Catalog Department Learning RDA, the new cataloging code

In anticipation of transitioning from AACR2 to the new cataloging code, Resource Description and Access (RDA), the Catalog Department has participated in several long-distance and local training sessions in the last several months.  Following are some of the training we have undergone:

All staff participated in the Library of Congress BIBCO program series.  This series involved learning RDA elements in bibliographic records and included viewing Library of Congress webinars and customized local training.  As you may note from the topics, RDA is based on the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR).  One challenging aspect of RDA is in learning the new terminology and the different organization of the instructions.

Module 1. Introduction to RDA; Identifying Manifestations and Items

Module 2. Describing Carrier and Identifying Words

Module 3. Identifying Expressions and Describing Content

Module 4. Relationships

Last fall, we participated in the Library of Congress NACO (Name Authority Cooperative) training, which covered establishing names and the new RDA fields in authority records.  This training included two live sessions with Library of Congress trainers.

Bette Stuart and Felicity Dykas participated in the CONSER training series related to RDA and serials cataloging.

Wayne Sanders, Felicity Dykas, Brian Cain, and Jackie Blonigen completed the NACO series training.

To augment their training, five people participated in MOBIUS sponsored training on April 15.  Jackie Blonigen, Brian Cain, Karla Geerlings, Colleen Smith, and Bette Stuart traveled to Warrensburg for the all-day training session.

You will be seeing more and more RDA records in MERLIN.  While much of what we hope to gain from moving to RDA won’t be realized for a few years (e.g., linked data), what you will notice right away is that we are using fewer abbreviations and we are adding information about relationships.