91´«Ã½

CHICAGO -- Starting this month, the Library of Congress’s Cataloger’s Desktop is not the only third-party product through which you can access RDA if you’re an RDA Toolkit subscriber; OCLC Connexion users who subscribe can now link from a displayed bibliographic or authority record to the RDA Toolkit. Going forward, access for subscribers from more third-party products is planned to help RDA users seamlessly see any RDA content that exists associated with the specific MARC field they’re currently in.

To help users keep up with RDA Toolkit enhancements and changes like these, and to connect with the international RDA community, the RDA co-publishers have launched a . The plan is for the co-Publishers, the RDA Toolkit staff and experts in the field to publish posts that answer users’ questions about the Toolkit; report on RDA testing, implementation and JSC updating processes and timelines; describe potential RDA Toolkit enhancements and fixes and seek community feedback before beginning software development; report on the RDA Toolkit enhancements and fixes under development with schedules and timelines; act as a clearinghouse for information about RDA and RDA-related training opportunities, with links to registration information, webinars, Web videos and slides as appropriate; and share tips and best practices from catalogers on using RDA and the RDA Toolkit.

include information about modifications to how search results are sorted and displayed, with additional behind-the-scenes MARC-related metadata to allow future MARC-related linking functionality, and about the free book-style Table of Contents and fully searchable Index added to the RDA Toolkit that link to printable PDFs for offline use and include links to the full text of RDA. Summaries of conversations with vendors about their plans and timelines for integrating RDA will be posted in the coming months.

In addition to reading the , you can keep up with RDA and the RDA Toolkit by using the , and by reviewing the free webinar and presentation archive including and .

RDA: Resource Description and Access is the new, unified cataloging standard—an evolution of the cataloging principles from AACR2, with rules carried over or adapted to the RDA model—designed for the digital world and an expanding universe of metadata users.

The content of RDA is developed in a collaborative process led by the Joint Steering Committee (JSC). The project is overseen by the Committee of Principals representing 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½), Canadian Library Association, CILIP: Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, Library of Congress, Library and Archives Canada, British Library, and National Library of Australia. The RDA Toolkit is published by 91´«Ã½, Canadian Library Association, and CILIP (through its publishing imprint Facet Publishing).