http://ac.bslw.com/community/wiki/index.php5/Step_3.13

Local Authority Masters

At Backstage, we have an option to match against a Library’s local authority file, either first or last in the process. If we match first, then the version of the heading that the Library has maintained on their side is preferred and taken over whatever match may (or may not) exist in the national authority file. If we match last, then the heading does not show up on our unmatched headings report. In either case, we also do not return the local authority match because it is presumed that our Library already has a copy of that in their own system.

We have around 20 or so clients that have us maintain their local authority master records. These clients, together, have a combined total of 3.0 million+ local authorities.

Master Local Authority File?

So we had the thought of what if it made sense for our other libraries to match against these local authorities? Maybe there wouldn’t be a high match-rate anyway against the combined locals due to their (most likely) regional coverage, but perhaps it is still worth exploring? With more than 3.0m extra authorities to match against, would it make sense to try this kind of service?

Next Steps

For now, this is all theoretical for us at Backstage. We wanted to broach the topic to our clients via the listserv and gather any feedback. If this did sound like a good idea to explore, then we would also need to approach those clients that currently have local authorities with us and ask their permission to include those authorities into a Master Local Authority File. We have ideas in place about how to maintain that database, but we can talk more about those ideas if this garners any kind of positive response.

As always, we welcome whatever feedback you may have about this potential service.