ce que l'institution ayant verrouillé la notice peut nous contacter lorsqu'elle sera déverrouillée ?
Merci à tous.

[This message is not meant to put pressure on the institution working on a record, but simply to avoid having authority records remaining locked for no valid reason.]

Are we expected to change the authorized access points for an agent's works and expressions (such as authorized access points for an author's or a composer's works), if the preferred form for the agent alone is different from the form used in the access points for the works and expressions?

This situation is likely to happen when we delete duplicate authority records for an agent, in Canadiana. Applying the Procedure for duplicates may result in cases where the authorized access point for the author becomes different in the personal authority record and in the authority records for this author's works and expressions. Although this situation is far from ideal, PFAN does not require cataloguers to modify all the authority records for works and expressions, to match the preferred form for the agent's name, when they request that a duplicate record be deleted.

When the authority records for works and expressions are used, revised or updated, the access points for the agents, in those works and expressions records, will be modified, on an as-encountered basis, so that they are similar to the authorized access point use in the author's personal authority record.

Depending on their institution's policies, the cataloguer may decide to apply the Procedure for partial modification of records describing works and expressions in cases where the person's access point was modified. When this policy is applied, it is not necessary to modify all the records representing the person's works and expressions.

However, please note that new authority records being created for works and expressions must always be created using the preferred form for the agent's name, whether or not existing authority records for works and expressions have been modified to correct the form of the authorized access point describing the agent.

How can I delete a record in Canadiana?

Only LAC staff is allowed to delete records in the Canadiana file.

The PFAN documentation includes some situations where deletion of records is expected, for instance in the Procedures for duplicates, and in the Manual (field 008/32).

For any type of situation not covered in the documentation, please send a request for deletion to pfansuppression-deletionfnap@bac-lac.gc.ca, explaining the situation.

If any participant wants to run some tests, it is suggested that they do so in the “Saved – In Progress” file, to avoid having to use Canadiana numbers.

Are we allowed to create or revise series authority records in Canadiana?

No, the creation or revision of series authority records is not yet allowed in the Canadiana file. This will not be possible until the training documentation on Series authorities has been created.

When a corporate body has gone through a name change, or several name changes, and there are authority records, in Canadiana, for the other names, which relationships should be recorded in an authority record (field 5XX)? In which cases should cataloguers revise the authority records for those related corporate bodies?

Cataloguers should record only two types of sequential relationships: the corporate body's name immediately preceding the one the cataloguers are working on, and the one immediately following it, if applicable. These are prescribed in the PFAN PS for 32.1, which states that the element “Related corporate bodies” is a core element for sequential relationships with immediately preceding and immediately succeeding corporate bodies (conferences being the exception).

If the authority record for one or another of these corporate bodies is coded RDA or is “RDA acceptable” (in other terms, is coded AACR2, but displays an authorized access point which would be constructed in the same way according to RDA and applicable policy statements), it is not necessary to revise the record for this AAP, even if this is a migrated record which has not been reassessed.

If the authority record for one or another of these corporate bodies is neither RDA nor “RDA acceptable”, both the AAP and the entire authority record must be revised, and the record's coding will be changed to RDA.

Examples:
1) A cataloguer is creating an authority record for corporate body C, which was formerly called A and then B in the past. The authority records for A and B are “RDA acceptable”. The cataloguer will add a 5XX in record C, recording a sequential relationship to B, but there is no need to revise B's authority record.
2) A cataloguer is revising the authority record for corporate body D, which was formerly called A, B and C in the past, and was later called E and F. The authority record for body C is “RDA acceptable”, and the record for body E is coded RDA. The cataloguer will add two 5XX in the authority for body D, recording relationships with bodies C and E, but there is no need to revise the authority records for C and E.

How do I determine the usage for an agent name in WMS?

To determine the name by which an agent is commonly known or identified, RDA asks you first to consult the preferred sources of information in the events associated with the agent. To do this, we recommend checking usage in the WorldCat database. The Name Authority Manual defines "usage" as "the transcribed forms of names usually found in bibliographic record statements of responsibility." The Guide also states that "these forms may also be found in other parts of the bibliographic record, such as the title proper or a cited note."

Checking usage in WorldCat is not necessarily an easy task. Although there are no strict established procedures, the Standards Committee suggests the following the guidelines.

The search can first be carried out in French-language bibliographic records. Quite often, however, the French records do not offer a sufficiently representative sample to determine with certainty the name by which an agent is commonly known or identified. In such cases, it may be useful to consult bibliographic records in English. In this case, it is not necessary to note in a 670 field the authorized access points appearing in the English records, unless they are needed to justify access point variants.

As for the scope of your search, it's best not to limit yourself to your own collection, but to search the whole of WorldCat. That said, searching for usage is not particularly user-friendly in WMS. Instead, we recommend using the browser Connexion, which allows you to consult directly in the search results screen, once the "Brief list" view has been selected. It should be noted that an enhancement request has been made so that this display is also available in WMS.

I need to establish an authorized access point for a conference, etc., that has been cancelled or held in hybrid mode (both in a physical location and online). Which location should I register in the access point?

Canceled conferences

If a conference is cancelled, it will likely still yield publications and proceedings and necessitate an AAP. A cancelled conference is understood to have no location, because it did not occur. RDA 11.3.2.3 states: “Record a name of place in which the conference, etc., was held …”

A cancelled conference will have no location, but could include a number and date. PFAN recommends the following:

For numbered conferences:

Record the number of the meeting in subfield $n
Record the intended date of the meeting in subfield $d
Do not record a location

Example :

Clinical Nutrition and Research Symposium $n (20e : $d 2020)

For unnumbered conferences:

Record the intended date of the meeting in subfield $d
Do not record a location

Example :

SEAALL Annual Meeting $d (2020)

Hybrid conference (in a physical location and online)

RDA 11.3.2.3 does not address the case where a conference is held both in one or more physical locations and online. In general, such conferences take place wholly in one or more physical locations with some registrants viewing the proceedings (either in whole or in part) online.

In this case, the NACO Advisory Group recommends that the last exception to RDA 11.3.2.3 not be applied (i.e. do not record “Online” as a location but instead limit the location to the physical location(s)).

Last update: 2023-10-26