Questions about Relators? I can relate!

In the latest release (v7.7.70), we implemented full support for Relator terms, including the ability to load them from MARC records, and save them back to the MARC if edited on the Title-Bib page. But what are relator terms, anyway? And what is that list of codes on the Select Headings screen?

Relator terms specify a little bit more information about how a name relates to the item being cataloged. In our case, they let you specify more information about an Author Heading or Narrator Heading, such as whether an Author Heading is actually the editor of a compilation, the translator of a classic text, or the illustrator of a graphic novel.  Because KLAS now checks the relator tags as part of the MARC import, it will now be able to correctly interpret records where only one name is listed in the MARC, but they are described in the relators as both the author and the narrator.

Currently, KLAS only displays the Code for the relator term on the Select Headings screen, not the full description. Here are the relators that have been used on multiple records from NLS in the past couple months:
aut    Author
nrt    Narrator
trl    Translator
edt    Editor
ill    Illustrator
win    Writer of introduction
ctb    Contributor
pht    Photographer
cre    Creator

For codes not in this list, the full relator code listing is available here:  www.loc.gov/marc/relators/relacode.html

As we monitor MARC records coming in from NLS and get more experience working with relator terms, we may need to tweak the code listing in KLAS or add more synonymous terms to existing codes (such as Writer of Foreword as an alternate for Writer of Introduction). In the meantime, let us know if your MARC load isn't pulling in Author/Narrators to both fields, or if you suspect other issues with your MARC load's processing of relator terms.

Katy:

I don't think I get this. Haven't changes to Title/Bib *always* resulted in changes to MARC data?

-JG-

James:
Yes; depending on filter set-up, changes should be kept in sync between Title-Bib and the MARC. (That can be more complicated than it seems at first, and especially so for the new Relator field.)

The new field in Select Headings was added in 7.7.65, but the most recent release ties up the work needed to make sure data for that field is passed back and forth correctly between the title-bib and the MARC.

Hi! Thank you for your help!

When adding an author/editor/illustrator for local recordings, Heading Maintenance is the place to add these codes?

We haven't used the code field except for a special project, codes for our 30 most popular authors. An export of the entire list shows at one time, the author's full name was entered in both the full description and the code field.

Would a good project, to make use of the codes, to fill these in for our back catalog?

I've been a huge fan of RDA cataloging since it's inception and am thrilled to see NLS and KLAS beginning to incorporate relators! For us at WTBBL, let's use the record example DB104781 (Yours Cheerfully: A Novel by A.J. Pearce). In the MARC record, I see "$aPearce, A. J.$q(Amanda-Jane),$eauthor" but see neither the relator ($e) or the fuller form of name ($q) appear on the Title-Bib tab or in the Authors picklist. Is that the way it is supposed to work or is this an example of them not syncing? Thank you! Traci

Maureen:
When adding a local recording, you can select the relator when you add the heading to title-bib using the Select Headings screen. (see the attached screenshot)

The code field in Headings Maintenance adds a code for the heading itself, not it's relation to a particular book--those codes can be used for quicker entry on title-bib records or using quick preferences. For Authors, there's no need for more than your most popular authors to have the codes, since no one would be able to remember all of them.
 

Traci:
Glad you like them! With new records, the information will be loaded from the MARC on import. For existing records, you'll need to either re-load them, or do something to trigger the update.

I think we'll be providing a MARC record set soon with Author/Narrators (since those specifically weren't importing well prior to this release). If you notice that an existing title has some good relator info in the MARC and you want to push it to title-bib, you should be able to edit something on the MARC tab (such as adding a space after the annotation), and saving that will sync things back to the title-bib. But again, I think we'll have something for you to reload soon to get the back catalog a little more filled in with this data.

I don't believe we do anything with pulling in the ($q) MARC data, but you can add a Fuller Form to your headings in Headings Maintenance if you want, using the MARC tab.