Authority control for Form/genre index

["Ann Kebabian" <akebabian@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I've found a couple of threads on form/genre indexes in the Innopac
archives (e.g., the one below), but have not been able to find
information on *authority* records in the form/genre index.

Do those of you who have form/genre indexes include authority records?

Does the mismatch of tags (150 vs. 655) cause problems?

We mostly use |2lcsh terms, but there are (of course!) others in our
database.  What's the effect of form/genre authorities in cases where
you have multiple schemes?  As far as I know, authority records for
non-lcsh thesauri are not available.  Am I mistaken?

Does anybody with authorities in their form/genre index use a vendor for
all or part of their authority control?  How difficult was it to get the
form/genre authority records you needed?

We are about to reindex to create a form/genre index for the first time,
so it's hard to anticipate what the effect of authority control will be.
We have lots of 655 fields, so I'm sure it will be a massive cleanup
chore at the beginning.  However, unless the work is an outrageous
ongoing burden I'd prefer to include authority control in this index.
So any information you can supply will be gratefully appreciated!  

TIA --ann

Ann Kebabian
Head of Cataloging
Colgate University
Hamilton, NY 13346
Phone: 315-228-7309
Fax: 315-228-7934
Email: akebabian@xxxxxxxxxx


-----Original Message-----
From: Miller, David [mailto:dmiller@xxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 1999 2:47 PM
To: 'INNOPAC@xxxxxxxxxx'
Subject: RE: form/genre and authority load tables

We have set aside a separate search index to 655 field data, and are
converting the appropriate 650 fields to 655 as time allows (which means
it's slow but steady). This may not, in the long run, prove the best way
to
provide explicit access to this data, but it's an experiment we're
trying
for the time being. At least, recoding the 650 fields to 655 means that
if
we do reintegrate the indexes, the headings will be distinguishable in
the
manner that Claudia Chester indicates.

David Miller
Levin Library, Curry College
Milton, MA
dmiller@xxxxxxxxxx