Transcript Slide 1
Recommendations
from the RDA Test:
Where do we go from here?
Barbara Bushman
National Library of Medicine, NIH, DHHS
Regina Romano Reynolds
Library of Congress
Hosted by ALCTS
Webinar agenda
Evidence-based
decision-making: evaluative factors
Recommendations: basis in findings, current status
To the national libraries
To the JSC
To ALA Publishing
To the community (including PCC)
To vendors
Implementation preparations
LC timeline; NLM & NAL plans
How institutions can prepare for implementation
Approaches to training/documentation
Sources for more information
Questions
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Evaluative factors
Record creation
Record use
Training and documentation needs
Use of the RDA Toolkit/RDA content
Systems and metadata
Later merged
Technical feasibility
Local operations
Costs and benefits
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Primary data vehicles
Records
23, 366
bibliographic +
authority records
+
Surveys
8509 surveys
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Overall recommendation
“Contingent on the satisfactory
progress/completion of the tasks and action
items below, the Coordinating Committee
recommends that RDA should be implemented
by LC,NAL, and NLM no sooner than January
2013. The three national libraries should commit
resources to ensure progress is made on these
activities that will require significant effort from
many in and beyond the library community.”
Report, Executive Summary, p.2
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Findings: Costs and Benefits
Benefits
Change
in how
characteristics of
things are identified
Focus on user tasks
New abilities to use
and re-use
bibliographic metadata
Encouragement of
new encoding
schemas and better
systems for resource
discovery
Costs
Subscription
to the
RDA Toolkit
Development of
training materials
Creation/revision of
documentation
Loss of production
time during initial
training and
implementation
Impacts to cataloging
contracts
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“To achieve a viable and robust metadata
infrastructure for the future, the
Coordinating Committee believes that
RDA should be part of that infrastructure.”
Report, p. 13
Reynolds7
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Findings: user survey
Positive Features
Content/carrier/media
elements in place of
GMD
Fuller records
Spelling out of previously
abbreviated words
Rule of three dropped
Elimination of Latin terms
More access points
Negative Features
Content/carrier/media
elements difficult to
understand; No GMD
Too much information
Spelling out of universally
known abbreviations
Confusing when publishing
and © dates are the same
Elimination of “sic” in a title
indicating a problem on the
piece
FRBR terminology
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Findings: local operations
While 63% of testing institutions anticipate a
major or minor negative impact on local
operations, 62% favored implementation
Concern was expressed about the need to work
with both RDA and pre-RDA copy in the same
workflow
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Moving Forward
The overall recommendation lists contingent
tasks and action items involving:
U.S. national libraries
Joint Steering Committee (JSC)
ALA Publishing
U.S. library community (including
Vendors
PCC)
Additional specific recommendations to these
organizations and groups are in the report
The Coordinating Committee has been charged
with overseeing progress on the contingent tasks
and reporting on their status
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Recommendations
relating to
the national libraries
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RECOMMENDATION:
Demonstrate credible progress
toward a replacement for MARC
TIMEFRAME:
18-24 months
Findings: MARC
MARC was not part of the evaluative factors or
testing plan
Issues and comments about MARC surfaced
during the test and analysis
Most survey respondents believe that the
benefits of RDA will be unrealized without a
change to the underlying MARC carrier
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“The RDA Test has made it concrete for us that the
community also very much needs a post-MARC data
model and encoding structure.”
