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In the Company of My Peers: Implementation of RDA in Canada

2014; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 52; Issue: 6-7 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/01639374.2014.899535

1544-4554

E. A. Cross, Sue Andrews, Trina Grover, Chris Oliver, Pat Riva,

Library Science and Information Systems

AbstractThis article describes the progress made toward implementing Resource Description and Access (RDA) in libraries across Canada, as of Fall 2013. Differences in the training experiences in the English-speaking cataloging communities and French-speaking cataloging communities are discussed. Preliminary results of a survey of implementation in English-Canadian libraries are included as well as a summary of the support provided for French-Canadian libraries. Data analysis includes an examination of the rate of adoption in Canada by region and by sector. Challenges in RDA training delivery in a Canadian context are identified, as well as opportunities for improvement and expansion of RDA training in the future.KEYWORDS: Resource Description and Access (RDA)trainingsurveysRDA implementationcatalogingEnglish-speaking cataloging communityFrench-speaking cataloging communityCanada Notes1 The Joint Steering Committee for Revision of AACR was renamed the Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA in 2007 during RDA's development period.2 For the purposes of this article, the English- and French-speaking cataloging communities in Canada will sometimes be referred to as "English Canada" and "French Canada."3 There are two national library associations in Canada: Association pour l'avancement des sciences et des techniques de la documentation (ASTED) and the Canadian Library Association (CLA).4 Formed in 2006, BAnQ combines the functions of a national library and a national archive serving the province of Québec, as well as including a central public library with a province-wide service mandate.5 "About the U.S. National Libraries Test Plan for RDA," U.S. RDA Test Coordinating Committee, http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/rda/about.html (accessed November 20, 2013).6 "The British Library, Library and Archives Canada, the Library of Congress and the National Library of Australia to work together on implementation of RDA: Resource Description and Access," Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA, last modified 22 October 2007, http://www.rda-jsc.org/rdaimpl.html.7 "Presentations on RDA," Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA, last modified 2 September 2011, http://www.rda-jsc.org/rdapresentations.html.8 "Library of Congress RDA Training Materials," Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/catworkshop/RDA%20training%20materials/LC%20RDA%20Training/LC%20RDA%20course%20table.html (accessed November 20, 2013). (Available through the Catalogers Learning Workshop, a training portal jointly maintained by the Library of Congress and the Program for Cooperative Cataloging.)9 "RDA and PCC," Program for Cooperative Cataloging, http://www.loc.gov/aba/pcc/rda/RDA%20Resources.html (accessed November 20, 2013).10 "Report and Recommendations of the U.S. RDA Test Coordinating Committee," U.S. RDA Test Coordinating Committee, May 9, 2011, revised for public release June 20, 2011, http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/rda/source/rdatesting-finalreport-20june2011.pdf.11 TSIG was an interest group within the Canadian Library Association. Interest Groups were replaced with Networks in 2011 and this group is now known as the Technical Services Network (TSN).12 The group was called the TSIG RDA Training Needs Assessment Working Group. The survey was never formally published but there is a summary written in 2010 by one of the group members: http://rdaincanada.wikispaces.com/Survey (accessed November 20, 2013).13 These early training modules are archived at the Library of Congress' website: http://www.loc.gov/aba/rda/training_modules.html (accessed November 20, 2013).14 "The MARC 21 formats are standards for the representation and communication of bibliographic and related information in machine-readable form." Introductory statement from: The MARC 21 formats: background and principles. Revised November 1996. http://www.loc.gov/marc/96principl.html15 Similar to the Library of Congress' training program and also an approach encouraged by Hitchens and Symons: Alison Hitchens and Ellen Symons, "Preparing Catalogers for RDA Training," Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 47, no. 8 (2009): 691–707.16 In Thomas Brenndorfer, "The FRBR-RDA Puzzle: Putting Together the Pieces" (first presented at the Ontario Library Association Superconference, February 2011; also in Visualizing RDA for the 2011 CLA conference: http://rdaincanada.wikispaces.com/presentations); print summary: Thomas Brenndorfer, "RDA in Ten Easy Steps," last modified January 2011, http://rdaincanada.wikispaces.com/file/detail/RDA+in+10+Easy+Steps.doc. Brenndorfer also created a mapping of the RDA Content Types, Media Types, Carrier Types, and Units of Extent as they align to GMDs, and including related MARC 21 fixed fields. This documentation proved very practical and helpful for training as well as for self-study: Thomas Brenndorfer, "GMD Mapped to Content Type, Media Type, Carrier Type, and Unit of Extent," RDA in Canada wiki, last modified September 5, 2012, http://rdaincanada.wikispaces.com/file/detail/gmd_to_cmc_and_extent_20120905.docx.17 "Serials Cataloging Cooperative Training Program," CONSER (Cooperative Online Serials), last modified April 12, 2011, http://www.loc.gov/acq/conser/scctp/. There is an article describing Canadians' positive response to the SCCTP training model: Elena Romaniuk, "Serials Cataloging Cooperative Training Program (SCCTP): The Canadian Experience," Serials Librarian 41, no. 3/4 (2002): 81–89.18 At the time of writing the modules remain on the free wiki named RDA Canadian Knowledge Exchange (http://rdaincanada.wikispaces.com/Pan-Canadian+modules) (accessed November 20, 2013).19 The responsibility for training catalogers throughout a country is not usually part of the mandate for a national library in the twenty-first century, but it is interesting to note the grassroots desire for such leadership.20 Québec would normally be included in the central region but these are preliminary results and to date no English language libraries in Québec were included in the survey.21 The Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique du Québec, as a post-CEGEP educational institution, was included in the count of universities.22 In Québec, the Colleges of General and Professional Education (CEGEP) offer 2-year pre-university programs and 3-year professional diploma programs at the post-secondary level.23 SDM began implementation in July 2013 for monographs (announcement at SDM website: "SDM et RDA dès juillet 2013," Services documentaires multimedia, July 2013), http://www.sdm.qc.ca/Nouvelles/SDM_RDA_juillet_2013.cfm.24 See note 12.25 Chris Oliver, "Summary of the survey conducted by the TSIG RDA Training Needs Assessment," August 25, 2010, http://rdaincanada.wikispaces.com/Survey, 29.26 Ibid., 30.