Catalogue records privacy notice

Explanation of the purpose

We list and describe our collections in our catalogues. Personal data may be recorded in the catalogues for this purpose.

The Library participates in a cooperative cataloguing programme, the Name Authority Cooperative Program (NACO), by creating authority records and sharing them with other participating libraries. Name authority records help identify an author and their works. Bibliographic records on public catalogues can include the full name and/or date of birth of an individual in headings in order to distinguish them from other authors. Other data which may be displayed in authority records includes place of birth, gender, occupation and pseudonyms or other names. We may undertake research, for example, using openly available resources, or directly contacting authors to establish this information. This data is not shared on public catalogues but may be retained in our library catalogue system.

Authority records increase the accessibility of information through our catalogue and library catalogues worldwide, therefore helping users find appropriate material.

For information on how we may use personal data held in our collections see our Collections privacy notice.

Legal basis

Processing of this data is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or for our official functions.

Recipients of the data

This data will be processed by the National Library of Scotland for this purpose and certain data may be sent to third parties (see 'Will the data be transferred to third parties?').

Retention period

We retain catalogue records for as long as we hold associated items in our collections.

Your rights in relation to this data

Your core rights as a data subject apply to this processing. Additionally, the right of objection applies to this processing.

Will the data be transferred to third parties?

A third party, Ex Libris, provides some of our systems, including our library management system. We use our library management system to catalogue our collections and track item requests and the way people use our items. The services Ex Libris provides are cloud-based, which means personal data on them is located in servers managed by Ex Libris. For more information see the Ex Libris privacy policy.

A third party, Atlas Systems, hosts our archival collections catalogue, ArchiveSpace. For more information, see Atlas Systems' privacy policy.

We use a third party, the University of Edinburgh, to host some of our systems including our outgoing library management system. Personal data on this system is therefore located on servers which are hosted by the University of Edinburgh. For more information, see the University of Edinburgh's data protection policy.

A third party, Claris, provides our moving image and sound collection catalogue database. The service Claris provides is cloud-based, which means personal data is located on servers which are hosted by Claris. For more information, see Claris's privacy policy.

Authority records created for NACO are contributed to the Library of Congress NACO Authority File. This is an international file of which the Library of Congress maintains the master authority file. The records are then distributed to other NACO participants.

Will the data be transferred outside the UK or the European Economic Area (EEA)?

Yes. Authority records of authors, sometimes containing distinguishing personal data, are transferred to the Library of Congress, based in the United States of America. Other libraries elsewhere in the world may use these records in their catalogues.

Claris is registered in the United States of America and your personal data may be transferred there. The Library has a Standard Contractual Clauses agreement with Claris to ensure adequate protection for any personal data transferred outside of the European Union. See Claris's privacy notice for further information.

Is it obligatory to supply this data and what are the consequences of not supplying the data?

Personal data of authors are found either in the publication, through external web sources, or from the author themselves.

If an author is unhappy with their date of birth being displayed in the public catalogue record, they can contact the library and request that it be removed from the record. However, data will be retained in our catalogue in accordance with our legal basis for processing that data.

Will the data be used in automated decision-making?

No.