Name Authorities: 67X Citation Fields

670 - Source Data Found

General Guidance

• Unless instructed differently below, consult and follow the 670 guidance in:
  • DCM Z1
  • NACO Participants' Manual (NPM)
• For information on whether to use a 670 field or a ǂv in another field, see Source of Information: 670 vs. ǂv in the 046 and 3XX optional fields in Name Authorities: RDA, General Policies.
• Always include at least one 670 field. Usually, the first 670 field cites the work cataloged, for which the authorized access point is being established. Include, at a minimum, the 670 for this resource.
  • Exception: When creating a secondary NAR to support the authorized access point being established, and the secondary name does not appear in the work cat, cite the work cat in a 675 field instead.

ǂa - Source of Information

Main Entry

According to the NACO Participants' Manual, "The main entry (i.e., the name in the 1XX field of the bibliographic record cited), formerly given as the first element of the 670, is no longer required. However, if the title is generic in nature ("Minutes," "Report," etc.) or the cataloger feels that the main entry adds pertinent information to the record, it may be included." Additionally, DCM Z1 states, "Precede a generic or indistinctive title with the creator's name that would begin the authorized access point for the work."

• When including a creator's name ("main entry") in 670 ǂa, use a period to separate it from the title that follows.

GPO Practice

If the entity represented by an NAR is not the primary creator ("main entry") of the publication cited in the NAR's 670, it is pertinent to include the first author's name at the beginning of 670 ǂa. This information will help users easily identify and retrieve the publication when they search for it.

• When deciding whether to include the creator from the bibliographic 1XX field in an NAR's 670 ǂa, consider the following:
  • If the person or corporate body in the bibliographic 1XX field is the same entity represented in the NAR 1XX field:
    • It is not necessary to include the creator in 670 ǂa, unless the title is generic or indistinctive. 
  • If the person or corporate body in the bib 1XX field is different from the entity represented in the NAR 1XX field:
    • Include the creator from the bib 1XX in 670 ǂa.

SuDoc Citation

• When a 670 citation contains a SuDoc number instead of a title in ǂa:
  • Replace the number with the creator (if applicable), title, and date.
  • Add ǂb if it is lacking and the publication or a surrogate is in hand.

ǂb - Location of Information

In past practice, when a title was taken from the cover, caption, or any source, the location in 670 ǂb may have been generalized as "title page" or "t.p." in NARs.

Current practice:

• Include in ǂb the specific location(s) of the information found.
  • The location may be spelled out or abbreviated, provided the abbreviation is easily understood (e.g., both "page" and "p." are acceptable).
• Use your own location term when needed.
• Do not change the location in existing records, unless you have the publication (or surrogate) in hand, and the change is needed to justify an access point in the authority record.

ǂb - Information

The parenthetical statements in 670 ǂb provide information related to the name or title being established in the authority record. They are primarily used to justify the authorized access point, variants, and references. Use the following techniques to make these statements helpful and succinct:

• Transcribe formal statements from preferred sources (title page, cover, etc.).
• Transcribe each version of the entity's name in full, as it appears in the source being cited.
  • If the entire preferred name appears in the title in 670 ǂa, it is not necessary to repeat the preferred name in the ǂb parentheses.
  • If the name appears only as the creator in 670 ǂa, provide a transcribed form of the name in the ǂb parentheses.
• Transcribe full upper hierarchical statements for corporate bodies.
  • Generally exclude the names of bodies subordinate to the one being established.
• Transcribe information that appears in conjunction with personal names in statements of responsibility, such as a person’s title and affiliated organization.
• Do not rely on text in the location area of the citation (in ǂb outside of the parentheses) to provide justification for access points.
• Text describing the entity may be paraphrased, while keeping context and meaning intact.
• In descriptive text, limit abbreviations and acronyms to those representing the entity being established.
  • Use spelled out forms of related agency names, etc. (e.g., "National Park Service" instead of "NPS").
  • Retain abbreviations when transcribing a statement of hierarchy from a preferred source. Additionally, supply a spelled-out form of the abbreviated name.
• Understand that all statements in the parentheses refer to the entity being established. If no subject is named in a statement, the subject is assumed to be this entity.
• Avoid redundancy.
  • Transcribe each version of a name only once per citation, unless repetition is necessary for context and clarity.
  • Do not repeat justification for 046 and 3XX fields.
• Complete sentences are unnecessary; remove articles, prepositions, etc. to form "brief text."
• Use semicolons to separate discrete statements and pieces of information. An ellipsis may be used to indicate that a single statement has been assembled from different places in the source.

