Example VIAF record, HTML view: http://viaf.org/viaf/59083692/#Hamsun,_Knut,_1859-1952 Same record, MARC21: http://viaf.org/viaf/59083692/marc21.xml This can be transformed to ISO2709 with e.g.: yaz-marcdump -i marcxchange -o marc marc21.xml > myrecord.mrc I have not been able to stage and import the resulting .mrc file, and I *think* that is because the VIAF record does not have a 100 field. I think the reason for *that* is that the library/cataloguer should be able to choose the preferred name that goes into the 100 field. So maybe we need to accept authority records that lack a 100 field (so that the 100 field can be added later), or make it easy to add the 100 field as part of the import process?
The import process could save the VIAF ID, and eventually other IDs from (national) libraries whose records compose the VIAF record. IDs can be used in linked open data construction, e.g. in triples with owl:sameAs. In my library, we store the VIAF ID in auth tag 024. This could be the default of a syspref. Here is an example: <datafield tag="024" ind1="7" ind2=" "> <subfield code="2">viaf</subfield> <subfield code="a">58552590</subfield> </datafield>
Unfortunately this proposal has not been receiving much support. I think a lot of libraries in countries without a strong national authority file accessible through Z39.50 could benefit from this enhancement.