Backstage report R25 is for geographic names in subject headings that are invalid or incorrect in some way according to their algorithms.
Each quarter, the report must be examined to make sure that subject headings with these geographic names are corrected.
First of all, in the report, examine the headings in bold type.
There are several possible problems with these headings, some of which are easily fixed. Others are not so easily fixed and require searching the LC NAF in OCLC and/or Millennium. Below is a list of the most commonly occurring problems, an example, and the steps taken to resolve each one.
Typo in geographic name.
EXAMPLE:
Heading in Backstage report: Groundwater flow |zPuerto Rioc |zArecibo Region.
RESOLUTION:
Go into the designated Millennium record and correct the typo. Sometimes a typo is perpetuated throughout the Millennium record. If it is, correct them all.
Subfield tagging mistake.
EXAMPLE:
Heading in Backstage report: Groundwater flow |z Puerto Rico |z Simulation methods.
RESOLUTION:
Go to designated Millennium record and correct the subfield tag.
Groundwater flow |z Puerto Rico |x Simulation methods.
Headings in which the country or state (province) name is incorrectly formulated.
EXAMPLE:
Heading from Backstage report: Australian newspapers|zAustralia|zQueensland|zBrisbane
RESOLUTION:
The problem here may lie in the incorrect subdivision for Brisbane. First, search in OCLC for the geographic name authority record for Brisbane.
LC Subject Authority Record:
151 Brisbane (Qld.)
368 ǂb Capitals (Cities) ǂb Cities and towns ǂ2 lcsh
370 ǂc Australia ǂe Queensland ǂ2 naf
[…]
781 0ǂz Australia ǂz Brisbane (Qld.)
According to the 781 field in the authority record, the correct way to subdivide the city of Brisbane is by adding the qualifier for (Qld.) to the end.
Correct the Millennium record to say:
Australian newspapers|zAustralia|zBrisbane (Qld.)
River, estuary, watershed names.
EXAMPLE:
Heading in Backstage report: Douglas fir|zWashington (State)|zBrennegan Creek Watershed|xGrowth.
RESOLUTION:
According to SHM H 800, watershed and estuary names were legally formulated as free-floaters till 1993. That is, you could add the name of a river or other body of water to the word watershed and have a valid heading. Now, the watershed or estuary name must be established in the LC NAF.
So, search the LC NAF in OCLC for the name of the watershed, estuary, etc. If it is not established, accept it as it is. Since we cannot establish geographic names through NACO, except in limited circumstances, we have no other choice. If a name authority record is created in the future, we will receive it as part of our Notification service with Backstage.
In all of these cases above, if an authority record is found in OCLC, check Millennium to make sure we have it. If we do not, load it from OCLC and add the 010 to the Adds & Deletes spreadsheet.
USEFUL RESOURCES
- Cataloger’s Desktop: Subject Headings Manual: section Geographic Headings and Subdivisions.
- LC Name Authority File in OCLC, or at http://authorities.loc.gov/
- Millennium, for examples of our previous practice.