Citing Specific Types of Resources

Websites

ǂa - Source Website

GPO Practice

• Begin a website citation with the title or corporate body name that appears prominently on the website.
  • This title/name is usually found in the header or banner at the top of the page.
  • Generally, this title/name is not the same as the authorized access point in the authority file.
  • An Internet search for the title/name used in the citation should retrieve the page cited, within the first few search results.
  • Do not use pronouns or the possessive form in place of a corporate body's name.
• Prefer to omit the text "viewed" or "viewed on" before the date.
• Include a colon at the end of ǂa if ǂb contains a location before the initial parentheses.

ǂb - Location of Information on Website

GPO Practice

• When citing the home page of a website, it is not necessary to begin ǂb with "home page."
• Including "menu selections:" at the beginning of ǂb is optional.
• When navigating a website is straightforward:
  • Provide the navigation steps from the starting page to the page that contains the cited information.
    • Use punctuation, such as commas or arrows, to separate each "click" in the navigation path.
• When it is necessary to search a website for the cited information:
  • Provide both the search term and the result viewed.
• When navigating to the cited page is difficult, or the page consists of an article with a unique title:
  • The page/article title can be provided in quotes, in lieu of navigation steps.
• If a single website is viewed on more than one date, apply the guidance for citing serials.

Archived Websites

GPO Practice

• In addition to the guidance in the Websites section above, apply the following:
  • To cite information from websites viewed in the Internet Archive, the National Archives web harvest, or other archiving service:
    • Use the archived website's name in 670 ǂa, followed by the name of the archiver and date of capture.
    • Do not include the date that the archived page was viewed.

• If both the live site and an archived version are viewed, apply the guidance for citing serials.

Serials

• To cite more than one issue of a serial:
  • Use a semicolon to separate the parenthetical information given for one issue from the location of information given for the other issue.
  • For the second issue cited:
    • Provide the chronological/numeric designation followed by a colon and the location within the publication.

Legal Publications

Public Laws

When citing information from a Public Law in an authority record:

• In ǂa, use the title proper of the resource, rather than the citation title.
• In ǂb, record the page number of the law by its United States Statutes at Large designation, found at the top of each page (e.g., 127 STAT. 51).

U.S. Code

OCLC Database

Near the end of the DCM Z1 section on 670, there is a sub-section called "LC database." Instead of citing the LC database, GPO will usually cite the OCLC database.

• Use the following format when citing the OCLC database:
  • OCLC, {insert date searched} ǂb (access point: {insert 1XX/6XX/7XX found}; usage: {insert transcribed form found in 245/26X/5XX})
• See also the 672 section below.

GPO Practice

• When recording earlier names not likely to be needed as relationships (LC-PCC PS 32.1.1.3):
  • Include the date that the name was searched in the OCLC bibliographic database.

Historic Shelflist Cards

• To cite a GPO Historic Shelflist (HSL) card:
  • In ǂa, use "GPO manual cat."
  • In ǂb, transcribe the pertinent information from the card.
    • This consists of the name being established and any available details about the entity.
    • This does not include the title of the work cataloged unless an authority record is being created for the work, or the title of the work is also the name of the entity.

• See also the 672 section below.

Other Common Sources

National Archives Guide to Federal Records

672 - Title Related to the Entity

As indicated in the OCLC Database and Historic Shelflist Cards sections above, such citations typically do not include the title of the work cataloged.

• If the only source available to justify an authority record is an HSL card or bibliographic record(s) in OCLC:
  • A 672 field can be included in the NAR to connect the entity being established to the work being cataloged.

675 - Source Data Not Found

When creating an NAR to support the authorized access point for an entity found in the primary work cataloged, research sometimes reveals that a secondary NAR needs to be established.

• If the secondary name does not appear in the primary work cat, and no additional work is cataloged to support the secondary NAR:
  • Cite the primary work cat in a 675 field in the secondary NAR.