Blind References Headings Reports
The Blind References report shows subject or name authority records for which there is no heading in the database corresponding to the valid form stored in the authority record's MARC 1XX field. (Subfields are not included in the determination of blind references.) For example, if your library discards or suppresses a book with a bibliographic record that contained the only occurrence in the database of the author heading "Cundy, D. C.|q(Donald C.)", and there is no authority record for that heading, the system does not generate a report entry. However, if there is an authority record that contains an authorized heading for "Cundy, D. C.|q(Donald C.)", that authority record appears in the Blind References report.
Report Contents
The Blind References report provides the following information:
| Column Heading | Description |
|---|---|
| # | Row number for report entry. |
| Type | Type of headings report. |
| Entry | The record number and heading from the authority record containing the blind reference. For example:
From: a10271399 NAME AUTHR 11020|aBattersea College of Technology, London.|bDept. of Civil Engineering. |
| Cat Date | Date the record was cataloged. |
| Function | System function through which the heading was entered, for example "mcat" for editing MARC records in Cataloging. For a description of the Function codes, see Function Codes. |
| Group | If your library uses Statistics, this column displays the statistics group by which the heading was changed. |
| Login | User login of the operator who made the change. |
| Entry Date | Date and time the heading was changed. |
To resolve these report entries, see Resolving Blind References, below.
Reading the Blind References Entries
The Entry column provides the following information:
| Field | Data |
|---|---|
| From | Authority record number and 1XX heading that is not referenced by any bibliographic records in the system in its valid form, for example: a10271399 NAME AUTHR 11020|aBattersea College of Technology, London.|bDept. of Civil Engineering. |
Resolving Blind References
To resolve a blind reference heading:
- You can view the record by selecting the heading entry in the report and choosing View.
- To view the reported heading in a browse list with surrounding headings, double-click the report entry. A browse list appears, highlighting the blind reference in a list of surrounding headings.
- A heading reported in this browse list as a blind reference might be a "root heading" to which subdivisions could be added. Check the list of surrounding headings to see if this is the case. You can view any record in this list by selecting the record heading in the list and choosing View.
- If, after viewing the headings in the browse list, you are certain you have no bibliographic records that reference this authority record, you can delete the authority record by doing the following:
- Select the highlighted record heading in the browse list, and then choose Edit.
- Choose File | Delete Authority Record, and then choose Yes in the confirmation dialog box.