Ethical Questions in Name Authority Control. Jane Sandberg, ed. Sacramento, CA: Library Juice Press, 2019. 418p. Paper, $35.00 (ISBN 978-1-63400-054-3).

Abstract

Name authority control represents a central activity of catalog professionals and is essential for the maintenance of library catalogs. It allows users to identify information resources and ensures the collocation of relevant search results. The process of determining the authorized form of a person’s name in a catalog has ethical implications and requires careful evaluation. Further, in recent years, the library community has been reframing authority work within a more comprehensive approach coined identity management. This move toward identities has led to a proliferation of pieces of personal information in authority records raising additional ethical concerns.