NACO Searching Instructions

1. Search NOTIS

Fin jx [last name first name] or [corporate name]

The JX search will retrieve the authority record, as well as any records where the name is used as a heading: main entry, subject, added entry

N.B. Do not insert a blank space at the end of the typed phrase. Doing so will prevent display of the authority record. This is often the cause of duplicate authority record creation.

Possible results from the NOTIS search:

• Entry found (with authority record). Check fixed fields and use codes. If correct, STOP HERE.
• Entry found (with authority record), but needs editing or additional x-refs. Check RLIN authority file to see if an update has been made.
  • If updated RLIN record found, make changes to the NOTIS record, using cut-and-paste (or replace the old record, or add the changes--whatever seems most efficient under the circumstances).
  • If no RLIN update found, update the RLIN record, adding an 040 $dNIC and the appropriate changes. GTO the updated record into NOTIS or make the changes manually. If you are not yet trained to make changes on RLIN, make your record changes on NOTIS. Make a printout of the changed record, highlight the changes changes, and put the printout in the NACO review box.
• If you do not find a record on NOTIS, but the name does not fit the parameters for authority record creation currently in effect, STOP HERE
• If you do not find a record on NOTIS, but the name requires an authority record, go on to next step

2. Search RLIN authority file

Sign on to RLIN: cal rlin (aut); sel fil naf, saf

In general RLIN searches require the inclusion of punctuation (e.g., hyphens or apostrophes), but not diacritics (accent marks) or these characters: ~ () "" /. Periods or spaces should be used when searching forename initials. Examples

Using the following guidelines, choose the most efficient method to search for your heading:

The hp [heading phrase] index looks for headings as complete phrases, and indexes all files. Using this index allows you to find precise forms of headings and eliminate unwanted forms. For instance:

• fin hp duke university finds only the main heading for Duke
  
• fin hp duke university# finds any heading beginning with "Duke University"
  
• fin cp duke university# finds any heading in which "Duke University" appears as a corporate phrase
  

The hp index gives access to information you cannot search with other indexes:

• fin pe jones, peter finds any Peter Jones
  
• fin hp jones, peter 1930# finds only Peter Jones born in 1930
  

The tp [title phrase] index can be used when you know how a title begins (omit initial articles). For instance:

• title: The Joy of Cooking
  
• search: fin tp joy of cooking#
  

You can truncate a tp search to pick up records that include subtitles:

• title: Speak, Memory: a Memoir
  
• search: fin tp speak memory#
  

You can put quotation marks around title phrases that contain AND, OR, NOT, &, or truncate to avoid these terms:

• title: Ask Not of Me, Love
  
• search: fin tp "ask not of me love"
  
• or: fin tp ask#of me love
  

• title: The Devil's Church and other stories ...
  
• search: fin tp devils church#
  

Use the cp [corporate phrase] index when you know how a corporate or conference name begins (omit initial articles).

• name: The Hispanic Society of America
  
• search: fin cp hispanic society of america#
  

You can truncate a cp search or include the complete name:

• name: John Beswick Limited
  
• search: fin cp john beswick#
  
• or, fin cp john beswick limited
  

Put quotation marks around names that contain AND, OR, NOT, &, or truncate to avoid these terms:

• name: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad Company
  
• search: fin cp atchison topeka#santa fe railroad company
  

• name: Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales
  
• search: fin cp "royal commission on the ancient and historical#"
  

Use the tw [title word] index to search distinctive words from a title:

• name includes words: Macmillan, Dictionary, Numismatics
  
• search: fin tw macmillan numismatics
  

• title: work by Edith Wharton with title word decoration
  
• search: fin pn edith wharton and tw decoration
  

Truncate only to pick up variant forms of a word:

• search: fin tw treatment# hypertens#
  
• finds works with title words beginning with the stems treatment (e.g., treatment, treatments) and hypertens, (e.g., hypertension, hypertensive)
  

Avoid these kinds of common words:

• words shorter than 3 characters
• conjunctions, articles, prepositions
• any of these stop words (also known as exclusion words), which are ignored: about, and, are, aus, aux, avec, con, dal, das, del, dem, der, des, for, from, gli, into, les, mit, nach, the, und, von, with, zum, zur
• general terms for organizations, languages, nations, etc., for example: America, American, Canadian, committee, congress, county, English, house, international, library, national, social, society, state, states, united, university, world
• general terms for types of publications, for example: bibliography, book, collection, conference, guide, manual, microfiche, papers, poems, proceedings, publication, report, series, session, story, studies, survey, theses, works
• general terms for scholarly disciplines and other general terms often found in titles, for example: analysis, art, development, early, economic, first, general, history, law, life, literature, modern, new, public, research, science, social

Use the cw [corporate word] index to search distinctive words from the name of a conference or corporate author:

• name: includes Conference, Dairy Industry, Bangalore, India
  
• search: fin cw dairy bangalore
  

• name: Thomas J. Watson Research Center
  
• search: fin cw thomas watson
  

Avoid common words.

Use the pn [personal name] index to find most personal names. This index works best for names that match the search exactly or that can be shortened or expanded in various ways to match the pattern of the search:

• fin pn malcolm
• finds any name with Malcolm as a surname, e.g., Janet Malcolm, George Malcolm-Smith, etc.)
  

• fin pn j p malcolm
• finds names with Malcolm as a surname and with forename(s) or forename initial(s) that match, or can be shortened to fit the pattern J P, e.g., J. P. Malcolm, such as Jan Malcolm, Janet Malcolm)
  

• fin pn jan malcolm
• finds names with Malcolm as a surname and forename(s) or forename initial(s) that match, or can be shortened or expanded to fit the pattern Jan, e.g. J. P. Malcolm, Jan Malcolm, Janet Malcolm)
  

When using the pn index, include at least a last name; include forename initials to make a search more precise.

Use the pe [personal name exact] index to limit the result to names that match the search exactly. You can use normal or inverted order. If you invert the name, put a comma between last name(s) and first name(s):

• fin pe miguel de cervantes saavedra
  
• fin pe cervantes saavedra, miguel de
  

Note: The normal order for some non-Western names is family name first, followed by forename. Make sure to include the comma in the search to differentiate surname and forename:

• fin pe sun, yat-sen
  

Do not include dates or personal titles:

• name: Montague, Mary Wortley, Lady, 1689-1762
  
• search: fin pe mary wortley montague
  

Truncate last names only to pick up variants; do not truncate first names or initials:

• name: first name beginning with P and last name Swenson or Swensen
  
• search: fin pe p swens#n
  

If you find a heading, bring it into NOTIS (GTO or cut-and-paste).

If you do not find heading, go on to the next step.

3. Search RLIN PRP (pending record phrase) file:

The prp file indexes records immediately, so that results can include records entered on the same day as the search. It works exactly like the hp search but finds only "pending records", that is, records submitted by NACO participants but not yet distributed by LC.

The searching for prp works like hp [heading phrase].

If you find a heading in the prp file, STOP HERE.

If you do not find heading, go on to the next step.

4. Search RLIN bibliographic files:

• cal rlin (cat)
• sel fil bks ser sco mdf map rec vim [set a function key for this]
• using the guidelines for RLIN searching, search for your heading (NOTE: hp is not a valid search for the bib files)

If there are headings coded as AACR2, follow the guidelines in the McColl book, LCRIs, AACR2r for choice of entry. Use the heading and usage on the member records for additional x-refs.

Table of Contents | Example Level

rev. 12/12/95 dih