Multilingual Subject Retrieval: Bibliotheca Alexandrina’s Subject Authority File and Linked Subject Data

Abstract

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) has been developing its own authority file since September 2006. The file includes subject headings, personal names, corporate bodies, series, and uniform titles. The BA authority file is unique in that it is constructed on the actual collection and it establishes subject headings in the language of the item described. The focus of this research is on the subject component of the BA authority file that includes subject headings in Latin and Arabic scripts. This study will describe the workflow involved in creating the subject heading authority file and the linking data process involved in linking subject terms in Arabic, English, and French.