Authority Records vs Bibliographic Records: What to Migrate First?

A Koha migration usually focuses first on bibliographic and item records. These are the records patrons and staff rely on for searching, holdings, and circulation.

Authority records are also important, but they serve a different purpose.

This article explains the difference and how to think about migration order.

What are bibliographic records?

Bibliographic records describe titles and materials.

They include:

• books;
• journals;
• films;
• maps;
• electronic resources;
• archival materials;
• other catalogue entries.

Bibliographic records contain fields such as title, author, publisher, date, subjects, notes, and identifiers.

What are authority records?

Authority records help control names, subjects, and headings.

They support consistency. For example, an author may appear under one authorised form of name even if books or references use variations.

Authority records may cover:

• personal names;
• corporate names;
• conference names;
• subjects;
• uniform titles;
• genre/form terms.

Why authority records matter

Authority control helps with:

• consistent author access;
• subject browsing;
• variant names;
• cross-references;
• cleaner cataloguing;
• long-term catalogue quality.

A catalogue can function without perfect authorities, but authority cleanup can improve discovery and consistency.

What to migrate first?

For most Koha migrations, migrate in this order:

1. Bibliographic records.
2. Item records.
3. Patron and circulation data if included in the migration scope.
4. Authority records or authority cleanup.
5. Post-migration catalogue quality improvements.

The exact order depends on your project.

If authority records are central to your library’s workflow, plan them earlier. If your immediate goal is to launch a functioning catalogue and circulation system, bibliographic and item records usually come first.

How MARCReady fits

MARCReady focuses on catalogue record quality and MARC preparation. It is especially useful for bibliographic records and structured catalogue exports.

It can help identify:

• malformed MARC;
• encoding problems;
• ISBN issues;
• duplicate or empty fields;
• incomplete fixed fields;
• records needing review.

Authority record cleanup is a separate cataloguing planning topic. However, cleaner bibliographic records make later authority work easier.

Questions to ask before migration

• Does the old system export authority records?
• Are authority records actively maintained?
• Do bibliographic headings link to authority records?
• Are subject headings consistent?
• Are name headings controlled?
• Is authority cleanup part of the go-live requirement or a later phase?
• Who will review authority quality?

Practical recommendation

Do not let authority cleanup block the whole migration unless authority control is essential to your launch.

A reasonable plan is:

1. prepare bibliographic and item records;
2. import and test them in Koha;
3. confirm search and circulation workflows;
4. then plan authority cleanup as a focused follow-up project.

Related articles

• Bibliographic Records vs Item Records in a Koha Migration
• How to Validate MARC Records Before Importing into Koha
• What MARCReady Can Fix — and What a Librarian Should Still Review