Resource Description and Access
Encyclopedia
Resource Description and Access or RDA is a set of instructions for the cataloguing of books and other materials held in libraries and other cultural organizations such as museums and galleries. RDA is the successor to the second edition of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR2)
, the current standard set of cataloguing guidelines for English language libraries. It was initially released in summer 2010, and in the United States
, following widespread controversy amongst cataloguers, the three national libraries (Library of Congress
, National Library of Medicine
, and the National Agricultural Library
) organized a nation-wide test of the new standards.
The primary distinction between RDA and AACR is structural. RDA is organised based on the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records
(FRBR). These principles identify both the 'user tasks' which a library catalog should make possible and a hierarchy of relationships in bibliographic data. Descriptions produced using the instructions of RDA are intended to be compatible with the large number of existing records created under the rules of AACR2.
, one of the authors of AACR2, was particularly vocal in expression his opposition to the new guidelines. Test participants claimed that the online interface for the new standard was slow and inefficient, and that the search function was especially ineffective. Despite these complaints, the majority of testing participants suggested that upon tweaking the interface and training cataloguers familiar with the format-based approach of AACR2 to adapt to RDA's FRBR-based approach, RDA would be an acceptable change.
format.
AACR2
AACR2 stands for the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, Second Edition. It is published jointly by the American Library Association, the Canadian Library Association, and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in the UK. The editor is Michael Gorman, a British-born...
, the current standard set of cataloguing guidelines for English language libraries. It was initially released in summer 2010, and in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, following widespread controversy amongst cataloguers, the three national libraries (Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
, National Library of Medicine
United States National Library of Medicine
The United States National Library of Medicine , operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is a division of the National Institutes of Health...
, and the National Agricultural Library
United States National Agricultural Library
The United States National Agricultural Library is one of the world's largest agricultural research libraries, and serves as a National Library of the United States and as the library of the United States Department of Agriculture...
) organized a nation-wide test of the new standards.
Background
RDA emerged from the International Conference on the Principles & Future Development of AACR held in Toronto in 1997. It was quickly realised that substantial revision of AACR2 was required, which encouraged the adoption of a new title for what had been envisaged as a third edition of AACR.The primary distinction between RDA and AACR is structural. RDA is organised based on the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records
Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records
Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records—or FRBR, sometimes pronounced —is a conceptual entity-relationship model developed by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions that relates user tasks of retrieval and access in online library catalogues and...
(FRBR). These principles identify both the 'user tasks' which a library catalog should make possible and a hierarchy of relationships in bibliographic data. Descriptions produced using the instructions of RDA are intended to be compatible with the large number of existing records created under the rules of AACR2.
Opposition
In the U.S., the cataloguing establishment has expressed mixed to negative opinions on the new standards. Michael GormanMichael Gorman
Michael Gorman or Mike Gorman may refer to:*Michael Gorman , Irish traditional fiddler*Michael Gorman , British-born librarian*Michael A. Gorman, modern politician in North Carolina...
, one of the authors of AACR2, was particularly vocal in expression his opposition to the new guidelines. Test participants claimed that the online interface for the new standard was slow and inefficient, and that the search function was especially ineffective. Despite these complaints, the majority of testing participants suggested that upon tweaking the interface and training cataloguers familiar with the format-based approach of AACR2 to adapt to RDA's FRBR-based approach, RDA would be an acceptable change.
U.S. RDA Test Coordinating Committee Report
On 13 June 2011, the Library of Congress, the National Agricultural Library, and the National Library of Medicine released the results of their testing. After observing "The test revealed that there is little discernible immediate benefit in implementing RDA alone" and "The Coordinating Committee wrestled with articulating a business case for implementing RDA", the report recommended that RDA be adopted by the three national libraries, contingent on several changes being made. The earliest possible date for implementation was given as January 2013, as the consensus emerging from the analysis of the test data showed that while there were discernible benefits to implementing RDA, these benefits would not be realized without significant changes, possibly to include developing a successor to the MARCMARC standards
MARC, MAchine-Readable Cataloging, is a data format and set of related standards used by libraries to encode and share information about books and other material they collect...
format.