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A new release of the beta RDA Toolkit was published on December 15th. The release marks the end of the RDA Toolkit Restructure and Redesign Project, commonly known as the 3R Project. With this release the beta Toolkit site that debuted in 2018 becomes the official RDA Toolkit, available at access.rdatoolkit.org. The original RDA Toolkit will remain available to all subscribers at original.rdatoolkit.org. The original site can also be accessed from the new Toolkit through the Resources tab and from the top banner menu bar.

RDA Toolkit has always offered an alignment between RDA elements and the MARC 21 Authority and Bibliographic formats. This is not, strictly speaking, a linked data or semantic map because there is no formal representation of MARC 21 in Resource Description Framework (RDF). Instead, an alignment matches an RDA element to a string that represents the corresponding MARC 21 tag, indicators, and subfield. The alignments are one-to-many: a single RDA element aligns with multiple combinations of tag, indicators, and subfield. The alignments are complex.

When the RDA Toolkit beta site debut in June 2018, what had been relationship designators in the original toolkit became relationship elements. The Relationship Matrix was included in the beta site as a replacement for the appendices I-L that allows users to do a quick look-up of relationship elements. Unfortunately from the debut of the Relationship Matrix the feature has suffered from inaccuracies in its content and difficulties processing updates to the content.

We have added a new series of videos on the RDA Toolkit YouTube channel called RDA Concepts. These are brief videos intended as an introduction to some key concepts in RDA. Both new and experienced RDA users may find these videos helpful as they explain concepts using the RDA Toolkit Beta Site.

With many catalogers and metadata specialists working remotely these days, some may find that they have a bit more time on their hands and have an inkling to dive into a topic that has been put off for awhile. This might be an opportune time to dive into the 3R project and the beta RDA Toolkit. In December the beta site will become the official RDA site, and there's plenty of time to get up to speed on the changes to the RDA standard and new Toolkit functionality.

During this period where many, many folks are staying at home and either working remotely or just trying to be productive in some way, we have a few options to offer.

Extended Free Trials

Starting today, free trials of RDA Toolkit will run for 60 days instead of 30. If you signed up for a free trial in the last 30 days, you will still get the extra 30 days. If you had a free trial a long time ago, no worries. You can still sign up for a 60 day trial.