Arabic Library Standards

RDA: Resource Description and Access users experienced the long-awaited elevation of the beta RDA Toolkit to official status on Tuesday, December 15, 2020.  The new Toolkit – a subscription-based online platform that provides catalogers across the world with data elements, guidelines, and instructions for creating metadata – had been undergoing restructure and redesign through the “3R Project” aimed at bringing the RDA standard into alignment with the IFLA (The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) Library Reference Model and the RDA Toolkit into compliance with current accessibility standards. RDA and RDA Toolkit are now optimized for use in a linked data environment and for international exchange of bibliographic data.

Christine Oliver – Head of Metadata and Processing at the University of Ottawa and Chair of the RDA Board – remarked Tuesday that “this milestone is the culmination of three years of intense work by many experts around the world.  The new RDA Toolkit is ready, with new features and content for improved metadata creation. The redesign brings many important advancements, and positions cataloguing communities well for the future while also continuing to value past practices.”  She advised RDA users to consider their own pace for transitioning to the new version: “During the transition period, subscribers can access both the new RDA Toolkit and the original one. You and your cataloging community decide how soon to move to the new RDA Toolkit.”

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