Test participant
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Reynolds
MARC recommendation status; plan
Announcement by Deanna Marcum:
“Transforming our Bibliographic Framework”
Stakeholders being identified—fall 2011
Tasks and timetable for development to follow
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RECOMMENDATION:
Lead and coordinate RDA training
TIMEFRAME:
18 months
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Findings: training and documentation
needs
Most institutions provided staff with at least 3
different types of training prior to the test
Fewer than half created documentation for policy
decisions during the test
75% believe updating existing documentation will
have a large or very large impact, but only 12%
consider that a major barrier to implementation
More full record and in-context examples are
desired
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Training recommendations
LC to lead training efforts
PCC, ALCTS, other bodies to be engaged
More training needed on FRBR concepts, toolkit
Status:
LC
updating test training and documentation
Coordinating with ALA Publishing about RDA Toolkit
Coordinating with PCC
Creating a training/implementation timetable
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Recommendations
related to the JSC
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
Rewrite [reword] RDA instructions in clear,
unambiguous, plain English
Within 18 months
Define process for updating RDA in the online
environment (in conjunction with ALA Publishing)
Within 3 months (JSC had already begun work on this
issue)
Announce completion of registered RDA
element sets and vocabularies
Within 6 months [already underway]
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Findings: bibliographic record review
Textual monographs for translations and literary works
included more errors related to FRBR
Omission of access points for works and expressions
manifested (RDA core)
All resources included frequent errors in publication place,
date, copyright date
Confusion about use of abbreviations was more evident in
AV resources
Seriality was problematic in both RDA and A2; some
current online versions cataloged as reproductions
Integrating resources and serials included mode of access
notes (not in RDA); incorrect handling of date information
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Findings: authority record review
New elements used (percent of records):
coded
date information in field 046 (29%)
associated place information in field 370 (16%)
occupation and gender in fields 374, 375 (10%)
Common errors:
form
of place name in 370
omission of 670 fields
incorrect formatting of coded dates in 046 field
confusion between field of activity and occupation
(fields 372 vs. 374)
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Findings: RDA content
Some were positive, e.g., “does well what it aims
to do”
Negatives focused on readability and
organization, e.g., style and language as
obstacles to understanding
Catalogers remain confused about distinctions
between FRBR entities
Content should provide more detailed guidance,
examples
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Findings: RDA Readability
Readability analysis with other cataloging rules
(AACR2, ISBD, CONSER Cataloging Manual)
found RDA text to be the least readable
Reported difficulties in using RDA dropped with
record creation experience from 54% to 14.5%
Participants working in non-textual formats
reported higher degrees of difficulty
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“…the weakness of RDA is the “disorganized
vagueness” of the RDA rules.” Test participant
Reynolds
“…difficult to understand … each person may arrive
at a different conclusion from the same instruction.”
Test participant
Status: RDA content recommendations
“Re-wording:” 4 chapters have been identified; potential
writers identified
Clarification of the WEMI boundaries and differences in
cataloging resources with various modes of issuance is
being discussed
JSC will work with ALA Publishing on enhancements to
RDA Toolkit
LC, PCC will work with JSC on topics such as new
authority elements, issues relating to expressions,
specialized communities, etc.
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Status of tasks relating to JSC
Registered RDA element sets and vocabularies
First
group of RDA controlled vocabularies
“published” in the Open Metadata Registry
http://metadataregistry.org/rdabrowse.htm
Defining process of updating RDA
JSC
is making good progress on their updating
process
ALA Publishing planning for more frequent updates
Investigating different methods for notifying RDA
Toolkit users of updates
Updates to print will occur less frequently
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Recommendations
to ALA Publishing
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Improve functionality of the RDA Toolkit
TIMEFRAME:
within 3 months (ALA had already begun work on
this issue)
Integrate complete RDA record examples in
MARC and other encoding schema into the
RDA Toolkit (in conjunction with JSC)
TIMEFRAME
within 6 months
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Findings: use of RDA Toolkit
Users found the Toolkit clunky and difficult to
navigate
Organization of the rules was confusing
Organization of search results not intuitive
Many found the workflows useful
Longer period before timeout is needed
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Status of tasks relating to ALA
Publishing
Creation of a virtual user group
Chapter loading being improved
Time-out length will be a profile choice
MARC Linking Service
RDA Toolkit Blog
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Recommendations
to the community,
including PCC
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RECOMMENDATION:
Ensure and facilitate community
involvement
TIMEFRAME:
within 12 months
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Specific recommendations to the
community
Prioritize needed updates to practices,
decisions, documentation
Prioritize and submit changes to JSC for RDA
content
Determine the role of PCC, special interest
communities
Determine best methods to share decisions
within the community
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Community involvement: status
PCC has established task groups
RDA-Decisions-Needed
Task Group
Task Group on AACR2 & RDA Acceptable Heading
Categories
Task Group on Hybrid Bibliographic Records
Representatives from ISBD and ISSN will meet
with the JSC at their Glasgow meeting (Nov.
