Penn State University Libraries - Establishing Geographic Names in NACO

This procedure assumes familiarity with NACO rules; likewise, it assumes a knowledge of OCLC for both searching and creating records.

It is important to know which geographic headings can be added as Names, and which must be added as Subjects. This procedure covers only NACO, or adding geographic entities as names; using SACO to add geographic entities as Subjects must be done elsewhere.

In general, geographic names that can be added through NACO include populated places such as cities and towns, administrative districts such as Counties, Townships, and most districts; geographic names that must be established in SACO include non-administrative places such as bridges, estates, farms, forests, gardens, historic sites, mines, roads, etc. Consult the Division of the World in the NACO manual or similar sources to clarify what geographic entities can be contributed through NACO.

As of October 2012, all authority records are constructed according to RDA standards.  Consult the RDA Toolkit and the RDA in NACO training manual for details.

The first step in assigning a geographic name is to ascertain that the name is not established in LCAF. Search carefully, painstakingly, using every possible permutation of the name, then use your imagination and create a few new ways to search; when you're satisfied that the name has not been established, search again.

Next, find the approved form of the name. Always search the name at the USGS Board of Geographic Names web site.  Choose "Search domestic names," "Search foreign names," or "Search Antarctic names," depending on the name being established. Supplement these sources, as needed, with reliable print sources, such as the Columbia Gazetteer of the World, Rand McNally Commercial and Marketing Atlas, or Webster's Geographical Dictionary.

Once the correct form of the name has been determined, construct the form of the heading. Use your favorite rules and rule interpretations, primarily RDA, AACR2 and the Library of Congress' Subject Cataloging Manual: Subject Headings (SCM for short -- in particular see H690-H870 and H925-H1055), informed by similar examples previously established, to construct the heading. In general, use the English form of the heading, if there is one in common usage; otherwise, use the vernacular. Qualify the names of smaller divisions by larger ones, primarily the country (for example, Lima (Peru). See H810, Qualification of Geographic Headings, in SCM) Exceptions are places in Australia, Canada, the British Isles, and the United States, which are qualified by the next smaller division - state, province, territory, or, in the case of England, use England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man or Channel Islands. For example, Tyrone (Pa.), Cheltenham (England) or Melbourne (Vic.) Don't qualify states within these regions (for example, Vermont, not Vermont (United States).) There's more to it than this, but that's the basics; make sure you follow, like, rules and stuff. Examples of existing names are a great resource, but be alert for old forms and possible errors.

A key difference when establishing Geographic names is that conflicts must be anticipated. This means that when establishing a name, reference sources must be searched to find conflicts so the name may be qualified, even when the conflicting name is not established. For example, there are seven populated places in Pennsylvania named Middletown; when establishing one of these Middletowns, the 151 must be qualified by County in addition to state, even if there is no current conflict in the authority file, to differentiate this Middletown from the others.

Once the form of the name has been determined, create a record in OCLC using Connexion.

Choose Authorities, Create, Single Record, Geographics. In some cases, a macro may be used; with the cursor in the field you wish to generate a record for, choose Tools, Macros, Manage, GenerateAuthorityRecord, Run. Follow basic guidelines for creating records.

Fixed field:

Upd status will be a

Ref status will be a when there are 4XX fields, n when there are no 4XX fields

Auth status will be a

Name will be n

Source will be z

Variable fields:

034 - Coded Cartographic Mathematical Data

Add coordinates, as described in MARC21.

040 - Cataloging source

Add |e rda to 040.

1XX - Heading

Formulate the geographic name heading as described above, and record in a 151; both indicators remain blank.

4XX - See From Tracing

Record variant names in 451; again, both indicators remain blank. Most variant forms will be found in sources, such as GEOnet or GNIS, but may also appear on the piece.

670 - Source Data Found note

• The first 670 should cite the physical source for the name, i.e. the map or atlas in hand.

• A second 670 is needed to record the authoritative source of the name. For names found in GNIS or GEOnet, record GNIS or GEOnet, the date consulted, the form, the feature designation, and coordinates. For example:

  Source Data Found Note

  Tag	Contents
  670	GEOnet, Oct. 2, 2007 |b (Los Vilos, Chile; ppl., 31º 54'42"S, 071º 30'47"W)
  670	GNIS, Nov. 7, 2007 |b (Spartansburg, Pa.; ppl., 41º 49'26"N, 079º 41'02"W)

Note: To insert special characters in Connexion, move the cursor just past the space the symbol is needed, and either use the key combination [Ctrl]-[E], click the ALA button on the toolbar, or choose EDIT and then Enter Diacritics from the drop-down menu. Choose characters from the table provided. Use the degree sign for degrees, the Miagkii znak for minutes, and the Tverdyi znak for seconds.

When multiple sources are consulted - such as a gazetteer - record each in a separate 670. Follow standard NACO rules when citing sources.

         781 - Geographic Subdivision Linking Entry

Insert a 781 field for each record as shown. The 781 shows the heading in subdivision order, and is used to link headings within a system. Use first indicator blank, second indicator zero, and add elements in subfield z. For example,

  781 _0 |z Netherlands |z Eindhoven

When the record is finished, use the save command to place it in the save file for review.

010    no2012133958
040    PSt |b eng |c PSt |e rda
034    |d W0790359 |e W0790359 |f n0413500 |g n0413500 |2 gnis
043    n-us-pa
151    Howe (Forest County, Pa. : Township)
451    Howe Township (Forest County, Pa.)
451    Township of Howe (Forest County, Pa.)
670    Township of Howe, PA (Forest Co.), 1974: |b map recto (Township of Howe, PA (Forest Co.))
670    GNIS, Sept. 25, 2012 |b (Township of Howe, Forest County, Pennsylvania; civil, (41º 35'00"N, 79º03'59"W)
781 0  |zPennsylvania |zHowe (Forest County : Township)

040    PSt |b eng |c PSt |e rda
034    |d W0772800 |e W0772800 |f S0085000 |g S0085000 |2 geonet
151    Pomabamba (Peru)
451    Pamabamba (Peru)
670    Plano de Pomabamba, 1939: |b map recto (Pomabamba)
670    GEOnet, Sept. 17, 2001 |b (Pomabamba, Peru; ppl., 08º 50'00"S, 077º 28'00"W; variant, Pamabamba)
690    jih, 9-17-2001, 000046243089
781 0  |zPeru |zPamabamba

Note: The Pipe character was used as subfield delimiters because the double dagger that OCLC uses isn't readily available as an HTML character.