Re: [RDA-L] Feedback on RDA

[Wilson, Margaret]

Here's another consideration.  When the first draft of RDA came out I spent a 
considerable amount of time looking at it and writing comments.  I sent in my 
comments but I had misinterpreted the deadline given (it did not apply to 
libraries in general--the deadline for that was given somewhere else).  My 
input was not taken, even though I contacted several people about it. I realize 
I was technically at fault for misinterpreting the two deadlines, but it was so 
disheartening to have my input ignored (as I recall I had prepared 14 pages of 
comments relating to problems in RDA for electronic resources, based on my 7 
years of experience cataloging them) that I dropped out of the process.  It 
seemed like comments from librarians were not being all that sought after ...  

Margaret Wilson
Electronic Resources Cataloger
University of Kansas Libraries


-----Original Message-----
From: Resource Description and Access / Resource Description and Access on 
behalf of Mike Tribby
Sent: Mon 8/30/2010 3:24 PM
To: RDA-L@LISTSERV.LAC-BAC.GC.CA
Subject: Re: [RDA-L] Feedback on RDA
 
> Without taking a position one way or the other on the usability RDA as a 
> ruleset or the software ALA has wrapped it in, I'll just say that It's not 
> fair to say that there's been no feedback from the library community about 
> the content of the RDA instructions.  The content of RDA has been in 
> development since 2002, when the Joint Steering Committee began revising 
> AACR2, and there's been a lengthy review and comment period after every 
> draft.  The drafts were publicly available, and the means of commenting on 
> them were widely publicized in the library community as they were happening.

This is indubitably so. It is also the case that there were frequent and very 
public calls for input and comment, yet many catalogers seem to have been 
unaware of the project at all, or at least as to the specifics of what was 
being undertaken. I wonder if it might not have been advantageous to take the 
lack of widespread feedback as an indication of disinterest, whether in the 
process or in the need for radical change in the first place. Then, of course, 
one could argue with whether what has emerged is radical enough for those who 
seek change, I suppose. I do think it's clear that a groundswell of approval 
has not ensued, but I'm not sure that indicates anything more than more 
disinterest.




Mike Tribby
Senior Cataloger
Quality Books Inc.
The Best of America's Independent Presses

mailto:mike.tri...@quality-books.com