RDA Rules Toolkit & LC-PCC PS Revision

RDA Toolkit Update, April 14, 2015 

A new release of the RDA Toolkit is published on Tuesday, April 14. This message will cover several points you should be aware of related to the release. 

TOPIC 1: Changes in RDA Content

TOPIC 2: Change in Content in LC-PCC PSs

TOPIC 3: Functional Changes in the RDA Toolkit

TOPIC 1: Changes in RDA Content

There are two types of changes in the RDA content for this update: 1) the fourth annual major update to RDA based on the decisions made by the Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA (JSC) at their November 2014 meeting; and 2) “Fast Track” changes that are relatively minor and typical of a release update.

Revisions from JSC actions:

The changes to individual instructions are identifiable by the “revision history” icon in the RDA Toolkit (a dark blue rectangular icon with the date "2015/04").  A complete listing of all changes due to the proposal process will appear in the left-side table of contents pane on the RDA tab in the Toolkit, at the bottom under “RDA Update History”—you will see an additional entry there for the “2015 April Update.” 

The attached document (summary rda changes 2015.pdf) lists the main changes to RDA due to the JSC update.  Many of the changes in this update package are due to re-numbering of instructions and references (without a change in actual content) and are not included in the attached listing. 

To help you focus on the more important changes to the instructions, some parts of the attached summary have been highlighted in yellow to draw your attention.  Some noteworthy changes:

           

Statement of Responsibility (2.4, etc. and 2.17.3.5):  Instructions that distinguished between “statements of responsibility” (2.4) and statements indicating a “performer, narrator, and/or presenter” (7.23) or “artistic and/or technical credit” (7.24) have been removed.  While information formerly recorded in 7.23 and 7.24 are now considered statements of responsibility, the cataloger can judge whether that information is best transcribed as part of the statement of responsibility (e.g., MARC 245$c), or recorded as notes (e.g., MARC 508, 511). The core requirement to transcribe the first or most important statement of responsibility should be fulfilled before recording others in a note.

Noun Phrases Occurring with a Statement of Responsibility (2.4.1.8): The instruction to always treat a noun phrase occurring with a statement of responsibility as part of the statement of responsibility has been replaced with an instruction to treat a noun phrase occurring with a statement of responsibility as part of the statement of responsibility if 1) the sequence, layout, or typography indicates the phrase is intended to be part of the statement of responsibility and 2) the noun phrase is indicative of the role of the person named in the statement of responsibility.  Note this is not a return to the AACR2 practice, which included instructions about the role of the person, but said nothing about typography, layout, etc. In cases of doubt, treat the noun phrase as part of the statement of responsibility.

Distribution Statement (2.9), Manufacture Statement (2.10), and Copyright Date (2.11):  The “core if” requirements for the statements and sub-elements of “distribution statement,” “manufacture statement,” and “copyright date” have been eliminated. These elements may be recorded according to cataloger judgment.

Preferred Title for the Work (6.2.2, etc.):  There have been some significant structural changes to the layout and completion of RDA instructions for preferred titles for works, although few represent changes significant changes in LC practice.  There are significant changes in two areas:  choreographic works and books of the Bible known as the Protestant Apocrypha.  Although choreographic works were not directly covered in RDA, examples reflective of the former LCRI practice had been included; choreographic works are now treated as other works in RDA, and examples have been changed accordingly.  Those who deal with choreographic works (or, more likely, works about choreographic works) should examine the revised “Choreographic Works” section of the LC-PCC PS for 6.27.1.9.  The guidelines provide information on creating new authority records, guidance on dealing with existing authority records, and a link to the new subject practices that will be part of the Subject Headings Manual.  For the books of the Protestant Apocrypha, individual books are now to be named directly as a sub-division of the Bible (e.g. Bible. Baruch), the same as individual books of the Old and New Testaments.

Authorized Access Points Representing a Person (9.19.1, etc.): Several instructions in 9.19.1 have been revised to provide the cataloger greater flexibility in choosing an appropriate addition to break a conflict if the additions from 9.19.1.2 and 9.19.1.3 are not available or do not provide adequate distinction.  See the relevant LC-PCC PSs for the “optional addition” of these elements when there is no conflict.  

Fast Track changes

An attached PDF file identifies the "Fast Track" changes to RDA that will be included in this release (6JSC-Sec-15.pdf); Fast Track changes are not added to the RDA Update History.  While you are encouraged to peruse the changes, there are no significant changes.

TOPIC 2: Change in Content in LC-PCC PSs

A summary of LC-PCC PS updates incorporated in this release is attached (LCPCCPS_changes_2015_April.pdf).  Many of the changes to the LC-PCC PSs are related to RDA changes (re-numbering, new references, etc.).  Several PSs are being deleted because the content has been incorporated into RDA itself or the RDA update makes the PS obsolete.  As noted above, the LC-PCC PS for 6.27.1.9 should be reviewed by those who deal with choreographic works, and the PSs for 9.19.1.5, Option-9.19.1.8, Option should be reviewed by those who deal with personal name authority records.

The PSs on manuscripts and works of art have been revised and relocated to 6.2.2.6 because of RDA changes.

TOPIC 3: Functional Changes in the RDA Toolkit

There are two functional changes in the RDA Toolkit that you should be aware of:

a) For reasons associated with the international use of the RDA Toolkit, the names of the Books and Groups of Books of the Bible have been removed from the text of the instructions in Chapter 6, and are now available on the contents pane on the “Tools” tab (see “Books of the Bible”).  Other than the change for individual books of the Apocrypha listed above in Topic 1, there is no change in LC-PCC practice because we use the names of the books and groups of books that were previously listed in RDA as well as the title "Bible. Apocrypha" for that group of books.

b) The RDA index has been removed.  Although formerly made available in the online Toolkit, the index was produced only as a byproduct of the printed RDA; this has been discontinued as it was burdensome to maintain.  The online search features provide a reasonable replacement for the index; see the “Search Tips” in the RDA Toolkit on the “Help” screen for more information on searching.

The next planned release of the RDA Toolkit will be in August 2015.

The documents attached to this email may also be found on the Web:

LC Summary of 2015 RDA Updates: http://www.loc.gov/aba/rda/added_docs.html   

Fast Track entries included in the April 2015 update of the RDA Toolkit: http://www.rda-jsc.org/docs/6JSC-Sec-15.pdf

Changes in LC-PCC Policy Statements in the April 2015 release of the RDA Toolkit: http://www.loc.gov/aba/rda/lcps_access.html

[Source : Library of Congresss, Policy and Standards Division]