Creative works (books, musical work, paintings, etc.) are handled and utilized in wide variety of forms across the world. Global reach of a specific original work can be ensured by various commercial and non-commercial arrangements and are replicated and distributed in local-specific contexts. Depending up-on the popularity of a creative work, there can be various versions, regional adaptations and multiple editions or releases - in some case multiple compilations as well.
In this scenario, title, contributors, and other information related to a specific creative work may vary across organizational databases resulting in inconsistency.
To address this issue, library science and cataloging community introduced concept of Authority Control to organize information using globally unique name or a numeric identifier for people, places, things and concepts.
Following are some prominent authority control for personal (and corporate body) identification
- ISNI – International Standard Name Identifier
- GND – Integrated Authority File (Gemeinsame Normdatei)
- LCCN – Library of Congress Control Number
- VIAF – Virtual International Authority File
Read more about Authority Control on Wikipedia.