Our RDA Planning Guide and revised Authority Control Planning Guide is
now available for download on our website:
http://ac.bslw.com/mars/guide
We have also revamped the wiki pages:
http://ac.bslw.com/community/wiki/index.php5/Profile_Guide
The RDA Guide clocks in at under 80 pages. The revised Authority Control
Guide is now a svelte 180 pages.
We anticipate needing to make adjustments to the RDA Guide as the weeks
roll by, based on a variety of feedback we receive.
For instance, we are considering expanding our RDA Authority Control
options again, based on recent comments. Currently, we have two separate
RDA authority databases that we maintain:
1. RDA-1: contains authorities where the original 1XX has been
moved to 4XX, and the (rda) 7XX has been moved to 1XX. This facilitates
options for clients interested in flipping to the RDA version of the
heading
2. RDA-2: contains pure RDA authorities, that have been newly
created (040 $e rda); hence, no 7XX
A third option we are working to implement would be to change the (rda)
7XX to 4XX. This would allow clients to match against the RDA heading,
yet still flip the heading to the AACR2 version (1XX) instead. There are
still a few more wrinkles we are trying to iron out with this option.
Of course, in a year's time, once LC starts copying/moving their AACR2
authorities to RDA equivalents (expanding abbreviations, etc), we might
be back to one RDA database to maintain. Or, we could just as easily be
up to 4. So we are also anxiously invested in the directions RDA is
heading.
In the next update, we will outline some of the changes we are planning
to implement for generating the CMC options (33X) in records. The online
profiles for both "regular" authority control and RDA-specific options
should also be ready by the end of next week.
Until then, if you are attending ALA in Dallas, please stop by our booth
(#1229) to discuss RDA. Also, if you can make it, we are having our
dessert reception across the street from the Dallas Convention Center,
held at the Omni (5th floor), from 7:30pm to 9:30pm (Friday).
Thanks!
Nate Cothran - nate(a)bslw.com
<mailto:nate@bslw.com?subject=Automation%20Services%20-%20Query>
Product Manager, Automation
Backstage Library Works
533 E 1860 S, Provo UT 84606
(p) 801.342.5697 - (f) 801.356.8220
www.ac.bslw.com/community/blog <http://ac.bslw.com/community/blog/>
Greetings Everyone,
I just sent out a notice about our new RDA Services, but it has come to
my attention that certain email clients (e.g., Thunderbird) may have
unfortunately blacked out the main body of my text due to the attachment
I had included previously. If this happened, I apologize for the
confusion, and wanted to send this out one more time.
Back in May 2009, Backstage was chosen as one of three vendors to
participate in the national RDA testing phase. Born from that
experience, as well as direct feedback from our clients, we focused our
efforts on providing authority control options for your RDA bib records.
We started with an easy option and assigned it as the default:
1. Treat all incoming bibs, whether encoded as AACR2, RDA, or
something else as AACR2
This option was a starting point and allowed us to stretch our legs, and
discover more solutions for our clients:
2. Ignore all incoming RDA bibs, separating them out for later
runs (if desired)
3. Match AACR2 & RDA bib headings against their respective
databases first; unmatched headings have the option to be searched
against the other respective database next
4. Match AACR2 & RDA bib headings against AACR2 (but include 700
x4 as a matching point), flipping all potential matches to respective
authority's 1XX heading; unmatched headings can then be searched against
the RDA authority database only
These options, in an early form, were made available in late October
2010, with an official announcement from us in January 2011. Since that
time, there have been a few modifications made, especially in regards to
simplifying the language used to describe each option. Also, we sought
to make option #3 match the PCC standard for RDA authority control as
closely as possible. Still, we continue to have minor variations on each
of these for certain customers and fully anticipate needing to make
additional adjustments in the months ahead.
For the last several months, our team has been hard at work putting
together options to process & validate your AACR2 or RDA bib records
using new RDA standards. We are trying to tackle this from multiple
angles:
1. Full RDA cataloging, utilizing the expertise of our experienced
cataloging staff
2. Convert entire collection of (pre)AACR2 bib records to RDA
formatting
3. Upgrade ongoing (pre)AACR2 bib records to RDA formatting
4. Upgrade / Validate existing RDA records as part of current
cataloging efforts
5. Provide options for hybridizing your records (e.g., both AACR2
& RDA elements co-existing within same record)
6. Applying the same type of customized options you are used to
with our Authority Control service
7. Providing opportunities to test the waters before taking the
plunge
Over the next several weeks & months, we plan to roll out this service
and make all parts of it available for your perusal. We are still making
changes based on feedback from a beta-test partner, as well as our own
quality assurance checks.
