Hi All, Apologies for cross-posting. This is a long-ish email and will also be posted to the DescribeNZ wiki http://nznuc-cataloguing.pbworks.com/RDA-Training-at-the-National-Library RDA is due for publication within the next week or two and the cataloguers at the National Library have been looking at how to make use of the time between the initial publication of RDA and the international implementation decisions that are expected following the conclusion of the US national libraries testing in March 2011. The following sets out our current plan: 1. Open access to the RDA Toolkit. We have signed up for institutional access. At this stage we've received a confirmation of the registration but we don't have any logins yet. The signup information is at: www.rdatoolkit.org 2. Training plan. We are planning a phased introduction to the RDA toolkit, beginning with our team leaders and senior cataloguers who will then provide support for other cataloguers as they begin engaging with the toolkit and new rules. We will start by taking AACR2R records that we have already created and converting them to RDA records using a Word template. We will not be adding RDA records to our Voyager databases at this stage. When we have confirmed our RDA template we will make it available on the DescribeNZ wiki. 3. Introductory activities We have identified three activities before we start creating records: · learning to use the RDA toolkit · a general introduction to RDA - we are likely to make use of presentations from the JSC site for this http://www.rda-jsc.org/rdapresentations.html as well as some of the material on the DescribeNZ wiki · examining the Library of Congress choices for the RDA test http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/RDAtest/rdachoices.html and the Library of Congress Policy Statements (the replacement for the Library of Congress Rule Interpretations) http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/RDAtest/rda_lcps.html 4. Practice records.We will use print monographs and monographs-in-series as our initial formats, adding in other record types and formats as we become more confident. 5. RDA choices and alternatives. During this period we will also be assessing the RDA optional rules and the new Library of Congress Policy Statements (LCPSs) for their applicability to us. Following this we will develop a policy document for National Library cataloguing that will be available to all New Zealand libraries. Please contact me if you have any queries. Chris Todd Chris (Christine) Todd Team Leader, Cataloguing Team 1, Content Services, National Library of New Zealand. Telephone: (04) 474 3093 Fax: (04) 474 3161 Email: chris.todd@natlib.govt.nz