News & Information

With the elevation of the beta site to official status on December 15th, some users may have experienced some issues with accessing the RDA Toolkit. Here are a few reminders about logging in that have not changed and a few things that have. 

This 3R Project will come to a close with the elevation of the beta RDA Toolkit to official RDA status in December. This "Switchover" (that's what we are calling the move) may be causing some anxiety among Toolkit users, or at least raising some questions in regard to what exactly will happen. The following statements attempt to address some questions users might have and hopefully ease any anxieties there might be.

A new release of the beta RDA Toolkit was published on September 16th. The release introduces new features and functionality as well as some relocating of RDA content. For a full explanation of notable changes to the RDA text see Notes on the September 16, 2020 RDA Toolkit Release.

As we anticipate the start of the RDA Lab Series on Tuesday, June 30th, we thought you’d like to virtually meet its presenter a little early.  Kate James, a cataloging expert and former RDA Steering Committee Examples Editor, tells us about herself and her goals for the upcoming webinars in this feature Q&A.  You can hear more from Kate about all things RDA during the series – which is scheduled to run every Tuesday at 2 PM CDT until December 8, 2020.

Current Status

With the April and September 2019 releases to the RDA Toolkit beta site, the RDA text has been stabilized and the site has met project goals for accessibility and revision reporting. This wraps up 3R work on the English language version of the standard and the site. The focus of work has shifted to translations and the development of policy statements and application profiles. Translations are well under way with expectations that nine translations will be published in the next 15 months.

One of the most important goals of the RDA Toolkit Restructure and Redesign Project (commonly known as the 3R Project) was to bring the site into compliance with current accessibility standards. More specifically the goal was to reach a AA rating according the the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. After the stabilization of the standard in  April of this year, the beta site underwent a full evaluation by an independent consulting firm which returned a list of accessibility issues with the beta site.

Join us on Monday, August 19th for a 90 minute workshop on Teaching RDA After 3R with Brian Dobreski. Geared toward LIS instructors responsible for teaching RDA as well as practitioners who perform staff training, this webinar covers strategies for introducing students to the new RDA Toolkit. This webinar addresses how to teach students to use the new Toolkit, with an emphasis on how to navigate RDA and understand its setup, how to find what they need, and how they can take advantage of new functionality important to learners.

We have heard from some users that examples have been few and far between. Because the RDA text is still a work in progress on the beta site, it has been difficult to write examples. When the 3R Project is complete we expect there to be many more examples in the new Toolkit as compared to the original one. Also the new Toolkit will feature new types of examples, including examples for recording methods, relationship examples, and examples in context. The attached list will guide users to instructions with a variety of examples.

Now that the RDA Toolkit Restructure and Redesign Project (3R) is complete, it is a good time to get acquainted with all the features and functions of the new Toolkit. We are therefore planning an hour-long webinar, New RDA Toolkit Demo, that is free to all. The webinar covers navigating and searching the improved RDA Toolkit, new features and functions of the site, and some tips for getting the most out of it. The webinar does not cover the application of RDA guidance and cataloging practice.

The webinar is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan 26, 2021 at 11:30 AM CDT.