Hi folks:

   Ever ponder the ambiguity of searching the name authority files by
heading (or reference heading) when an unambiguous heading is being
sought? Perhaps you may have noticed the usefulness of complex key word
and phrase combinations to recover precise data from the Internet?

   "Authority work" would be greatly enhanced if "authority records" could
be recovered in the same way. Might we ever see key word and phrase
searches of authority recordS by data in all fields? One could then
search for the "john smith" who is a biologist (etc.) or lives in Arizona
(Ariz.) or is on a faculty at Queensland Univ.

  Of course, a slight change in paradigm would be necessary, perhaps, to
develop "biographical" records supplying useful data.

  Still, I did recently hear one prominent scholar describe authority work
as being more generally important than work on bibliographical records, so
perhaps the extra efforts would be justifiable (except for interference
from the "bottom line"?).

Cheers!
                                             John G. Marr
                                             Cataloger
                                             CDS, UL
                                             Univ. of New Mexico
                                             Albuquerque, NM 87131
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         **"I really like to know the reasons for what I do!"**
                                             Martha Watson

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