O controle de autoridade e a contribuição da RDA: um estudo de caso nas bibliotecas da UFMG com enfoque nos registros de nome de pessoa

Abstract

The diversity of publications launched in recent decades, in new formats and on different information platforms, ha demanded adjustments in cataloging standards. The maintainers of the Anglo­American Cataloging Rules – second edition (AACR2), one of the most widely used codes worldwide, decided to develop new rules to meet these needs. From there, the RDA ­Resource Description and Access emerged, based on the conceptual models of entity-relationship, the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records, FRBRs, designed for the digital environment and with a very comprehensive scope. In cataloging, authoritative work is one of the most important tasks in libraries, as it is responsible for reducing ambiguities and conflicts of records in catalogs. AACR2R does not provide very consistent rules for writing authority records, providing only authoritative and cross­name entries. The RDA, on the other hand, presents more comprehensive instructions for maintaining the catalog of authorities, in addition to highlighting its links with bibliographic records. The justification for this research is related to the scarcity of scientific works on authority control and RDA standards, more specifically, the need to address the issue of authority control, with a focus on personal name entities. The research question elaborated was to know: "What are the contributions to the control of the authority of person's name, in the cataloging of authority records with the use of RDA, in terms of consistency and feasibility of implementation in the catalog of the Library System of the Federal University de Minas Gerais – SB/UFMG”, and the main objective “Identify the most significant contributions of the RDA to greater consistency in the control authority of local person name.” Using a qualitative approach, of an exploratory and descriptive nature, a case study was used as a research strategy. The characterization of the rules for authority records in ACR2R and RDA was elaborated, based on the literature, and a cataloging experiment was carried out, consisting of the creation and implementation of authority records of person, with the alternate use of the two rules, in a sample formed by 95 researchers from UFMG. As a result, essential characteristics of the RDA standard for personal name authority records were identified and 12 premises were outlined for a possible implementation of the RDA in SB/UFMG, based on local name authority records. It was concluded that the RDA brings great contributions to Authority Control, improving the consistency of access points and, therefore, of the catalog of university libraries, as it authorizes a robust and consistent description of data, through the possibility of including specific attributes to names and to expand the relationships between entities. It was also considered that the RDA favors navigation and the discovery of informational resources by users and expands the notion of authority, by proposing to control names related not only to the work itself, but also to expressions, manifestations, including items. In addition, it can make the library's authority catalog a source of biographical reference for these names.