Authority format – in other form metadata format – has more than 50 years old past. Since its 1968 birth the MARC type format has been gradually improved and other versions have been developed as well.. (e.g.Unimarc). Most importantly the selection of the data elements has significantly expanded.
Expansion of the last years did not effect first of all to the entity data (like personal and corporate name, headlines). These represent the fundamental and classical data of the document records for information retrieval, which do not change in a short term period. The extension effects mostly the relation data, especially the attributive data.
At the beginning the selection of the relation data of the format consisted of only the use of „see” and „see also” relation types, which were used in the manual listing. The development on this area took place into two directions.
On the one hand: paradigmatic Relationships, which were used and refferred in the Thesauri forming in the 50' s of the last century could be recorded. At the start for the relation types in the Marc format for the original simple „see” it was enough to highlight the identfier tags of the block 4XX and for „see also” relationships were enough to highlight the 5XX. From the point of view of paradigmatic relationships it gives substantially more. In the Marc format they are determined by control subfields.
It became also possible to indicate relations in fields 2XX and 3XX in text form. In the semantic Web this possibility will have significantly higher importance in the near future.
The largest extension took place in the area of the attributive data. The entity data refer to bibliographical data, and are therefore metadata. The attributive data refer to the entity data, and are therefore data of metadata ( they are called:tertiary data). Such meta metadata are those the notes in the block 6XX, and the numbers and the code fields in the block 0XX.
Today those notes do not restrained only to contents and definition of the Headings. There is now indicating the possibility, Notes over use, source, history in public form. Also there is a possibility for inner, technological, non public notes. Thus the needs of non-library collections, like archives and museums can be met.
The extension in the area of coded data is particularly important:
– standard number or code of international corporate bodies (for example ISO, OCLC), identifier of Virtual International Authority File [VIAF], cool URI etc.;
– Coded Cartographic Mathematical data (by it is possible entering from online catalog into the geographical retrieval systems of the Web);
– Authentication code (this has particularly for archives a meaning);
– Time Period of Heading (of geographical places, geological periods, historical events);
– Special Coded Datas of persons, corporate bodies, works (birth day, Beginning or single date created, Start period, address, associated Place, field activities, family informations etc.)
– Today, by the help of the Marc format it is also possible to handle records of archives, which we will show an example..