Laura Waugh

University of North Texas

16th International Symposium on ETDs

September 25, 2013

Creating Order Out of Chaos: Introducing Name Authority into a

Large ETD Collection

Overview Name Authority UNT Libraries Approach

UNT Name App Narrow the scope Develop a workflow

Lessons Learned Q & A

Name Authority

Name AuthoritySearch and Retrieval Citation analysis Embargos Copyright management Linking researchers with their research

Name AuthorityCommon Issues Changing a name Abbreviations/initials Entry errors Similar or same names Pseudonyms

Name AuthorityOne Example Samuel Clemens

Clemens, Sameul LanghorneClemmens, SamuelClemens, S. L.Twain, Mark

Name AuthorityMore Complex Example Ellery Queen

Dannay, FredericLee, Manfred Bennington

Two names = 1 pseudonym

Name AuthorityMany Interested Groups Virtual International Authority File (VIAF) Library of Congress (LOC) Wikipedia OCLC

Name AuthorityUnique Author Identifiers ORCID ResearcherID International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI)

Name AuthorityRandom Sampling of 200 Names in our ETDs

UNT ETD Collection 200 (random sampling)

VIAF 28%

LOC 27%

Wikipedia 1%

WorldCat Identifier 57%

Name AuthorityRandom Sampling of 200 Names in our ETDs

UNT ETD Collection 200 (random sampling)

ORCID 6%

ResearcherID 4%

ISNI 36%

Name AuthorityRandom Sampling of 200 Names in our ETDs

UNT ETD Collection 200 (random sampling)

Local bibliographic record 61%

UNT Name App 22%

Name AuthorityAdditional Challenges Entering names verbatim Over 7,000 ETDs Retroactive digitization Communication with metadata creators

UNT Libraries Approach

UNT Libraries Approach

1. Create a tool – UNT Name App

2. Narrow the scope

3. Develop a workflow

UNT Name AppA Tool for Consistency Reference Disambiguation Storage Access

UNT Name AppFive Stars of Open Linked Data Make it available on the web Make it available as structured data Use non-proprietary formats Use URIs to identify things Link to other data for context

UNT Name AppGoing a Step Further Storing unique identifiers Vocabularies available to metadata creators Meaningful data for users

http://digital2.library.unt.edu/name/

Narrow the ScopeDecisions Born-digital ETDs (since 1999) Most relevant names

chairscommittee members

Develop a WorkflowStaged Approach Populate the UNT Name App Clean-up/ add authorized versions Include details and information Edit records in the ETD collection

Populate the UNT Name App

Clean-up variations: Merging records

Include details and informationAffiliationsDatesLocationSubject Areas

Include identifiers and linksVIAF, LOC, WorldCat, etc.Faculty profilesLinkedInORCID, ISNI, etc.

Edit records in the ETD collection

What have we learned?

Lessons Learned Name authority is very important! Pulling lists helps a lot

Divide up the workSimultaneously work on the project

Focus on names you use, not names you could use

Questions?

Additional Information Implementing Name Authority Control into

Institutional Repositories: A Staged Approachhttp://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc172365

Laura Waugh

laura.waugh@unt.edu