Getting to know you:
An Informal Introduction to RDA
Jackie Byrd
Head, Area Studies Cataloging Section
Wells Library, IUB

Lori Dekydtspotter
Rare Books & Special Collections
Cataloger
Lilly Library, IUB

Carl Horne
Slavic & Central Eurasian
Cataloger & NACO/SACO Liaison
Wells Library, IUB

Andrea Morrison
Monographic Cataloger
Wells Library, IUB

Indiana Library Federation
District 5/7 Conference
May 9, 2012
Program Outline
 Introduction
 RDA Concepts
 RDA and AACR2 Bibliographic
Record Examples
 Impact on User Access
 RDA: What’s Next?
Not to be mistaken for cataloger training!! !
Questions?
Please save any questions you may have until all
speakers have completed their presentations.
RDA
Concepts
Carl Horne
Functional Requirements of Bibliographic Records:
FRBR
• Find = discovery, bibliographic retrieval
• Identify = differentiate from similar titles, editions, etc.
• Select = formulate a decision on suitability of resource
• Obtain = actual retrieval, from library’s collection, from a remote
electronic source, etc.
WEMI
• WORK
• EXPRESSION
• MANIFESTATION
• ITEM
ITEM
1st edition –
IUB’s Lilly Library copy, signed by author
vs.
1st edition –
IU Wells Library copy
MANIFESTATION
1st edition
vs.
3rd edition
Item
EXPRESSION
Work in original language
vs.
French-language translation
Manifestation
Item
WORK: an abstraction
Mousetrap : a play / Agatha Christie
vs.
Mousetrap : a short story / Agatha Christie
Expression
Manifestation
Item
WEMI
A Work
is realized through
an Expression
is embodied in
a Manifestation
is exemplified by
an Item
RDA AND AACR2: A
COMPARISON OF
RECORDS
Andrea Morrison
A Selection of
Differences Between
AACR2R and RDA
 General terminology
 Sources of information & the use of brackets
 Transcription
 Abbreviations
 Access points for manifestations and items
AACR2 and RDA:
What is the Difference?
Bibliographic Record Examples
AACR2 Record
Author: Olney, Martha L., 1956Title: Macroeconomics as a second
language / by Martha Olney.
Published: Hoboken, N.J. : Wiley,
c2011.
Edition: 3rd ed.
Description: xvi, 334 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
RDA Record
Author: Olney, Martha L., 1956- author.
Title: Macroeconomics as a Second
Language / by Martha Olney.
Published: Hoboken, New Jersey :
Wiley, [2011], ©2011.
Edition: Third edition.
Description: xvi, 334 pages :
illustrations ; 24 cm.
Content type: text
Media type: unmediated
Carrier type: volume
Displaying Variant Titles, Errors and Unknown
Information
AACR2 Record
RDA Record
Title: Bone augmenation
[i.e. augmentation] in oral
implantology
OR
Title: Bone augmenation [sic] in oral
implantology
Variant title: Bone augmentation in
oral implantology
OR
Title: Bone augmen[t]ation in oral
implantology
Title: Bone augmenation in oral
implantology
_______________________________
_______________________________
Published: [S.l. : s.n., 200-?].
Published: [Place of publication not
identified] : [publisher not identified],
[date of publication not identified].
Variant title information provided as a
note:
Title should read: Bone augmentation in
oral implantology
Recording Names in the Bibliographic Description
AACR2 Record:
Title: Second growth : community
economic development in rural Indiana /
Sean Markey … [et al.].
____________________________
Title: Characters from Dickens :
dramatized adaptation / by Barry
Campbell ; edited by Art Peterson … [et
al.].
RDA Record:
Title: Second growth : community
economic development in rural Indiana /
Sean Markey, John T. Pierce, Kelly
Vodden, Glen Saunders and Mark
Roseland.
OR
Title: Second growth : community
economic development in rural Indiana /
Sean Markey [and four others].
_______________________________
Title: Characters from Dickens /
dramatized adaptation by Barry Campbell
; edited by Art Peterson, Dr. Colin
Barham, Barry Campbell, and Leon
Golman.
Publishing Information
AACR2 Record
Published: London [Ont.] :
Environmetrics Press, 1990-
RDA Record
Published: London : Environmetrics
Press, 1990-
Note: Published in London, Ontario.
____________________________
_______________________________
Many places of publication on source:
London – Stockholm – Copenhagen –
New York.
Published: London : Hedstrom
Publishing Company, 2008.
Published: London ; New York :
Hedstrom Pub. Co., 2008.
OR
Published: London ; Stockholm ;
Copenhagen ; New York : Hedstrom
Publishing Company, 2008.
AACR2 v. RDA:
All RDA Core Elements for Books
Author: Harvard University. Botanical
Museum.
Title: The glass flowers at Harvard / Richard
Evans Schultes and William A Davis with
Hillel Burger.
Published: Cambridge : Botanical Museum of
Harvard University, c1992.
Description: 118 p. : col. ill. ; 28 cm.
Contents: “First published 1982 by E.P.
Dutton, New York”–T.p. verso.
Other contributors: Schultes, Richard Evans.
Other contributors: Davis, William A.
Other contributors: Burger, Hillel.
(Except ISBN)
Author: Harvard University. Botanical Museum,
issuing body.
Title: The glass flowers at Harvard / Richard
Evans Schultes, Edward C. Jeffrey Professor of
Biology and Director of the Botanical Museum,
Harvard University, and William A. Davis,
Keeper of Scientific Exhibits, Botanical Museum,
Harvard University, with Hillel Burger, Chief
Photographer, Peabody Museum of Archaeology
and Ethnology, Harvard University.
Published: Cambridge : Botanical Museum of
Harvard University, [1992], ©1992.
Description: 118 pages : color photographs ; 28
cm.
Contents: “First published 1982 by E.P. Dutton,
New York”--Title page verso.
Other cont.: Schultes, Richard Evans, author.
Other cont.: Davis, William A., author.
Other cont.: Burger, Hillel, photographer.
[Content type, Media type, and Carrier type do not
display in IUCAT]
RDA Bibliographic Record Requirement
In OPAC:
Cataloging source: IUL rda IUL
In MARC21:
040 __ $a IUL $e rda $c IUL
IUL = Indiana University Libraries as cataloging agency
Hint: change catalog display to fullest view and MARC21 view to
compare
RDA IMPACT
ON USERS
Jackie Byrd
Maybe Some Good Things
• Many fewer abbreviations
• No more Latin
• Relationship Designators
“Rule of Three”
AACR2:
No More “Rule of Three”
RDA:
Maybe Some Not-So-Good Things
 Lack of standardization, e.g. edition
statements as presented on item:
1st ed.
1st edition.
Ed. 1.
Edition 1.
I ed.
I edition.
First ed.
First edition.
How would this affect keyword
searching?
Lack of Standardization
In general the lack of standardization can
cause some concern. RDA allows for much
more “cataloger judgment,” and it allows
local decisions to impact the national record.
Because we are all using each other’s records
and trying to do so in an efficient manner, this
will likely result in a lack of any real
standardization within our local catalogs.
Maybe Some Not-So-Good Things
Loss of GMD
(General Material
Designator):
Currently users can easily tell via the
GMD after the title proper whether a
title listed in search results is a
videorecording, a sound recording, an
online resource, etc.
AACR2 OPAC Display
With GMD:
RDA OPAC Display
Without GMD:
336-338 Fields
RDA:
336
337
338
Instead of the GMD, RDA uses three new fields:
 336: Content (fundamental form)
 337: Media (intermediation device)
 338: Carrier (storage medium and housing)
Example: A print map
 336: cartographic image
 337: unmediated
 338: sheet
Note that print items are treated the same as any other
medium. In AACR2, this map would have a GMD:
[cartographic material]
The 336-338 fields are intended to
facilitate communication between
computers, but many feel that
patrons are losing valuable
information.
Unfortunately, many ILSs do not
allow us to “translate” the 336-338
fields into a string better intended
for human beings, e.g. “print map”
in the previous example. Hopefully
this situation will improve in the
future.
Thus far, we have elected not to
display these fields in our OPAC.
We have some special OPAC searches that
rely on the GMD, e.g. DVD/Video search,
Sound Recording Search, E-Book Search.
We are unsure about how to handle these in
an RDA environment.
RDA:
WHAT’S NEXT?
Lori Dekydtspotter
Current forecast:
Lack of examples & a
chance of potential
headaches …

