LIBRARY OF CONGRESS INTEGRATED LIBRARY
SYSTEM
AND NACO REQUIREMENTS FOR REPORTING
OF BIBLIOGRAPHIC
FILE MAINTENANCE
This statement from the Cataloging Policy and Support Office is in response to inquiries from PCC participants and the expectations raised by the implementation of the Library of Congress' integrated library system (LC ILS) regarding the NACO requirements for reporting of bibliographic file maintenance (BFM).
The current policy regarding BFM will be retained for the immediate future. Currently, NACO participants report BFM as it affects "active" LC bibliographic records; records from LC's retrospective files are not currently considered "active" records in this context and will continue to be excluded from the universe for the creation of new headings and from BFM reporting. Changes to existing name authority records or newly created NARs that affect Library of Congress bibliographic records will continue to be reported according to the procedures and guidelines provided in NACO training classes.
This assures that the synchronicity between authority and bibliographic headings can be continued during the initial period after LC's Cataloging Day 1 while the Cooperative Cataloging Team learns to work in a new and different environment. It will also allow LC time to analyze the efficacy of the Voyager Global Headings Update feature to determine if the implementation of this feature can alleviate the burden on NACO libraries to report some classes of BFM. It should be noted that Global Heading Update features could never fully substitute for all types of BFM currently reported. Some changes to LC bibliographic headings will not be identified for global update and therefore will need to be reported to LC. LC has already identified several situations where global update alone cannot identify or resolve the situations that are now handled by BFM reports from NACO libraries.
LC will reassess this policy and issue guidelines to NACO participants to incorporate any reduction in external reporting that Global Heading Update capabilities might make possible in the future.
A series of "frequently asked questions" on BFM and records newly integrated into the "active" LC database has been developed to further assist PCC liaisons in responding to questions from catalogers that may arise as they create and modify authority headings. NACO catalogers are encouraged to contact their Coop Cataloging team liaison if they have any questions on this matter.
Library of Congress