Metadata Update #7 - RDA clarity

I finally decided to stop getting the Auto-Cat Listserv for the time being and went to the digest version of the OCLC listserv.  Wow!  This is so much better.  I got the OCLC digest this morning and all of the complaining and carrying on is essentially filtered out.  What I would like to pass along is a little bit of clarity about Day One for RDA from OCLC.  This is a direct quote from the head of the Metadta Services Department and chair of the Program for Cooperative Cataloguing (PCC), Linda Barnhard bout what Day One "means":

This means that for authority records:

·Saturday, March 30, 2013 is the last day that new AACR2 authority
records will be permitted in the LC/NACO Authority File.

·Beginning Sunday, March 31, 2013, all new authority records entering
the LC/NACO Authority File must be coded RDA.

This means that for bibliographic records:

·Beginning Sunday, March 31, 2013, all access points on bibliographic
records coded "pcc" must be RDA, even if the bibliographic description
follows AACR2.

·There is no set date for PCC institutions to begin contributing RDA
bibliographic records.  PCC continues to believe that institutions can
set their own timetable for this transition.

More information on NACO RDA training and record review will be coming
soon on PCCLIST.  As soon as catalogers are trained on NACO RDA
authority work, they may begin contributing those records to the LC/NACO
Authority File, even before March 31, 2013.  NACO training will be
general training, and will focus on the differences between AACR2 and
RDA heading and reference construction, and on the new fields that can
be added to authority records.  It will not cover specialized areas,
such as music, law, series, and complicated uniform titles such as the
Bible, Koran, etc.  Some NACO Funnel Coordinators may wish to plan
specialized training sessions in these areas to assure satisfactory
understanding and record review prior to the March 31, 2013
implementation date.

Information from the Acceptable Headings Implementation Task Groupwill
alsocontinue to be posted on PCCLIST; this group is overseeing the
changes to the authority file in  preparation for RDA, including the
marking of all headings that are currently not acceptable under RDA. 
Their website
<http://files.library.northwestern.edu/public/pccahitg/index.html>
provides a wealth of information.  The PCC Day One FAQ
<http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/FAQ_PCC%20Day%20One%20for%20RDA%20Authority%20Records.doc>
has been updated to reflect this new information.

Yay Linda!  There is so much confusion about this on the listservs.  It is basically what I remembered hearing at ALA but as soon as the discussions started up, I started to doubt myself.

So, what does this mean?  I think that it means two things.  The first is that any library that works with an authority vendor needs to talk to that vendor and see what their plans are.  The second is that libraries need to focus on learning RDA as it applies to the access points.  Yes, we need to learn all of the background and theory.  We need to understand RDA as a whole.  But, I think that it also means that in our practice, we can direct our energies towards learning how to apply RDA to our access points first.  Details of description can come later.  At, yes, it is ok to mix RDA and AACR2 coding in records as long as the access points are RDA.  This makes sense.

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