When to create local authority records

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The policy is for professional catalogers doing Level 3 and original OCLC records. [The Level 2 procedure calls for deriving authority records from LTLC and OCLC but not for creating local records.]

We will create a local name authority record for personal and corporate names whenever:
  1. we decide not to create a national-level name authority record [for whatever reason]
  2. and a cross reference is needed in our catalog.
  3. also when having no NAR would cause an autoclaim of a non-matching NAR.
We will create a local series authority record for headings not found in LTLC/OCLC. This includes:
  1. 440 titles that are traced as found on the item being cataloged (including 440 fields converted from 490 0 fields in the absence of an LC record to provide a guideline for tracing policy)
  2. 830 titles [so that our local policy decisions, choice of parenthetical qualifier, etc., are recorded for future reference]
  3. and 800, 810 and 811 fields.
While we won't necessarily make a local authority record for a name, we always do so for a series. Though it's not wrong to make a local authority record for a name, it will not be required except as above.