Display 'subject heading thesaurus' value in Manage Authorities results

[Yamil]

I wanted to propose a minor UI change in authorities related code
within EG, or at least offer a small UI customization to those few
that would find it useful. BTW, I am not a cataloger or have an MLS,
so my apologies in advance if I get my rules wrong. I had our
catalogers verify my general facts before posting.

Here is a link to the code change for those that want to see the details…
http://git.evergreen-ils.org/?p=working/Evergreen.git;a=commitdiff;h=89f863b742e8f92c8d5c07df6e541e7576243ae3

At Berklee we work a lot with the cataloging "Manage Authorities" user
interface to look up and then edit authority records. Specially since
we are not currently using a vendor to periodically update our
authority records. In addition, at this point we only use the EG
default "Authority Control Set" called "LoC." Those that use multiple
control sets, might have a different experience.

When we perform a browse search for authorities, for example an author
browse search for "Miles, David," our results would look something
like this truncated example…

[edit] Davis, Adam Control Set: Loc (#1)

[edit] Davis, Brian Control Set: Loc (#1)

[edit] Davis, Miles Control Set: Loc (#1)

[edit] Davis, Peter Control Set: Loc (#1)

At different times during our catalogers' workflow, they would need to
quickly discern if the listed authority records were issued by LoC or
if they are locally created authority records. Currently they would
need to click on the edit button and wait for the authority MARC
editor window to pop up. We realized that it would be helpful for us
to display the "Subject Heading Thesaurus" fixed field value[1]
directly in the authority browse results. For the record, the "Subject
Heading Thesaurus" basically defines the issuing authority that
created the authority record. For example, a value of "a" means that
it came from LoC, an "n" means that it is a locally created authority,
and a "k" means Canadian Subject Headings. Note: within the EG
authority MARC editor the "Subject Heading Thesaurus" is
stored/displayed in the fixed field labeled 'Subj'.

The initial version of my code change just displays a prefix of "Thes:
" then the fixed field value which for us is typically "a" (Loc) or
"n" (local).

Here is what the earlier results would look like with the code change…

[edit] Davis, Adam Control Set: Loc (#1) Thes: a

[edit] Davis, Brian Control Set: Loc (#1) Thes: n

[edit] Davis, Miles Control Set: Loc (#1) Thes: a

[edit] Davis, Peter Control Set: Loc (#1) Thes: n

I wanted to share this code change with the community to see if others
would be interested in using this simple feature, and to get feedback
of how the community would prefer that it be implemented in a future
release, if at all. Though they might a we that would not mind having
this local customization, even if it is not approved for official
releases going forward.

Finally, I could use some specific feedback from those that want this
code change. Should I stick to the "Thes: " label? Alternatively I
could display the full label of each "Subject Heading Thesaurus" that
is stored inside EG, see list below, but it might get too verbose in
some systems.

'' = Alternate no attempt to code
a = Library of Congress Subject Headings
b = LC subject headings for children's literature
c = Medical Subject Headings
d = National Agricultural Library subject authority file
k = Canadian Subject Headings
n = Not applicable [[Yamil edit: used for local authorities]]
r = Art and Architecture Thesaurus
s = Sears List of Subject Headings
v = Repertoire de vedettes-matiere
z = Other
| = No attempt to code

Thanks in advance,
Yamil

[1] http://www.loc.gov/marc/authority/ad008.html

[Yamil (ysuarez)]

I forgot to add that I can already think of other bits of data that Berklee wants to display in each search result row like the OCLC ARN (Authority Record Number) from auth tag 035 $a/$z. Though, to avoid the search results getting too cluttered I will be looking into options for hiding the extra information per results row (thesaurus, ARN, etc.) behind something like "see more".

Though, I have not tried writing the code to do this, and can't guarantee it will work yet. My main point is that I will try to balance the desire of adding more information to the search results, with avoiding the cluttering search results as much as possible. Perhaps, only some of my suggestions make it to the Evergreen code, and a few others will be something that only Berklee will use.

[Yamil (ysuarez)]

Thanks to those that have giving me feedback not his change.

Here is the latest version of my code:
http://git.evergreen-ils.org/?p=working/Evergreen.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/user/ysuarez/lp1403967-display-authority-thesaurus

Here is the diff view:
http://git.evergreen-ils.org/?p=working/Evergreen.git;a=commitdiff;h=a9890a833f334a75ebc60a8fb1483bc7c56ed88e

Also, after EG version 2.8.0 I plan to try to display the full value of the subject heading thesaurus value. For example, if the value is "a" the UI will display "Library of Congress Subject Headings" instead of just "a".

[Mike Rylander (mrylander)]

Looks good. Thanks, Yamil!

[Ben Shum (bshum)]

This was added during the 2.8 dev cycle. Putting on the right milestone.