RDA: What it is --

A Content Standard

• Not a display standard (as is AACR2)

• But it does contain …
• Appendix D for ISBD
• Appendix E for AACR2 style for access points

• Not an encoding standard

• ‘Schema-neutral’
• Can use:
• MARC 21
• Dublin Core
• etc.

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 RDA: What it is --
More International

• Focus on local user needs

• Choice of agency preparing the description
• Language of additions to access points
• Language of supplied data
• Script and transliteration
• Calendar
• Numeric system

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 RDA: What it is –
Wider Scope of Resources

• What’s being acquired in libraries

• More elements for
• non-printed text resources
• non-text resources
• unpublished resources
• Defers to specialist manuals of some
collaborative communities

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 RDA: What it is --
Authority Data

• Based on attributes and relationships in FRAD

• Authorized/variant access points and elements
will for now continue to be documented in
authority records

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 RDA: What it is --
Controlled Vocabularies

• Only a few are closed lists

• Content type
• Media type
• Carrier type
• Mode of issuance
• Most are open lists
• Cataloger can supply term if not in list
• Vocabularies registered on the Web
(http://metadataregistry.org/rdabrowse.htm)