Transcription in Resource Description & Access (RDA) Cataloging
“Take What You See and Accept What You Get” This is the overriding principle of RDA concerning the transcription of data. It is consistent with the ICP “Principle of Representation” to represent the resource the way it represents itself. This is a fairly significant change from AACR2, which includes extensive rules for abbreviations, capitalization, punctuation, numerals, symbols, etc., and in some cases directs the cataloger to ‘correct’ data which is known to be wrong (e.g., typos). With RDA we generally do not alter what is on the resource when transcribing information for certain elements. This is not only to follow the principle of representation, but also for a more practical reason: to encourage re-use of found data you can copy and paste or scan or download into your description of the resource. Let’s see what this principle means for you as an LC cataloger, regarding capitalization, punctuation, and spacing. It is critical that you understand LCPS 1.7.1 ; the...