2011) to work on harmonizing divergent
practices, e.g., when to create new records
Special format communities submitting
proposals for changes to RDA instructions
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Recommendations
to the vendor community
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RECOMMENDATION to LC and vendor community:
Solicit demonstrations of prototype input
and discovery systems that use the RDA
element set (including relationships)
TIMEFRAME:
Within 18 months
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Findings: need for systems prototypes
Survey comments indicated respondents could
not envision how RDA rules and FRBR concepts
would provide benefits in future systems
Entities/funding need to be identified to provide
models
Prototypes to be developed
Demonstrations to be used in education and
promotion
Status:
in
planning stages
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“I understand and welcome the changes that RDA seeks to
address but it would be nice to see the tools that will take
advantage of what this new standard has to offer.”
Test participant
Reynolds
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Findings: eXtensible Catalog
“Use of RDA elements, even within a MARC-
based structure will help XC’s metadata cleanup
and transformation programs work more
effectively than does AACR2 data.”
“XC Schema is a foundation for a solid RDA
implementation that is usable in real systems,
addresses real use scenarios and works with
existing integrated library systems and web
content management systems.”
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Specific vendor recommendations
Permit users to link out to RDA Toolkit
Implement all new MARC tags
Explore enhancements, new features and
products, e.g.:
Display
of content, media, carrier data
Support for a mix of AACR2 and RDA records
Support for FRBR relationships
Ingestion of metadata in a variety of formats
Better support for global update of headings
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Findings: Systems, Metadata, and
Technical Feasibility
System vendors have made the changes
needed to import and store RDA records
encoded in MARC 21
Substantial local configuration changes needed
for indexing and record displays
Unable to perform in-depth analysis of nonMARC records since very few received
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LC Timeline
October 2011: RDA catalogers/technicians
(former LC testers) prepare for returning to RDA
cataloging: classroom sessions and practice
record discussions
November 2011:RDA catalogers/technicians
return to creating RDA authority and
bibliographic records
Not sooner than July 2012: LC begins to train
remaining catalogers to apply RDA
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NLM & NAL Plans
NLM
No
plans to implement prior to 2013
Starting to familiarize staff with FRBR concepts and
terminology
Practical RDA training 3 months prior to implementation
Testers may begin producing RDA 4 months prior to
implementation to assist with staff training
Updating
documentation for staff and contractors
NAL
Monitoring
progress of recommendations
Preparing for coordinated implementation in 2013
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Preparing for Implementation: Systems
MARC Issues
Has
your ILS implemented all the MARC updates for
the new RDA elements?
Indexes
Will
authorized access points containing relationship
designators file properly with the headings lacking
them?
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Preparing for Implementation:
Cataloging
Authorized access points
If
existing authorized access points are converted
nationally to the RDA form, will you convert your
records and how?
Authority records
Bibliographic records
Copy Cataloging
Will
you accept AACR2 copy or will you edit to partial
or full RDA description?
Will you convert authorized access points on AACR2
copy to the RDA form?
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Preparing for Implementation: OPAC
Display of content/media/carrier types
How
will the new content/media/carrier types display
in your local catalog?
Will they be displayed on brief as well as full record
displays?
What alternative display options does your local
catalog offer, such as icons or alternative text?
Can they co-exist with existing GMDs?
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Approaches to Training
LC hopes to announce its implementation date
approximately 6 months in advance
Training on terminology and concepts can begin
now
Training on specifics should not begin until
approximately 6 months before implementation
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Documentation Availability
LC training materials from the test
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/RDAtest/rdatraining.html
RDA Toolkit Training
http://www.rdatoolkit.org/training
ALCTS RDA Webinars
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alcts/confevents/up
coming/webinar/cat/rda.cfm
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Sources for More Information
Final Report and Recommendations
http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/rda/
LC RDA planning (availability to be announced)
http://www.loc.gov/aba/rda/
MARC Transition website
RDA Toolkit
http://www.rdatoolkit.org/
JSC
http://www.loc.gov/marc/transition/
http://www.rda-jsc.org/
Regular updates from Committee
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Thank You!
[email protected]
[email protected]
Hosted by ALCTS
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