To Establish or Not to Establish? The Question of Establishing Name Authority Records for Theses and Dissertation Authors

Abstract

Recent vigorous discussion on the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) listserv raised a number of questions on the ethics of establishing theses and dissertation authors using birth dates and other information found on author's work (such as the vita or other personal data). This presentation will use that question as a starting point to investigate the reasoning behind establishing these authors, how they should be established, why theses and dissertation authors should be treated any differently than other authors, and how OCLC's increased addition of articles into their database complicate matters. In addition, the further challenge that RDA adoption might cause will be presented and discussed. Questions and discussion are welcome, and participants do not need to be NACO participants to join and contribute to the dialogue.