An Introduction to RDA
James Nauenburg
The forthcoming standard for the organization of information in Library and Information Science is Resource Description and Access. The current AACR2 (Anglo-American Cataloging Rules) was first implemented in 1978, and although it has been updated through the years it cannot escape its own past and the limitations associated with that past. Plainly, the AACR2 was intended for use in a card catalog. These limitations have been acknowledged and smoothed since the 1997 Toronto conference on the future development of the AACR. But it was understood then and remains the case now, that a retooling of applications through fundamental changes in code is really necessary to fully exploit the opportunities for “resource description and access” in the digital age.
The Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA, the driving force behind this initiative, is composed of members from Australia, Great Britain, Canada, and the United States. Located within this committee are groups charged with maintaining the evolving principles of digital demands and the methodology with which these demands will be met by RDA. A primary national contributor for the US is the American Library Association’s Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access. RDA is inclusively built on the policies laid out in Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records, Functional Requirements for Authority Data and the IFLA Statement of International Cataloging Principles.
In short, what does this mean? These functional requirements take the shape of entities in relationship to one another in the methodology utilized for computer databases and provide a bibliographic framework for concepts pertaining to the organization of information. For instance, a principal will produce an artifact we can refer to as a thus far "uncategorized" bibliographic entity. This entity is distinct to this creator, and it is the realization of an expression in the form of a now categorize-able item (i.e. a book, or perhaps even a PDF). The functional requirements attached to a bibliographic record for this item should present clear relationships to other bibliographic record holders in order to facilitate accurate research and procurement of desired materials. There are authorial relationships, chronological relationships of material, relationships by subject, and so on.
The international statement providing the underlying principles of cataloging standards in RDA and future practice is provided at: http://www.ifla.org/
I’ll be back with more on RDA next week and in the weeks to come.
The Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA, the driving force behind this initiative, is composed of members from Australia, Great Britain, Canada, and the United States. Located within this committee are groups charged with maintaining the evolving principles of digital demands and the methodology with which these demands will be met by RDA. A primary national contributor for the US is the American Library Association’s Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access. RDA is inclusively built on the policies laid out in Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records, Functional Requirements for Authority Data and the IFLA Statement of International Cataloging Principles.
In short, what does this mean? These functional requirements take the shape of entities in relationship to one another in the methodology utilized for computer databases and provide a bibliographic framework for concepts pertaining to the organization of information. For instance, a principal will produce an artifact we can refer to as a thus far "uncategorized" bibliographic entity. This entity is distinct to this creator, and it is the realization of an expression in the form of a now categorize-able item (i.e. a book, or perhaps even a PDF). The functional requirements attached to a bibliographic record for this item should present clear relationships to other bibliographic record holders in order to facilitate accurate research and procurement of desired materials. There are authorial relationships, chronological relationships of material, relationships by subject, and so on.
The international statement providing the underlying principles of cataloging standards in RDA and future practice is provided at: http://www.ifla.org/
I’ll be back with more on RDA next week and in the weeks to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment