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RDA implementation at the British Library / Thurstan Young (British Library)
The British Library is in the process of implementing the official RDA Toolkit, with a transition timeline starting in May 2026 and concluding by May 2027. The new toolkit aims to minimize changes to current practices, while training and support materials are being developed to assist cataloguers. Documentation will be accessible through MS Teams, while there are ongoing discussions about alignments with community needs and policy adjustments.
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RDA implementation at the British Library / Thurstan Young (British Library)
- 1. Official RDA Toolkitimplementation: British Library Update Thurstan Young (Collection Metadata Standards Manager, British Library) MDG Conference, September 7th 2023 CILIP Metadata & Discovery Group Conference 2023 #CILIPMDG2023
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- 3. British Library Context Planningfor implementation was disrupted by Covid and by other priorities Implementation designed to have low impact on cataloguers Minimal change from current practice • MARC 21 • Aleph LMS
- 4. Countdown Clock fortransition to new Toolkit Countdown clock will start May 2026 Original toolkit switched off May 2027 (precise dates still to be announced) 4 year window for transition (pdfs of original RDA text retained in instruction archive) RDA News 23rd May 2023
- 5. OCT Nov DecJan Feb Mar Apr May June July Internati onal 17th EURIG RDA Day LC BF100 PCC start BL Review Training Training UK 12th MDG Webinar LDL 3R SG 9th MDG/U KCOR RDA Official Toolkit Release Release Release Provisional timeline (2022) Documentation Training materials
- 6. APR MAY JUNJUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC International EURIG BL UK ALN Meeting CILIP MDG RDA Official Toolkit Release Release Hosting Teams Provisional timeline 2023 Documentation Evaluation Finalise policy statements in Toolkit Evaluator training Revise docs? Revise policy statements?
- 7. JAN FEB MARAPR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP International EURIG? CILIP MDG? BL UK RDA Official Toolkit Release Release Release Release Hosting Sharepoint? Provisional timeline 2024 Implementation? Training docs
- 8. Documentation Audit of BLpolicies and RDA policy documents Development of documentation model for Official RDA Toolkit implementation Evaluation of different platforms Decision: MS Teams and Sharepoint 360 Policy statements Local guidance Training Materials
- 9. Application, interpretation & examples RDA CATALOGUING GUIDANCE WRKEXPR MAN ITEM PER COLL FAM CB ENTITIES Application profile bibliographic record Application profile authority record ELEMENTS Special Guidance Documents Introduction, structure and use of documentation, generic guidance Pre-cataloguing, entity level guidance, links to special documents Elements, MARC coding, recording method, description level Application, interpretation & examples Documentation model
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- 13. Policy statements We have made provisionin our policy model for recording variant policies e.g. for LDLs.
- 14. Application profiles Why? Navigational aid Indexto RDA and supporting documentation Links to RDA instructions and element documents What they are? Bibliographic Records Authority Records Based on Aleph templates and LDL Standard Record RDA element MARC encoding Recording methods Vocabulary encoding schemes
- 15. Application profile (bibrecords) Filter by types Derived from Aleph input templates MARC order default but sortable Linked to RDA guidance Linked to BL guidance documents
- 16. Documentation model principles • Versioning •Application profiles act as indexes to supporting documentation • Supporting documents supplement the RDA Official Toolkit • Standard template • Consistency across workflows • Sufficiency • Worked examples (MARC 21)
- 17. British Library RDASpecial Guidance document
- 18. Access to BritishLibrary documentation Now: work in progress and access is restricted to the project team. Future: we aim to make it available through MS Teams for information or reuse/adaptation to local needs • Dependency: migration of current content to new version of Sharepoint in Autumn 2024. • Alternative access to pdfs could be provided via website.
- 19. Configuration MARC 21 changes •Aleph/PRIMO validation • Indexes • Displays RDA/MARC Mappings • Updating Macros • New shortcuts for cataloguers
- 20. Issues Aggregates Community resources Mode ofissuance/Extension plan Relationship designators Representative Expression
- 21. Aggregates A manifestation thatembodies more than one expression (and an aggregating expression) Three types • Collection e.g anthology • Augmentation, e.g. novel + foreword and illustrations; • Parallel, e.g. An instruction manual in multiple languages Relationships: work/expression manifested BL will follow the new approach and is revising guidance accordingly.
