31.1 Access Points and Other Basic Terminologies
Access points are names, terms, or codes, under which a bibliographic record is searched, identified, entered, or filed in a catalog. It is a key for retrieval and at the same time, a key for filing or display. These are the "approach terms" which are most likely the terms used by searchers in looking for library materials they need.
In a more general sense, an entry is any point of access to a file of bibliographic records or other data (name of author, title of work, series title, assigned subject heading or descriptor) under which a record representing a specific item may be searched and identified, manually or electronically. The main entry is entry in the library catalog that provides the fullest description of a bibliographic item, by which the work is to be uniformly identified and cited. In AACR2, the main entry is the primary access point. In the card catalog, it includes all the added entries under which the item is cataloged. An added entry is a secondary entry, additional to the main entry, usually under a heading for a joint author, illustrator, translator, series, or subject, by which an item is represented in a library catalog. For most items, main entry is under name of author. When there is no author, main entry is under title.
The heading is the name of a person, corporate body, or geographic location; the title proper of a work; or an authorized content descriptor (subject heading), placed at the head of a catalog entry or listed in an index, to provide an access point.
The entry word is the word under which a record in a catalog, index, or bibliography is filed and searched, usually the first word of the heading, initial articles excluded. In retrieving information from an online catalog or bibliographic database, the order of terms typed as input may determine the success or failure of a search by author, title, subject heading, or descriptor, but in a keywords search, word order should not affect results if Boolean logic is correctly used.
Synonymous with filing word.
Basically, the activity of choosing access points has two aspects:
• determining the main and added entries
• determining the proper term for the heading whether it is personal name, corporate name, or geographic heading
31.2 Entry Under Personal Author
Authorship pertains to the origin of the intellectual or artistic content of the work.
Authorship can pertain either to an individual, a certain number of individuals, or a corporate body.
The personal author is the person chiefly responsible for the creation of the intellectual or artistic content of a material. These include
• writers of books
• composers of music
• artists such as painters and sculptors
• compilers of bibliographies
• cartographers
1. General rule (Rule 21.1A2) - Enter a work by one or more persons under the heading for the personal author, the principal personal author, or the probable personal author. In some cases of shared and mixed personal authorship, the work is entered under the heading for the person named first.
2. Works for single personal authorship ((Rule 21.4A) - Enter a work, collection of works, or selection from a work or works by one personal author (or any reprint, reissue, etc. of such a work) under the heading for that person whether named in the item being cataloged or not.
31.3 Entry Under Corporate Body
A corporate body is an organization of group of persons that is identified by a name or the acts and may function as an entity like any of the following.
• business firms
• local and national governments and their agencies
• churches
• associations (clubs and societies)
• institutions *museums and libraries(
• international agencies
• conferences (meetings of individuals or representatives of various bodies for the purpose of discussing and/or acting on topics of common interest, or meetings of representatives of a corporate body that constitutes its legislative or governing body)
• exhibitions
• expeditions and festivals
• performing groups
The following are chosen sections from AACR in name authority control for corporate bodies.
1. General rule (Rule 21.1B2) - Enter a work emanating from one or more corporate bodies under the heading for the appropriate corporate body, if it falls in one or more of the following categories.
• those of an administrative nature dealing with the corporate body itself, o or its internal policies, procedures, finances, and/or operations
o or its officers, staff, and/or membership (e.g. directories) o or its resources (e.g. catalogs, inventories)
• some legal, government, or religious works of the following types o laws
o decrees of the chief executives that have the force of law o administrative regulations
o constitutions o court rules o treaties, etc.
o court discussions o legislative headings
o religious laws (e.g. canon laws) o liturgical works
• those that record the collective thought of the body (e.g. reports of commissions, committees, etc.; official statements of positions on external policies)
• those that report the collective activity of a conference (e.g. proceedings, collected papers), of an expeditions ( e.g. results of exploration, investigations) , or an event (e.g. exhibitions, fairs, festivals) falling within the definition of a corporate body, provided that the conference, expedition, or event is named in the item being cataloged
• those that result from the collective activity of a performing group as a whole where the responsibility of the group goes beyond that of mere performance, execution, etc. (publications resulting from such activities include sound recordings, films, video recordings, and written records of performances)
• cartographic materials emanating from a corporate body other than a body that is merely responsible for their publication or distribution 2. Works emanating from a single corporate body (Rule 21.4B) - Enter a work, collection of works, or selection from a work or works by one corporate body (or any reprint, reissue, etc. of such a work) under the heading for the body if the work or collection falls into the categories mentioned.
31.4 Entry Under Title
Rule 21.1C of the AACR states that a work must be entered under the title when
• the author is unknown and no corporate body is responsible
• the work has more than three authors and none of them is the principal author, and no corporate body is responsible (this rule appears in AACR2 R1988 and absent in AACR2 R1998 and AACR2 R2002)
• the item is a collection, or a work produced under editorial collection and has a collective title
• the item is not by a person or persons, and is issued by a corporate body but is not one of the types of publications listed previously
• it is a sacred scripture (such as the Bible, the Koran, or the Talmud), or an ancient anonymous work (such as Beowulf, or the Arabian Nights)
31.5 Works of Shared Responsibility
Works of shared responsibility are works produced by the collaboration of two or more persons or corporate bodies who performed the same kind of activity.
The following AACR rules apply for works of shared responsibility.
