RDA development: what a long, strange trip it's been

I'm getting tired of waiting for the full draft of RDA, so I'm going to ramble...

If you count the first draft of AACR3 (and I do) the arrival of the full RDA draft is four years in the making. The first draft of AACR3 (the original title of the new cataloging code) was issued in December 2004.

I recently commented to an AUTOCAT list friend that I'm a little more positive about RDA than some: I see it as a work in progress--Imperfect out of the gate, but redeemable. I haven't hesitated to be critical of RDA development on this blog. (You can snoop around the blog for old posts on RDA, if you like.) But, right now doing metadata work, I feel like I'm in no man's land without a code. I'm sure for some metadata librarians AACR2 works okay, but metadata work is idiosyncratic and for our metadata workflow, I don't use AACR2 much, except as a foundation.

I think AACR2 is a great code, but it doesn't work for the XML data structures I'm working with now. At least parts of it don't work. For example, ISBD punctuation is superfluous and unnecessary for data presentation.

I need a new code. And I'm hoping that RDA will develop into the kind of code we all need for working with digital collections (and print collections also).

I know some of you think RDA is a turkey, but I'm still hopeful.

Comments

[Shawne Miksa]

Just downloaded Oct 2008 versions of Scope, Prospectus, mappings, etc. I'm not sure when those went up, but just noticed them.

[Christine Schwartz]

Thanks, Shawne. I didn't realize these new versions went up. I see the RDA Element Analysis is posted also. The new Prospectus looks very interesting!

[Irvin Flack]

The RDA Element Analysis looks the same to me: still confusing and with lots of question marks and outstanding issues.

[John Lamberth]

Just wanted to say a couple of things, not directly related to the post...

1) I graduated with my MLS in August and have found very little of interest in the way of jobs. Granted, I'm hoping for a cataloging position in an Academic library, but I'm not seeing much in the way of any full-time positions in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I even saw a Librarian II position that was part-time. Gotta say, that doesn't really make me feel hopeful.
At any rate, I'm going to make sure I stay current on this blog and try and get as familiar with RDA as I can. Since nobody wants to hire me to give me the experience that they all say they want before they hire you, maybe I can just become knowledgeable at RDA and make myself valuable down the road.

2) Hi Dr. Miksa!

[Christine Schwartz]

Hi John,

Here in the northeast, I know two recent MLS graduates who have worked for a library temp agency called Pro Libra. This seems like a good route to take for gaining experience.

Getting that first job is the hardest part: libraries are always looking for experience. I do know recent graduates who've been hired without a lot of experience though. It can happen!

Good luck in your search!