Setting a New Standard in Cataloguing
Resource Description and Access (RDA) is a new standard for description and access that will replace the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR) in 2009.
Four major libraries—the British Library, Library and Archives Canada, the Library of Congress and the National Library of Australia— have recently backed the move to the new standard. They note that RDA will provide a standard for resource description and access that is responsive to the digital environment in which libraries now operate. These libraries have also agreed to coordinate implementation and to work together on matters such as training and documentation to ensure a smooth transition to the new standard.
User Focus
RDA will build on the strengths of AACR, but will take a more user-centred approach to resource description. RDA will provide guidelines on creating resource descriptions that enable a user to find, identify, select and obtain resources that meet their information needs.
RDA data will be a building block in the resource discovery services of the future, and can be used to assist users to navigate databases and to narrow their searches when faced with large retrieval sets. To achieve these aims, the guidelines and instructions in RDA will be firmly based in the conceptual models Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) and Functional Requirements for Authority Data (FRAD).
Continuity and Flexibility
Using these models also ensures that RDA will provide a flexible and extensible framework for describing all types of resources—even those that have not yet been invented. RDA instructions will be based on firm principles and be consistent across different types of media and for different types of content.
Continuity with existing records will be maintained, and data created using RDA will be compatible with existing MARC records in online library catalogues.
However, RDA will focus on the data to be recorded, rather than on the display, encoding, or transmission of data. As a result RDA will also be able to be encoded in other schema, such as Dublin Core. The RDA data model, data elements and values will be available in a machine-readable form on the Internet, making RDA available as a content standard for use in semantic web applications.
A Better Tool for Cataloguers
The working cataloguer has not been forgotten in the move to the new standard. RDA is being designed as an online tool that is easy to learn and easy to use. In the future you may be able to link directly to the relevant RDA instructions when inputting data into your Integrated Library System.
Coming Soon
The first release is scheduled in the first half of 2009. After release there will be a period of time to finalise preparations for implementation, which should occur in the second half of the year.
To keep up to date with progress towards RDA, visit the website at www.collectionscanada.ca/jsc/rda.html.
Deirdre Kiorgaard
ACOC Representative, Joint Steering Committee for the Development
of Resource Description and Access