ALA Publishing, acting on behalf of the Co-Publishers of RDA: Resource Description and Access and under the direction of the Committee of Principals, is pleased to announce the selection of Chris Oliver as Copy Editor for improving the readability of RDA.

In its June 2011 report, the U.S. RDA Test Coordinating Committee recommended that RDA be reviewed for clarity. As copy editor, Ms. Oliver is charged with improving the readability of RDA instructions without altering the meaning or intent of the instructions (read the full charge). This work is already underway. Ms. Oliver will first submit reworded chapter 9, followed by chapters 10, 11, 6, and 17. The work on these five chapters will be completed and put forward for approval by the Joint Steering Committee and review by the U.S. RDA Test Committee by June 2012. It is anticipated that the experience and knowledge gained from work on the initial chapter will inform the subsequent work and schedule. Details about how and when these chapters will be made available online (via RDA Toolkit) and in print will be shared in January 2012.

Ms. Oliver is the author of Introducing RDA: a Guide to the Basics (2010), an excellent entry point into the history and structure of RDA for all with an interest in cataloging. Ms. Oliver is a librarian at the McGill University Library where she has worked since 1989. She has served as a cataloguing librarian and cataloguing manager and is currently the Coordinator of Cataloguing and Authorities. She also received her M.A. and M.L.I.S. degrees from McGill University. Ms. Oliver is the Chair of the Canadian Committee on Cataloguing and has been a member of the Committee since 1997. This has given her the opportunity to be involved with the evolution of RDA from its beginning. She served as a member of the Joint Steering Committee’s Format Variation Working Group and as Chair of the RDA Outreach Group. She has given presentations on RDA throughout the world, in particular Canada and the United States.