Making the Move to RDA

A Self-Study Primer for Catalogers

With Sara Shatford Layne

Not available to order

Publication date:

13 January 2014

Length of book:

346 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9780810887701

Making the Move to RDA: A Self-Study Primer for Catalogers is aimed at catalogers working in the MARC environment who currently create records using AACR2 and need to transition to using the new standard, Resource Description and Access (RDA). Since both RDA’s structure and content differ from AACR2 in many respects, this primer details the development and rationale for RDA as well as its intended goals, principles, and objectives. It then explains RDA’s theoretical underpinnings—collectively known as the FRBR Family of Models.

Framing the text along these lines provides readers the context for understanding the similarities and differences between AACR2 and RDA, both in terms of content and structure. With this foundation in place, the book takes the reader on a survey of RDA elements used to describe bibliographic and authority records and demonstrates how the MARC code has been expanded to accommodate new elements. Finally, it leads the reader field-by-field through MARC bibliographic records for book and non-book resources as well as through authority records for works, expressions, persons, families, and corporate bodies, describing the similarities and differences between AACR2 and RDA for each field.

Examples are provided throughout the text to help the reader visualize the concepts presented.

Preface
Part I. RDA Background Explained
Chapter 1. Development, Objectives, and Principles
Chapter 2. Underlying Models and Organization
Chapter 3. Major Differences between RDA and AACR2
Part II. RDA Instructions Summarized
Chapter 4. Attributes of Manifestations and Items
Chapter 5. Attributes of Works and Expressions
Chapter 6. Attributes of Persons, Families, Corporate Bodies, and Places
Chapter 7. Recording Relationships
Part III. RDA Applied in the MARC Environment
Chapter 8. Creating and Interpreting Bibliographic Records for Books
Chapter 9. Creating and Interpreting Bibliographic Records for Non-Book Resources
Chapter 10. Creating and Interpreting Authority Records
Acronyms
Bibliography

Making the Move to RDA has "primer" in its subtitle, but experienced catalogers will also benefit from this detailed explanation that compares and contrasts RDA to AACR2. Examples of cataloging records resulting from the application of the different rules—complete with MARC coding—are welcome, especially for situations such as collaborative works, compilations, and manifestations embodying multiple language expressions.