This information is taken from the Program for Cooperative Cataloging site, hosted at the Library of Congress website: https://www.loc.gov/aba/pcc/naco/documents/PCC-SCT-Authority-Control-FAQs-Authors-Creators.pdf. It was originally published there in 2022. It’s being reposted here so it has a chance of being findable via web search.

Authority Control FAQs for Authors and Creators

What is authority control?

Authority control is a process that standardizes information to help library users find information. For example, instead of a library user needing to look up all the spelling variations used for Shakespeare in English and other languages, everything by and about Shakespeare can be found under the standardized form “Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.” Librarians organize that
information in an authority record; take a look at the authority record for Shakespeare: https://lccn.loc.gov/n78095332.

A screenshot of William Shakespeare's personal name heading record. The authorized form of name, Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616, is prominent at the top. A long list of variants is visible, such as spelling Shakespeare without the final "e" or spellings from different languages such as Russian or Japanese. — Partial view of William Shakespeare’s authority record.

Librarians sometimes ask for information from creators (authors, artists, editors, etc.) to ensure that all the works created by an individual can be correctly attributed and easily found and collocated in library catalogs.

The full record of the personal name heading for Alan Boss, the astronomer. The authorized form of name is Boss, Alan, 1951- . Various other information about Alan Boss is shown, such as variant names, birth date, field of activity, affiliation, occupation, and titles of some of the books that Alan Boss has written. — Example of a full authority record, including selected titles of authored books.

Why am I being asked for this information?

Libraries collect millions of resources from around the world. Sometimes creators can have similar names or the same name, and libraries need to find ways to distinguish one person from another.

When a librarian contacts you for information, they want to ensure that your work is correctly attributed to you and not to another person with a similar name.

A list of 14 names all similar to Margaret Lee. The names include: Lee, Margaret, 1944- , Lee, Margaret, 1971- . Lee, Margaret A., 1974, Lee, Margaret (Actress), Lee, Margaret (Children's fiction writer), Lee, Margaret Ellen, 1954- , and so on. — Examples of authority records for people with a name
similar to or the same as “Margaret Lee”.

What information is most helpful to provide?

You can provide as much or as little information as you feel comfortable sharing. Some of the information that is most helpful to identify you is a middle name or initial, occupation or profession, and/or a birth date or year.

If you have created published works under different forms of names (either due to a name change or using pseudonyms), it can be helpful to let us know so we can work with you to explain options for the visibility of your names in association with your works.

The authority record for Miss Major, featuring variant names of Major Griffin-Gracy, 1940- , Gracy, Major Griffin, 1940- , and so on. — Example of an authority record for someone who has changed her name
but did not publish under a previous name.

The name authority record for Jada Pinkett, showing name variants that include her hyphenated last name, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and her original name, Jada Pinkett, and her first name on its own, Jada. — Example of an authority record for someone who has changed her name
after creating published works under a previous name.

Personal name authority record for Cardi B, featuring the authorized form of heading, Cardi B, 1992- and variants B, Cardi, as well as her birth name. — Example of an authority record for someone who is best known by a pseudonym.

What will be done with this information?

The information provided will be collected in the Library of Congress/Name Authority Cooperative (NACO) Authority File, displayed in library catalogs, and shared openly throughout the Internet. In addition, many libraries, museums, and other institutions collect records from the LC/NACO Authority File in their own systems. You should be sure that you want to share this information publicly, because while it can be removed from the LC/NACO Authority File, we
cannot guarantee that all other sources that have used the information will also remove it.

What can I do if there is incorrect information in my record or if I would like information removed?

If there is inaccurate information in a record or information that should be removed, we want to correct it! You can contact naco@loc.gov to request a change, or contact a NACO institution. Please be patient with your request due to staffing limitations.

Information provided by the person identified in the authority record will be given precedence over information from other sources.

Library of Congress staff are only able to change items in the Library of Congress/NACO Authority File, not in authority files maintained by other national libraries. You will need to contact those libraries separately if you have concerns about an authority record that has been created by another national library.

Who can I contact for more information?

Find more information about the Name Authority Cooperative program at this page: https://www.loc.gov/aba/pcc/naco/about.html. For general questions about the program, contact naco@loc.gov.