RDA is still the new kid on the
block

How RDA would work is not
demonstrable in a practical way

RDA tests only dealt with existing
format (i.e., MARC)
2012 ALA Midwinter Musings on RDA
 RDA is a work in progress
 Revisions
 Word-smithing
 Working on uncompleted
sections
 Reviewing the scope of
RDA
 Work is also underway on how
to harmonize RDA with other
standards, such as ISBD and
ISSN
 Use RDA website for
information on the transition
and training
Next Steps for IU?
The Role of the Indiana Online Cataloging Congress
(IOCC)
 RDA Task Group (created Sept. 2010)
 IU RDA Wiki: http://iurda.pbworks.com
Resources
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
RDA Toolkit (subscription)
http://rdatoolkit.org
Library of Congress RDA Test
http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/rda/
LC’s Information & Resources to prepare for RDA
(http://www.loc.gov/aba/rda/)
RDA Carrier (MARC 338)
http://www.loc.gov/standards/valuelist/rdacarrier.html
RDA Media (MARC 337)
http://www.loc.gov/standards/valuelist/rdamedia.html
RDA Content (MARC 336)
http://www.loc.gov/standards/valuelist/rdacontent.html
Open Metadata Registry (RDA Vocabularies)
http://metadataregistry.org/rdabrowse.htm
Resources continued …
• Joint Steering Committee for the Development of RDA. Presentations on RDA.
http://www.rda-jsc.org/rdapresentations.html
• Joint Steering Committee Report from the RDA Training Task Force
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/tas/jca/ccda/docs/RDATraining1201.pdf
• Library of Congress decisions on application of Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials
(Books)
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/rarebooks.pdf
• Library of Congress Documentation for the RDA (Resource Description and Access) Test:
Training Materials for LC Core RDA Elements
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/RDAtest/rdatraining2.html
• Resource Description & Access (RDA) test materials.
https://staff.lib.ncsu.edu/confluence/display/MNC/RDA+Test#RDATestNCSURDATestWorkforms
Thank you!
Questions?