2014 revision of RDA: Resource Description and Access Print now available

CHICAGO — The newest print accumulation of RDA: Resource Description and Access is now available. RDA: Resource Description and Access Print--2014 Revision contains:

• A full accumulation of RDA—the revision contains a full set of all current RDA instructions. It replaces the previous version of RDA Print rather than being an update packet to that version. Numerous changes to the text of RDA have been made since the publication of the 2013 Revision. Cataloging practice described by RDA has not altered dramatically due to these changes, but over 70 percent of the pages in RDA Print were affected by the changes, making an RDA Print update packet impracticable.
• The most current RDA—the revision contains all changes to RDA up to and including the 2014 RDA Update approved by the JSC. There are two types of changes to RDA that routinely take place—“Fast Track” changes and RDA Updates. The JSC periodically issues Fast Track changes to RDA to fix errors and to clarify meaning. These changes do not typically change cataloging practice as described by RDA. An RDA Update is issued annually. In an Update process the JSC considers proposals to enhance and improve RDA as a cataloging standard. An Update can and often does change the cataloging process described in RDA. The 2014 Revision includes all Fast Track changes and RDA Updates since the 2013 publication of RDA and through August 2014.
• New binding—the revision differs from past print versions of RDA in that it is a perfect-bound volume rather than a loose-leaf packet requiring a binder. Fast Track and Update changes to RDA have proven to affect a large number of pages in recent years, making the loose-leaf format with update packets impractical. For the immediate future RDA Print will be offered as a perfect-bound volume.

This full-text print version of RDA offers a snapshot that serves as an offline access point to help solo and part-time catalogers evaluate RDA, as well as to support training and classroom use in any size institution. An index is included. The online RDA Toolkit includes PDFs, but purchasing the print version offers a convenient, time-saving option.

The online RDA Toolkit (subscribe here) provides a one-stop resource for evaluating and implementing RDA and is the most effective way to interact with the new standard. It includes searchable and browseable RDA instructions; two views of RDA content, by table of contents and by element set; user-created and sharable Workflows and Mappings—tools to customize RDA to support your organization’s training, internal processes and local policies; Library of Congress-Program for Cooperative Cataloging Policy Statements (LC-PCC PS) and links to other relevant cataloging resources; and the full text of AACR2 with links to RDA.

Customers in the U.S. and Mexico should purchase RDA print items from ALA Editions. Customers in Canada should purchase RDA print items from Canadian Library Association. Customers outside the U.S., Canada, and Mexico should purchase RDA print items from Facet Publishing.