- 22. Relationship Designators Official relationshipdesignators reflect the LRM model • Not user friendly • They also diverge from current practice We will use alternative labels where necessary • Macros to minimise impact on production • Consistency with past practice • Brevity and consistency for display • Record term ($e) and IRI ($4) author becomes author agent photographer becomes contributor agent of still image 100 1# $aOrwell, George,$d1903-1950,$eauthor $4http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/w/P10061. 110 2# $aInternational Labour Office. Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, $eauthor $4http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/w/P10061
- 23. RDA Element LabelOutput (Alt. Label for Agent supertype) IRI Output (Agent sub-type) author agent author http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/w/P10061 editor agent editor http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/e/P20330 degree granting institution degree granting institution http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/w/P10006 issuing agent Issuing body http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/w/P10046 degree supervisor degree supervisor http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/w/P10041 former owner agent former owner http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/i/P40019 artist agent artist http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/w/P10058 contributor agent of still image illustrator http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/m/P30321 contributor agent of still image photographer http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/m/P30321 translator agent translator http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/e/P20037 composer agent of work composer http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/w/P10053 donor agent donor http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/i/P40007 compiler agent compiler http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/w/P10055 printer agent printer http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/m/P30078 cartographer agent of work cartographer http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/w/P10052 hosting institution host institution http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/w/P10007 sponsoring agent of work sponsoring body http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/w/P10067 printmaker agent printmaker http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/m/P30072 contributor agent of text writer of supplementary textual content http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/m/P30328 honouree agent of work honouree http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/w/P10049 honouree agent of item honouree http://rdaregistry.info/Elements/i/P40022 Relationship designators
- 24. Community resources • Balanceinternationalization with community needs • Content mainly from AACR2/RDA Appendices • Refinements • Vocabularies • There is at present no clear agreement on how these pages should be used.
- 25. Mode of Issuance/Extensionplan Original toolkit Mode of issuance: A categorization reflecting whether a manifestation is issued in one or more parts, the way it is updated, and whether its termination is predetermined or not. Official Toolkit Mode of issuance: A categorization that reflects whether a manifestation is issued in one or more units. (MARC 21 335) Extension plan: A categorization that reflects an intention to extend the content of a work. (MARC 21 334) BL Decision: Do not record these elements explicitly at this time
- 26. Representative Expression “A representativeexpression provides the values of specific elements used to identify a work and distinguish it from other works.” • BL policy is not to record representative expressions explicitly at this time. • Attributes that served to distinguish different expressions will be recorded as part of the authorized access point for the expression.* *MARC field 387 Representative Expression Characteristics can also be used to record details of the RepEX in authority or bibliographic records.
- 27. Documentation and support Policystatements published in Official RDA Toolkit Other documentation will be made available through other platforms, e.g. Teams Training We are participating in CILIP/MDG/UKCoR events We aim to offer an RDA training course in 2024
- 28. Training Modular Incremental Team based Light touch LRM/RDAmodels and vocabulary Toolkit navigation BL documentation Cataloguing with 3R Special topics • Recording methods • Diachronic works • Aggregates
- 29. Other sources ofinformation Resource Description & Access (RDA) Metadata Guidance Documentation (loc.gov) RDA Toolkit YouTube channel RSC Presentations Learning Resources | RDA Toolkit
- 30. Picture credits • BlackClock Free Stock Photo - Public Domain Pictures CC0 Public Domain
Editor's Notes
- #3 Context Timeline Documentation Model Policy Statements Issues
- #5 You may recall, that when the 3R project was announced, the RDA Board gave an undertaking to start a countdown clock a year before the official toolkit is withdrawn. They recently announced that the countdown clock will start in May 2026 and the original toolkit with therefore be removed in May 2027. No specific dates have been determined yet. So, we are not at two minutes to midnight yet. Institutions have about 4 years to complete the transition to Official Toolkit. Text of original RDA will still be available as pdf in the instructions archive
- #11 The model has been manifested as the Cataloguing Hub, which is currently implemented on Teams. This is work in progress.
