Friday, October 29, 2010

RDA for Beginners at PaLA

I was really impressed with the 3 presenters from the PA State Library. They are one of the RDA test libraries and did a very good job of explaining how RDA is different and where the testing process is now.

3 things i learned
1. A good way to explain the biggest difference between RDA and AACR2 is that RDA provides more access to the people who affected the item being cataloged. Instead of just the author and illustrator, for a graphic novel you will also see the series editor, the colorist, the letterer, some other editor whose role I didn't catch -- ah the complex world of comic books! In short, everyone who had influence on the item gets mentioned in the record in a meaningful way.
2. RDA will take more time (see #1) at least at first, but it will definitely make records more search-able
3. testing ends at midnight on December 31, 2010. We may know by ALA annual in New Orleans whether RDA is being adopted.

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