Searching RLG: Introduction to Authority Files

SEARCHING THE AUTHORITY FILES

General

• Authority control or resolution is the practice of ensuring standard names (personal and organizational) and subject headings to facilitate access and use of catalog records and other information resources.
• Authority files contain these standardized names and subject headings.
• Organizations such as the Library of Congress, OCLC, and RLIN provide such files.
• There are about 10 million records in the RLG Union Catalog: Authority Files.

Relevant RLG Web pages on the NAF & SAF Authority Files

• Guide to Searching the Authority Files: http://www.rlg.org/rlinaut.html
• Authority File sizes: http://www.rlg.org/autsize.html

To access the Authority Files

Type: call rlin (aut) <ret>

Authority Files in the central RLIN databases

File	Abbrev.	Usage (select)
LC Name Authority File	naf	sel fil naf
Subject Authority File	saf	sel fil saf
Avery Reference (for Avery Index)	arf	sel fil arf

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