Morgan McCune (Pittsburg State University) Ready for RDA?: Help for the Smaller Academic Institution from 2015 C&U/CULS (Joint NE & KS) Spring Meeting
Ready for RDA?: Help for the Smaller Academic Institution (slides)
1. Ready for RDA?
Help For the Smaller Academic Institution
Morgan O.H. McCune
Pittsburg State University
Cataloging Librarian, Associate Professor
mmccune@pittstate.edu
2. What’s “scary”?
Even if catalogers love change, their
training makes them tend to do things the
same way
New terminology
More reliance on “cataloger’s judgment”
MARC changes
Dynamic
3. Why RDA? Chapter 7, Introducing
RDA—A Guide to the Basics / Chris
Oliver (2010)
Brings some immediate improvements, but
also lays the groundwork for the future
Helps break data out of the MARC silo
Precisely defined data elements (extent
and tactile notation separate, for example)
Data to support collocation (recording
relationships)
4. Why RDA? (cont’) Chapter 7,
Introducing RDA—A Guide to the Basics
/ Chris Oliver (2010)
Lessens the Anglo-American bias
Instructions apply to all types of resources
Not based on 3x5 card technology
(abbreviations not necessary); emphasis on
transcription
5. It’s Here
We now have more than 27,000
RDA records in our catalog
6. Wacker & Han, RDA Planning,
Implementation and Use (2013)
“At this point, RDA implementation is complete
for most libraries. It’s time to shift our attention
to finding a replacement for MARC that will fully
exploit the new features found in RDA cataloguing
and authority records for better user services”
Not my experience for small institutions in Kansas
7. Tosaka & Park. RDA: Training and
Continuing Education Needs in Academic
Libraries (2014)
“A clear picture that emerged is that 4-year academic
institutions with a small cataloging staff may have to adopt
and implement RDA in relative isolation, often through solo
training with limited institutional support … it is particularly
important to develop effective training programs that will
meet the needs and delivery preferences of practicing
professionals in thousands of smaller cataloging and
metadata departments” (p. 24)
8. Communicate …
Before and after training
Why—Reasons for implementation
How—Procedures
Support—Policies (supports decision-making
on the front lines)
Training Plan/Goals
11. State of the Catalog—What’s the
situation?
MARC Changes / ILS Vendor
Incoming vendor records (e-books, etc.; are
incoming records reviewed?)
User needs
Catalog partners
12. State of the Catalog
Bibliographic records
Authority records/authority work (work
with vendors?)
Distribution of changes for authority
records
Display in discovery systems
13. State of the Catalog—Hybrid Records
Leave existing records alone?
336, 337, 338 content/media/carrier
Convert AACR2 records coming in?
Keep some vestige of AACR2? (GMDs?)
Change copycat/original cat procedures?
(training times can be good times to
evaluate and upgrade workflow)
14. User Needs/Cataloging Procedures
Make the capitalization decision (RDA
allows transcription from the piece)
RDA is more judgment-focused in terms of
access points; get together as a group and
make some decisions that will best help
your users and ease the process for
catalogers
16. Environment
Even if you’re only training yourself, think
about:
What’s the need?
What’s the current level of expertise?
Constraints—time, location, technology
Level of institutional support
17. Alternatives to Reading the Rules
Multimedia materials
Workflow design
Hands-on activities/assignments
Find my errors
Group work
22. Concrete to Abstract
Shortcut to MARC record directions (comparing
with AACR2 is useful)
Tie them to RDA instructions
Then begin to introduce the abstract concepts
(FRBR, WEMI, elements)
Keep terminology changes as clear as possible
(use parallel terminology for a while if it helps)
23. The Abstract in RDA / FRBR
(WEMI) RDA 1.1.5
The term work refers to a distinct intellectual or artistic creation
(i.e., the intellectual or artistic content).
The term expression refers to the intellectual or artistic realization
of a work in the form of alpha-numeric, musical, or choreographic
notation, sound, image, object, movement, etc., or any combination
of such forms.
The term manifestation refers to the physical embodiment of an
expression of a work.
The term item refers to a single exemplar or instance of a
manifestation.
24. WEMI another way
work Pride and Prejudice (abstract idea)
expression illustrated edition/translation/abridgment
manifestation Penguin Books 2010, with introduction by
Jane Smith
item on the shelf at Axe Library (has been checked out 15
times; cover beginning to show wear)
25. Bram Stoker’s Dracula in FRBR Terms (Video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN0vKCFsXPE
27. Repackaging Information
“Cheat Sheets” (some are out there!; use
or adapt)
Copycat Checklist
Field by Field Instructions
Task-based guides (how to xyz)
28. Document/Date
Document policies and procedures in
changing environments
Date all docs
Always check for dates when searching for
online resources
30. Follow Through
What are students to refer to after training?
In-house documents? LC procedure? The
manager?
How are we reviewing work? (quality control)
Fine tune documentation as needed; Establish
a dissemination procedure.
Close the circle on training—evaluate, evolve
31. Remain nimble
Track external training options, instruction
changes on blogs, listservs, Toolkit, etc.
Revisit, Refresh, Resist complacency
32. Developing Partnerships
Talk to staff at an RDA library (similar to
yours)
Talk to staff at a library similar to yours and
implement together
Feel free to talk to me!
Regional library systems?
Other options?
33. Questions? Ideas?
Mering, M. (Ed.). (2014). The RDA workbook: Learning the basics of
resource description and access. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Libraries
Unlimited. (especially Chapter 4 / Casey Kralik).
Oliver, C. (2010). Introducing RDA: A guide to the basics. Chicago:
American Library Association. (Chapter 7)
Tosaka, Y. & Park, J. (2014). RDA: Training and continuing education
needs in academic libraries. Journal of Education for Library and
Information Science, 55(1), 3-25.
Wacker, M. & Han, M.-J. (2013). RDA planning, implementation and use:
A comparison of two academic libraries. Alexandria, 24(2), 27-48.
Morgan McCune mmccune@pittstate.edu