1. If principal responsibility is indicated (Rule 21.6B) - If, in a work of shared responsibility, principal responsibility is attributed (by the wording or the layout of the chief source of information of the item being cataloged) to one person or corporate body, enter under the heading for that person or body. Make added entries under the headings for other persons or bodies involved if there are not more than one.
2. If principal responsibility is not indicated (Rule 21.6C) - If responsibility is shared between two or more persons or corporate bodies and principal responsibility is not attributed to any of them by wotrding or layout, enter under the heading for the one named first. Make added entries under the headings for the others.
31.6 Works of Mixed Responsibility
Works of mixed responsibility are works resulting from the collaboration of two or more persons or corporate bodies performing different kinds of activity. Previously existing works that had been modified are included in this category.
The following AACR rules apply for works of mixed responsibility.
1. Works that are modifications of other works (Rule 21.9) - Enter a work that is a modification of another under a heading appropriate to the new work if the modification has substantially changed the nature and content of the original or if the medium of expression has been changed. If the modification is an abridgement, rearrangement, etc., enter under the heading appropriate to the original.
For adaptations: Enter a paraphrase, rewriting, adaptation for children, or version in a different literary from (e.g. novelization, dramatization) under the heading for the adapter and make a name-title added entry for the original.
For illustrated texts: Enter a work that consists of a text for which an artist has provided illustrations under the heading appropriate for the text.
For revisions of texts: Enter an edition of a work that has been revised, enlarged, updated, etc. under the heading of the original author if:
• the original author is named in a statement of responsibility in the item being cataloged, or
• the original author is named in the title proper and no other person is named in a statement of responsibility or other title information.
Enter a work under the heading for the reviser, etc. or under title, as appropriate, if the wording of the chief source of information of the item being cataloged indicates that the person or body responsible for the original is no longer considered responsible for the work. Make a name-title added entry under the heading for the original author. Also, make a title added entry if the title begins with the name of the original author and the main entry is under the name of the reviser, etc.
For texts published with commentary (text by one author and a commentary, interpretation, or exegesis): If the chief source of information of the item being cataloged presents the item as a commentary, enter it as such and make an added entry under the heading appropriate for the text, unless the chief source of information presents the item as an edition of the original work.
For translations: Enter a translation under the heading appropriate to the original and an added entry under the heading of the translator.
For items published with biographical/critical material: If a work or works by a writer accompanied by (or interwoven with) biographical or critical material by another person is presented in the chief source of information of the item being cataloged as a biographical or critical work, enter it as such with an added entry appropriate to the work or works included.
2. Mixed responsibility in new works (Rule 21.24) - For collaborations between an artist and a writer: Enter a work that is a work of collaboration between an artist and a writer under the one who is named first under the chief source of information of the item being cataloged unless the other's name is given greater prominence by the wording or layout, and make an added entry under the heading for the other one.
For reports of interviews ort exchanges: If a work is essentially the work of the person(s) interviewed or of the participants in an exchange (other than reporter), enter under the principal participant, participant named first in the chief source of information of the item being cataloged, or title, and make an added entry under the heading for the reporter if he or she is named prominently in the item.
31.7 Forms of Headings
Headings are terms placed at the head of a catalog entry or listed in an index, to provide an access point. They can be name of a person, corporate body, or geographic location; the title proper of a work; or an authorized content descriptor (subject heading).
The following is a differentiation among types of headings and the corresponding AACR provisions for each.
1. Headings for persons
• Choice of name (Rule 22.1) - In general, choose as the basis of the heading for a person, the name by which he or she is commonly known.
This can be the person's real name, pseudonym, title of nobility, nickname, initials, or other appellations. Determine the name by which a person is commonly known from the chief source of information or works by that person issued in his/ her language.
• Entry element (Rule 22.4) - If a person's name consists of several parts, select the entry element that part of the name under which the person would normally be listed in authoritative alphabetic list in his/her language or country of residence or activity.
• Here are specific rules for the order of elements.
o If the entry element is the first element of the name, enter the name in direct order. Example: Ram Gopal
o If the first element is a surname, follow it by a comma (,).
Example: Chiang, Kai-shek
o If the entry element is not the first element in the name, transpose the elements of the name preceding the entry element and follow the entry element by a comma (,). Example: Cassat, Mary
o If the entry element is the proper name in a title of nobility, follow it by the personal name and the part of the title denoting rank by commas (,). Example: Caradon, Hugh Foot, Baron
2. Geographic names
• General rule (Rule 23.2) - Use the English form of the name of a place if there is one in general use (determine this form gazetteers and other reference sources published in English-speaking countries). Use the form in the official language in the country if there is no English form in general use.
3. Headings for corporate bodies
• General rule (Rule 24.1) - Enter the corporate body directly under the name by which it is commonly identified, except when under the name of
a higher or related body or under the name of a government (specific rules apply for such cases).
4. Uniform titles - A uniform title is a title that brings together entries for different publications of the same work, when those publications have different titles proper.
If the entry is under a name heading, place the uniform title between the name heading and the title proper, and enclose the uniform title in square brackets. If there is no name heading, give the uniform title as the heading.
Use uniform titles when:
• you have two or more publications of the same work in your library and those publications have different titles
• the publication that you are cataloging has a title that is unlikely to be looked for by the users of the catalog
• you are cataloging an ancient work or a sacred scripture
• you are cataloging a collection of, or selections from the works of a person
Do not use uniform titles for revisions of works, even when those revisions have different titles. If you use a uniform title, choose the title by which the work is best known (decide this by consulting upon reference sources and other publications of the same work but if in doubt, choose the earliest titles). Choose a title in the original language.