By the end of January, we will have available a new online profile
dedicated to RDA processing options. Our customers will be able to
choose to view either the existing Authority Control profile (which we
have also revamped) or the new RDA profile and make changes as
necessary. In addition, we have created an accompanying 70-page profile
guide (pdf, printed, wiki) to assist you with your RDA processing
options.
Please stop by our booth (#1229) to ask us about our RDA Services, and
address any questions you may have.
More information will be forthcoming, so please stay tuned!
Nate Cothran - nate(a)bslw.com
<mailto:nate@bslw.com?subject=Automation%20Services%20-%20Query>
Product Manager, Automation
Backstage Library Works
533 E 1860 S, Provo UT 84606
(p) 801.342.5697 - (f) 801.356.8220
www.ac.bslw.com/community/blog <http://ac.bslw.com/community/blog/>
Greetings Everyone,
Back in May 2009, Backstage was chosen as one of three vendors to
participate in the national RDA testing phase. Born from that
experience, as well as direct feedback from our clients, we focused our
efforts on providing authority control options for your RDA bib records.
We started with an easy option and assigned it as the default:
1. Treat all incoming bibs, whether encoded as AACR2, RDA, or
something else as AACR2
This option was a starting point and allowed us to stretch our legs, and
discover more solutions for our clients:
2. Ignore all incoming RDA bibs, separating them out for later
runs (if desired)
3. Match AACR2 & RDA bib headings against their respective
databases first; unmatched headings have the option to be searched
against the other respective database next
4. Match AACR2 & RDA bib headings against AACR2 (but include 700
x4 as a matching point), flipping all potential matches to respective
authority's 1XX heading; unmatched headings can then be searched against
the RDA authority database only
These options, in an early form, were made available in late October
2010, with an official announcement from us in January 2011. Since that
time, there have been a few modifications made, especially in regards to
simplifying the language used to describe each option. Also, we sought
to make option #3 match the PCC standard for RDA authority control as
closely as possible. Still, we continue to have minor variations on each
of these for certain customers and fully anticipate needing to make
additional adjustments in the months ahead.
For the last several months, our team has been hard at work putting
together options to process & validate your AACR2 or RDA bib records
using new RDA standards. We are trying to tackle this from multiple
angles:
1. Full RDA cataloging, utilizing the expertise of our experienced
cataloging staff
2. Convert entire collection of (pre)AACR2 bib records to RDA
formatting
3. Upgrade ongoing (pre)AACR2 bib records to RDA formatting
4. Upgrade / Validate existing RDA records as part of current
cataloging efforts
5. Provide options for hybridizing your records (e.g., both AACR2
& RDA elements co-existing within same record)
6. Applying the same type of customized options you are used to
with our Authority Control service
7. Providing opportunities to test the waters before taking the
plunge
Over the next several weeks & months, we plan to roll out this service
and make all parts of it available for your perusal. We are still making
changes based on feedback from a beta-test partner, as well as our own
quality assurance checks.
By the end of January, we will have available a new online profile
dedicated to RDA processing options. Our customers will be able to
choose to view either the existing Authority Control profile (which we
have also revamped) or the new RDA profile and make changes as
necessary. In addition, we have created an accompanying 70-page profile
guide (pdf, printed, wiki) to assist you with your RDA processing
options.
Backstage is also celebrating its 25th Anniversary of serving libraries
and librarians. In honor of that, we invite you to our dessert reception
held in Dallas, ALA MidWinter a week from today (please see attached).
More information will be forthcoming, so please stay tuned!
Nate Cothran - nate(a)bslw.com
<mailto:nate@bslw.com?subject=Automation%20Services%20-%20Query>
Product Manager, Automation
Backstage Library Works
533 E 1860 S, Provo UT 84606
(p) 801.342.5697 - (f) 801.356.8220
www.ac.bslw.com/community/blog <http://ac.bslw.com/community/blog/>
