by Lizzy Baus
Quick Summary
The RDA Steering Committee (RSC) has released their usual February update to the RDA rules. Many of the changes this time around are related to the decision made in November 2016 to adopt the new IFLA Library Reference Model (LRM) as a conceptual model. This replaces the Functional Requirements suite of standards (FRBR, FRAD, FRSAD, etc.) that are now superseded by the LRM. Though most of the changes required to adapt to this new standard will take effect in the April 2018 release of RDA, it is clear that the RSC is laying the groundwork now.
The RDA Steering Committee (RSC) has released their usual February update to the RDA rules. Many of the changes this time around are related to the decision made in November 2016 to adopt the new IFLA Library Reference Model (LRM) as a conceptual model. This replaces the Functional Requirements suite of standards (FRBR, FRAD, FRSAD, etc.) that are now superseded by the LRM. Though most of the changes required to adapt to this new standard will take effect in the April 2018 release of RDA, it is clear that the RSC is laying the groundwork now. For instance, the scattered and discrete "person, family, or corporate body" (wherever it appears) has been consolidated to "agent" to reflect the different organization. This also applies where the terms appear in the plural form. The more general term "resource," on the other hand, has in many places been changed to the more specific "work," "expression," "manifestation," or "item," whichever applies in the context.
You can read more about the changes that have happened and are yet to come on the RSC website.
Aside from the changes related to the adoption of the LRM, the RSC has also implemented Fast Track changes as usual. This time, these include various changes in the definitions of some RDA relationship designators, including "addenda/addenda to" and "appendix/appendix to." Several instructions throughout the text of RDA have been reworded to replace "and/or" with simply "or," though it is not entirely clear whether this always means inclusive "or" (A or B or both) or exclusive "or" (A or B but not both).
In the realm of added functionality, the Resources tab of the toolkit now has a tab for policy statements from the Library and Archives Canada and Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (LAC/BAC-BAnQ). In the instructions themselves, links to these policy statements appear in a dark purple box marked with the abbreviation LAC/BAC-BAnQ.
There are various other changes to wording, definitions, and policy statements throughout RDA. You can find more information and links to the official documentation from the RDA Development blog.
In addition to the changes to content and functionality, the RDA Toolkit has also announced a redesign of their website, effective February 28. You can read more about the new site on the RDA Toolkit blog.
