RDA FOR ALL:
RDA, MUSIC DISCOVERY, AND BEYOND
PLENARY III
Sponsors
MLA Bibliographic Control Committee
MLA Emerging Technologies & Services Committee
MLA Public Services Committee
RDA for All
• Overview of RDA
• Impact of RDA on Public Services
• Impact of RDA on Technical Services
• RDA and Music Discovery
• Developments Beyond RDA
RDA for All
• Slides will be available on the BCC website:
• http://bcc.musiclibraryassoc.org/bcc.html
RDA for All
• Speakers
• Kathy Glennan
University of Maryland
• Stephanie Bonjack University of Southern California
• Nara Newcomer
University of Missouri-Kansas City
• Stephen Henry
University of Maryland
RDA OVERVIEW
Kathy Glennan
University of Maryland
March 2, 2013
The Evolution of RDA
• Problem: In the late 1980s, librarians began to realize that
AACR2 needed revision to address various problems,
including:
• Changing nature of library resources
• Separating “content” from “carrier”
• Clarifying bibliographic relationships
• Coming to a common understanding about what constitutes a
“work”
• Resolving issues around “seriality”
The Evolution of RDA
• Solution #1: Conferences held, focusing on special issues
• 1989 Airlie House Forum on Multiple Versions
• 1997 International Conference on the Principles and Future
Development of AACR
• Solution #2: Changes made to AACR2
• AACR2r published in 2002; updated in 2004
• Solution #3: Draft of AACR3
• 2004, Draft of Part 1 released for review
• Reviewers felt this needed a new focus and a new name, so…
RDA was born!
• Drafts available for open review, 2005-2009
• Various constituencies conducted reviews and wrote proposals for
change
• MLA contributed comments and proposals through the American Library
Association
• Development took longer than anticipated
• Incorporated structure, concepts and terminology from two IFLA
documents, Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (1998)
and Functional Requirements for Authority Data (2009)
• Aligned with IFLA’s Statement of International Cataloguing Principles
(2009)
RDA’s Scope
• Includes instructions for recording
• Descriptive elements relating to:
• Works, Expressions, Manifestations, Items
• Attributes associated with creators and contributors:
• Persons, Families and Corporate Bodies
• Relationships among and between the above entities, such as:
• Person to work
• Composer; Arranger of music; Performer; Conductor
• Work to work
• Musical variations based on; Cadenza composed for
• Will eventually include instructions for concepts, objects,
events and places
RDA Goals
• Focus on user tasks: Find, Identify, Select, Obtain
• Simplify, clarify and update the rules
• Get rid of unnecessary library jargon, like Latin abbreviations
• Remove ambiguous & inconsistent terminology
• Eliminate redundant rules
• Emphasis on the rules as a content standard
• Separate recording of data from display of data
• Create a flexible and extensible framework
• Compatible with multiple data storage and communication models,
such as MARC21 and Dublin Core – and potentially future models
like LC’s Bibliographic Framework Initiative
• Maintain backwards compatibility with AACR2 records
RDA Controversies
• Too much change vs. not enough change
• Cost
• Online product requires annual subscription; unwieldy in print
• Catalogers need retraining
• Elimination of General Material Designation
• Used in AACR2 to identify broad types of resources
Example: Symphony no. 5 [sound recording]
• Replaced by separate elements for content, media and carrier
types, but the textual terms aren’t very user friendly
performed music – audio – audio disc
• Full benefit only realized once MARC is replaced
• Most local systems only doing “bare bones” implementation
RDA Benefits
• Registered vocabularies: http://rdvocab.info/
• Designed to function in different implementation scenarios
• ‘Flat file’ database structure (no links)
• Linked bibliographic and authority records
• Relational / object-oriented database structure
• Linked data
• Instructions not tied to physical format of resources
• Can accommodate metadata from multiple sources (e.g.,
ONIX data)
RDA Milestones
• Published Summer 2010
• RDA Toolkit (online product); also in print
• U.S. National Libraries’ Test, Oct.-Dec. 2010
• National libraries and test partners, included group from
MLA/OLAC
• Bibliographic and Authority records created in live environment
• Participants’ feedback led to additional recommendations for
change
• MARC21 updated: 2008-present
• National libraries’ implementation date: March 31, 2013
• All authority record creation (affects all NACO participants)
• Most bibliographic record creation
IMPACT OF RDA ON
TECHNICAL SERVICES
Kathy Glennan
University of Maryland
March 2, 2013
Training Issues
• Identify affected Technical Services staff
• Original catalogers
• Copy catalogers
• Acquisitions specialists
• Determine what kind of training is needed for each
• Provide the appropriate level of training for the work being done
• Create in-house training, or use presentations, webinars, etc.
developed by others
• Determine when and how to train original catalogers
• Opportunity for “ground-up” cataloging training
• Collective review of records before submission?
Training Issues
• Be aware of national policies and guidelines
• LC-PCC Policy Statements
• BIBCO Standard Record Metadata Application Profile
• Provider-Neutral E-Resource Guidelines
• OCLC RDA Policy Statement
• Create local policies
• When to use RDA records
• What changes are acceptable?
• Can you derive a new record from an RDA record, even if you’re
not yet trained in RDA?
Training Resources
• LC/PCC online training available at Catalogers Learning
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Workshop website: http://www.loc.gov/catworkshop/
LC-PCC Policy Statements incorporated into RDA Toolkit,
linked to relevant instructions
PCC guidelines: http://www.loc.gov/aba/pcc/
ALCTS webinars:
http://www.ala.org/alcts/confevents/upcoming/webinar/cat
Sample records and workflows available in RDA Toolkit
Music cataloging presentations on BCC website:
http://bcc.musiclibraryassoc.org/bcc.html
MLA Best Practices out for review now!
Challenges for Catalogers
• Terminology changes
• “Audio disc” not “Sound disc” and “Cello” not “Violoncello”
• Almost no abbreviations
• But retained for duration, vocal parts (SATB), and thematic indexes
• New MARC fields and subfields to learn and use
• And to validate, index, and display in the local system
Challenges for Catalogers
• More decisions left to “catalogers judgment”
• Must keep user tasks in mind (Find, Identify, Select, Obtain)
• May need to accept less consistency among bibliographic records
• Capitalization practice
• Spelling of “color” vs. “colour”
• Updates to local cataloging policies needed
• RDA is constantly changing
• Updates to online RDA Toolkit every two months
Big or Incremental Change?
• Authority records
• All NACO participants must be retrained
• Set date for change-over – no choice (3/31/13)
• Automated changes rolling out to authority file to make records
RDA compliant
• Records that cannot be corrected through this process must be updated
manually as encountered
• New data elements to learn and encode as appropriate
• Major documentation updates, best practice changes, etc.
• Opportunity to review local authority control practices and the staff
involved
Big or Incremental Change?
• Bibliographic records
• Depends on local implementation decisions
• No set date for implementation at this time
• If converting all cataloging records to RDA as encountered – BIG
CHANGE
• If working with existing cataloging records without changing the
cataloging code – more of an INCREMENTAL CHANGE
• Use RDA for original cataloging and substantial upgrades to copy?
• Need to start developing familiarity and comfort with RDA
instructions
• Must put training to use on a regular basis, or retraining will be
necessary