- #12 There are about 200 policy statements in the original toolkit. There are over 4000 options in the current toolkit. We’ve provided policies for most of them. New policy statements continue to be required and existing statements may be revised as a consequence of changes to RDA or to our approach to application.
- #13 Behind the scenes, we maintain a master spreadsheet to manage the policy statements and enable batch load of updates to the Toolkit. We’ve designed this so that it can accommodate alternative policies preferred by other Legal Deposit Libraries.
- #14 These appear in the right rail of the window, in line with the appropriate heading, condition or option. Other policy statements are available from Library of Congress, National Library of New Zealand and Music Library Association.
- #18 This is an example of one of our specialist guidance documents. It’s been used to bring guidance about different kinds of identifiers into one place, rather than having multiple documents, The contents page aids navigation within the document The pre-recording section covers issues to be considered in advance of cataloguing and includes links to other relevant documentation. The recording section provides general guidelines and then specific examples for different types of identifier. The examples have an explanatory label. The documents include guidance specific to BL staff.
- #20 Changes to configuration are mainly a consequence of changes to MARC 21, we implement these routinely as part of the relevant MARC 21 update. This ensures that Aleph and Primo configuration are kept up to date with and new elements can be indexed and displayed as appropriate. MARC Report is still being kept up to date with MARC changes by Richard and Deborah Fritz. We also maintain the RDA/MARC Mappings in collaboration with Library & Archives Canada We make extensive use of macros for efficiency, which I’ll say more about in the next section.
- #21 These are some of the main areas of change from the original Toolkit
- #22 One of the achievements of RDA development has been the clarification of aggregates. This was something that FRBR and LRM didn’t resolve. This is just a brief summary of the main features. This will be covered in one of our training modules but the essential points are as shown on the slide A collection aggregate is a manifestation that embodies two or more expressions of two or more independent works. An augmentation aggregate is a manifestation that embodies two or more expressions of two or more works, where one work is supplemented by one or more other works. The expressions of the augmenting works do not affect the integrity or change the content of the augmented work A parallel aggregate is a manifestation that embodies two or more expressions of a single work. An aggregating expression realizes the plan of an aggregating work to select and arrange expressions that are embodied by an aggregate. An expression aggregated by an aggregating expression is not part of an aggregating expression.
- #23 In official RDA several relationship designators have change their names and become rather unwieldy. Where possible we will stick with the existing designators for consistency. To save extra work for the cataloguers and for consistency or application as well as past practice, we plan to use macros for input. The term will be recorded in $e as is currently the case and the IRI will be recorded as an identifier in $4. Both subfields are repeatable. We have decided to record all instances of $4 at the end of the field.
- #24 Here are some more examples of relationship mappings.
- #25 This is a new area of the Toolkit, that was introduced as a consequence of internationalization. Many of the provisions in original RDA, particularly around specialised vocabularies, construction of access points and representation of names were applicable only in an Anglo-American context. These were originally parked in the appendices to RDA and have now been moved to community resources. There have been some discussions on whether/how they should be developed or maintained, but as yet there is no consensus. Library of Congress has published its metadata guidance documents independently of the Toolkit, we have developed ours outside the Toolkit as well.
- #26 Extension plan is a new element in RDA. It was previously conflated with Mode of Issuance The separation of extension plan from mode of issuance aids understanding of the distinctions between different types of diachronic work. The separation of these concepts and the detailed modelling provide a valuable vocabulary for training, however we have decided not to introduce the new elements at this time because of the additional work required to record the attributes. We have been investigating approaches by which we can identify these attributes automatically in legacy data and develop tools for automatic assignment. This show some promise, particularly for serials and static works, but integrating resources and multiparts are always likely to exhibit some ambiguity.
- #27 Representative expression is an attribute of Work. It can be used to record certain prescribed attributes, which can help to identify a work or distinguish it from other works. While we see some value in this, we need to give more consideration to how it can be effectively and efficiently used in our workflows. It isn’t an active discussion at present.