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Rebuild an authority key

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Learn how to rebuild an authority key in Amlib.

If an Authority parameter is altered, the Authorities already on the system will not be altered to the new parameter. By running this option, the Authorities will be refreshed according to the new parameters.

This option also allows for the Catalogue and Stockitem displays to be updated.

Please Note: This function MUST only be completed when all users are off the system, including

NetOPACs as rebuilds can take a long time to complete.

What is the Authority Key?

An Authority Key is the actual Database Key. It is how the Authority is stored by Amlib in the database. It is used for searching purposes within Amlib.

  • You can see an example of the current Authority Key by going to Main > Supervisor >

Authorities and searching for an authority – for example: Peter Carey

  • The Authority Key appears in GREY BOLD text below:

Rebuild the Authority Key

This example uses the situation where we have removed the associated dates ($d) from being used in the Search Key in Marc Tag Subfields and need to refresh the 100 | Authors – Personal Name Tags to remove dates from the Authority Key.

  1. Go to Main > Authorities > MarcTagMaintenance – the Marc Tag Maintenance screen will display
  2. Enter the following settings:
    1. 1. Choose the Marc Tag Maintenance Task: drop-down, select: Add a subfield to a tag ( replaces existing ) or leave text blank to delete a subfield
    2. 2. Specify which Marc Tags(s) to apply the change to: click on the Select Tags... button, select the Tag (for example: 100 | Author – Personal Name) and then click the OK button
    3. 3. Select other options relating to the maintenance task: click the Options... button – the Authority Rebuild Options prompt will display:
    4. Tick both the Refresh Catalogue Display and Refresh Stockitem Display options and click the OK button
    5. The 4. New subfield type box will be greyed out
  3. Click the F3 Start button – once the process is completed, a prompt with the following message will display: A total of XXX Authority Keys have been rebuilt.
  4. Click the OK button

My example Authority after the Rebuild: