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Cambridge University Library

RDA for non-cataloguers

Cambridge University Library

Written for Cambridge use by Celine Carty

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Overview

What is RDA?

Why do we need RDA?

What does this mean in Cambridge?

How to recognise RDA records

Looking at RDA records

RDA & discovery

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What is RDA?

The new cataloguing standard replacing AACR2 (Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd edition)

Why a new standard?

It’s about time!

1978

Slide by Chris Oliver, used with permission

Problems with AACR2

Written in the context of card catalogues

• abbreviations

• limited number of contributors that could be included

Inadequate rules for the description of new types of resources, especially electronic resources

Lack of a theoretical framework to act as a reference point when dealing with new situations

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The road to RDA

2004 Work starts on AACR3

2005 -> Resource Description and Access

2009 RDA text is completed

2010-2011 US National Test of RDA

2012 Decision announced by Library of Congress, British Library, National

Library of Australia and others

31st March 2013 RDA Implementation

Continuity from AACR2 to RDA

• continue to record the title

• continue to record the edition

• continue to record the date of publication

But …

• new vocabulary

• new way of thinking about how we do these steps

• new theoretical model

RDA is based on a combination of:

FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records) & FRAD (Functional Requirements for Authority Data)

ICP (IFLA’s Statement of International Cataloguing Principles)

Cataloguing decisions focus on the user tasks of FRBR:

Find, Identify, Select, Obtain

Theoretical underpinning of RDA

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RDA in Cambridge

Implement RDA in all original cataloguing of print monographs, integrating resources and serials in 2013

31st March cambrdgedb database (UL, CSL, Medical, Moore & Squire Law Libraries)

1st October all other Cambridge libraries

Other formats (maps, music, electronic resources, etc.) will move to RDA during the academic year 2013-14

RDA is specifically designed so that RDA records are compatible with AACR2 records, and can co-exist in the same database

No plans for manual conversion to RDA of:

our existing AACR2 records full-level AACR2 records downloaded in copy-cataloguing

workflows, even after Mar. 2013

Many global updates will be made using batch processes, e.g. amendments to the authority forms of names

What does RDA implementation mean?

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UL & cambrdgedb

Training for UL, CSL, Medical, Moore & Squire Law Library staff started December 2012

Around 75 staff, including all who do any cataloguing at all in the cambrdgedb database

Formal training (minimum 20hrs) Jan-March 2013

Ongoing support from April onwards

Similar programme for other Cambridge libraries (all other Voyager databases) in June-Sept 2013

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RDA is here – what does this mean?

Even when cataloguing in RDA, still using:

• Voyager

• Newton/LibrarySearch/LibrarySearch+

• MARC21 encoding

• Same subject headings, same classification

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RDA is already here

Already have nearly 4,000 RDA in cambrdgedb

Almost 100,000 RDA name authorities already in the database (with more coming)

Some suppliers already sending RDA records

BL contributing them to BNB and creating CIP records in RDA

Voyager, Newton, LibrarySearch and LibrarySearch+ coping fine

- some minor display issues will be fixed with next Voyager upgrade, later this year

RDA spotting in the wild

In MARC records:

040 containing $e rda

Additional clues:

Leader “Cataloging form” = i 33X ... $2 rda...

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Identifying RDA in MARC – the Leader

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Relationship designators

Relationship designators in 1XX/7XX fields (“Main author” and “other entries” in Newton)

• these follow authorised access points (headings) for persons, corporate bodies, and families

• they can relate to various levels of involvement – eg creator (author, composer, etc) and contributor (editor, illustrator, etc) – and use a controlled list of vocabulary

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Transcription of information

RDA emphasises transcription from the resource, so we see fuller data in title, statement of responsibility and other areas.

Introduction to the physics of waves / Tim

Freegarde, University of Southampton.

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RDA and AACR2’s “rule of three”

Under AACR2, the “rule of three“ meant that:

• if there were more than three authors/editors/etc, the cataloguer transcribed only the first and gave an access point only to that first name

The “rule of three” disappears under RDA

• the cataloguer now transcribes all names unless unduly onerous and provides access points for all those names – again, unless unduly onerous

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Rule of three example

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Publication information

AACR2 included all information about publication, manufacture, distribution and copyright in one field

RDA separates out information about publication, manufacture, distribution and copyright

Now use copyright symbol © instead of letter “c”

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Abbreviations and RDA

RDA is a largely abbreviation-free standard

• abbreviations which RDA now spells out include:

• p. ( pages);

• ill. ( illustrations);

• ports. ( portraits);

• v. ( volume/volumes)

• exception: cm (because it’s considered a symbol)

• NB: abbreviations are used when they appear on the resource itself

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Latin terms and RDA

RDA moves away from Latin, preferring English instead

Latin terms which are not used in RDA include:

• et al. ( and x others);

• s.l.; s.n.; n.d. ( place of publication not identified; publisher not identified; date of publication not identified);

• ca. ( approximately)

NB: Latin terms are used when they appear on the resource itself

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Goodbye GMD

GMD (General Material Designation) in AACR2, bracketed information in the title that conveys the type of material (for non-print resources)

[electronic resource], [sound recording], [videorecording]

Confusing combination of carrier and content information

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Changes to the database

Various settings have been changed in Voyager already to incorporate the RDA changes

New tag tables in the Cataloguing module, changes to the display mapping in Newton, etc.

Voyager upgrade to accommodate the final RDA changes

Display and indexing under ongoing review

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Changes to authority records

Lots of changes for RDA done as global updates to authority records, files released in batches to libraries

Global changes underway now (March 2013):

• Expand abbreviations (arr., acc., unacc., Dept., cent., fl., ca.)

• Replace “b.” and “d.” in dates with hyphens

• Change “violincello” to “cello” in headings

• Changes to Bible (O.T. and N.T.) and Koran headings

• Change Koran to Qur’an

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Changes to the authority file - 2

During these automated changes, please be patient!

~30,000 updated authority records per day

There will be a delay in dealing with the large number of updated records locally, but they are being done.

There may be a slight delay until all catalogue records containing a particular name are all changed to the RDA form, but hopefully the effects of this will be minimal

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Getting books to the shelf

While everyone is learning something new, cataloguing will inevitably take a bit longer

However, workflows have been adapted as much as possible to ensure that the number of books reaching the shelf each week remains roughly the same

We aim to minimise the impact on users as much as possible

Urgents and reader requests will still be processed in the same timeframe

RDA …

takes us from where we are

moves us to a new track

puts us on the right track for the next part of the journey

Slide by Chris Oliver, used with permission

Why is RDA important?

To get bibliographic data out of the library silo

• visible on the web• interacting with the data of other metadata communities

Clearer language for library users

Easier for computers to manipulate

Well-defined and structured data elements

Open up our world to others who want to use our data

Move away from using MARC (a library-only standard)

Benefits of RDA

Now

• designed to work in current catalogues

• compatible with AACR2 records

• co-exist with AACR2 records in the same databases

Future

• ready to take advantage of new database structures

• function in the semantic web, linked data environment

• visible in the web alongside other types of metadata

Slide by Chris Oliver, used with permission

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http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/libraries/login/RDA/

More information

The slides for this presentation, along with lots of other RDA resources and documentation, are available from:

http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/libraries/login/RDA/docs.html

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