October 23, 1996

Contact: Guy Lamolinara (202) 707-9217

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NACO Libraries Contribute 100,000 Name Authority Records in FY 1996

The 203 Name Authority Cooperative Program (NACO) libraries reached a milestone in fiscal year 1996, which ended Sept. 30. More than 100,000 new name authority records were added to the national authority file by the catalogers who participate in the name authority component of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC).

Associate Librarian for Library Services Winston Tabb said, "As libraries are faced with decreasing resources, it becomes critical that the Library of Congress lead other libraries, nationally and internationally, to cooperate in building authority files for the mutual benefit of us all. NACO's milestone of 100,000 name authority records produced in a single year proves again the value of our cooperative cataloging programs. On behalf of the Library of Congress, I thank all of the institutions, including the bibliographic utilities, that have supported this important effort."

Contributions have increased approximately 10 percent a year over the past three years. Not only was this year's achievement significant because of the numbers of records added, but also because for the first time in the 20-year history of NACO, participating libraries collectively added more new headings to the file than catalogers at the Library. The Program for Cooperative Cataloging is an international cooperative effort aimed at expanding access to library collections by providing timely, useful and cost-effective cataloging that meets mutually acceptable standards of libraries around the world.

This success is because of the expansion of the program and the willingness of the cooperating libraries to assume greater responsibility for building the national authority file. As participation in this important collaborative effort became easier through simplifications implemented by the Library of Congress as well as the enhanced use of technology, libraries in North America and Europe have responded enthusiastically with increased contributions.

With this accomplishment, the Program for Cooperative Cataloging has realized a fundamental goal: Responsibility for building the national authority file has gradually become a national effort, led by the Library of Congress, of all the participating libraries. An increasing number of institutions are sharing the task of providing authoritative data to libraries in the United States and abroad. In its third decade NACO will continue its efforts to increase the number of public libraries, special libraries, archives and other organizations that contribute quality records to the Program.

For more information about NACO and the Program for Cooperative cataloging, visit the PCC home page at http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/.

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PR 96-154
10/23/96
ISSN 0731-3527