March 3, 2010 Resource Description and Access (RDA) Accessible through Cataloger’s Desktop

Press Contact: Donna Urschel (202) 707-1639
Public Contact: Peter Seligman (202) 707-1314

The Library of Congress and the co-publishers of Resource Description and Access (RDA) have announced that subscribers to Cataloger’s Desktop will be able to access the new RDA Toolkit, a separate subscription service rolling out in June 2010, via Cataloger’s Desktop.

Cataloger’s Desktop is the Library of Congress’ integrated, online documentation system for cataloging and metadata resources. The RDA Toolkit is a browser-based online collection of cataloging-related documents and resources, including RDA, which is a cataloging code designed for the digital environment. Used together, Cataloger’s Desktop and RDA will represent the current state of the art in cataloging and metadata documentation.

Once users subscribe to both Desktop and RDA Toolkit, they will also be able to access RDA through Desktop’s search and discovery interface. Hits (including hits in context) will display in Desktop’s search-results pane. When subscribers click on a hit in RDA, they will be taken immediately to the content in the RDA Toolkit. In addition:

  • • Once an RDA link is followed, Desktop users can access the full functionality of the RDA Toolkit, including workflows;
  • • Linking from RDA to LC Policy Statements (the successor to the LC Rule Interpretations) will be provided;
  • • The developers are working to make it feasible for subscribers to enter their RDA Toolkit login information in Desktop preferences, in order to access both products seamlessly with a single login.

The RDA Toolkit is published by the co-publishers for RDA, which includes the American Library Association, the Canadian Library Association and Facet Publishing, the publishing arm of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP).

The content of RDA has been developed in a collaborative process led by the Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA. The RDA project is overseen by the Committee of Principals representing the American Library Association, the Canadian Library Association, CILIP, the Library of Congress, Library and Archives Canada, the British Library and the National Library of Australia.

For more information about RDA and the RDA Toolkit, visit www.rdaonline.org.

The Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and the largest library in the world, holds nearly 145 million items in various languages, disciplines and formats. The Library serves the U.S. Congress and the nation both on-site in its reading rooms on Capitol Hill and through its award-winning website at www.loc.gov.

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PR 10-043
2010-03-04
ISSN 0731-3527