Introducing RDA

Resource Description and Access (RDA) is the new cataloguing standard that will replace the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR). The 2010 release of RDA is not the release of a revised standard; it represents a shift in the understanding of the cataloguing process. Author Chris Oliver, Cataloguing and Authorities Coordinator at the McGill University Library and chair of the Canadian Committee on Cataloging, offers practical advice on how to make the transition. This indispensable Special Report helps catalogers by: concisely explaining RDA and its expected benefits for users and cataloguers, presented through topics and questions; placing RDA in context by examining its connection with its predecessor, AACR2, as well as looking at RDA's relationship to internationally accepted principles, standards and models; and detailing how RDA positions us to take advantage of newly emerging database structures, how RDA data enables improved resource discovery, and how we can get metadata out of library silos and make it more accessible. No cataloger or library administrator will want to be without this straightforward guide to the changes ahead.