You can contact Anne at anne@beginningcataloguing.com
beginningcataloguing.com
Instagram: @beginningcataloguing
LinkedIn: annewelsh
Next public event: 14 June, CILIP South West, UWE Frenchay Campus: cilip.org.uk/events/Event... #NAGcd14
Keeping up-to-date:
Taking Stock
Metadata & Discovery Group (@CilipMDG
) – CILIP, including Catalogue & Index
LIS-UKBIBS List at JISCMAIL.AC.UK
IFLA Metadata Newsletter – IFLA ifla.org/g/cataloguin...
RSC News | ALA RDA Toolkit rdatoolkit.org/rsc/news
#NAGcd14
ISBDM Review - ISBD for Manifestation Task Force – IFLA ifla.org/g/isbd-rg/is...
First Draft: iflastandards.info/ISBDM/ #NAGcd14
Also note, rbms.info/dcrm/dcrmr DCRMR: Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (RDA Edition) available online for free as a hyperlinked manual. A link to a PDF version is also available.
DCRMR is currently a minimum viable product containing book instructions only. #NAGcd14
Policy Statements are community-based decisions about RDA options. They are published in the RDA Toolkit and are linked to RDA guidance.
• British Library Policy Statements (BLPS)
access.rdatoolkit.org/en-US_bl_ps_...
#NAGcd14
An RDA application profile limits the specification to RDA entities, elements, and compatible vocabulary encoding schemes. access.rdatoolkit.org/Guidance?ext... #NAGcd14
Also useful RDA application profiles in the RDA Registry rdaregistry.info/Profiles/ #NAGcd14
Application Profiles are key to applying the 'options' available in the RDA Toolkit to your local context. rdatoolkit.org/sites/defaul...
RDA Application Profiles: A Practical Guide for the Perplexed / Melissa Parent youtube.com/watch?v=kz2v...
#NAGcd14
Countdown Clock for Original RDA Toolkit Set for May 2026 | ALA RDA Toolkit rdatoolkit.org/news/rda/cou...
#NAGcd14
Official RDA was launched on beta.rdatoolkit.org (RDA Toolkit Beta Site) 2018.
Moved to access.rdatoolkit.org at end of 3R Project, 18 Dec 2020.
The Countdown Clock began in May 2023 = libraries must implement Official RDA by May 2027! #NAGcd14
'Original RDA' was first published 2010, with regular updates 2012-2017.
The RDA Toolkit Restructure and Redesign (3R Project) ran 2017-2020, with the RDA Toolkit Beta Site launching in 2018.
15th December 2020 “Switchover” to original.rda.toolkit.org
#NAGcd14
RDA can improve collocation using relationships between elements such as Work and Expression, derived from IFLA's bibliographic models. rdatoolkit.org/archivedsite...
#NAGcd14
RDA = Resource Description and Access
This grew from work on AACR3 and aimed to “simplify, clarify, and update” cataloguing rules.
First discussed in 2005, earliest metadata from 2010-11 (US Tests); 2013 onwards in UK. #NAGcd14
The legacy of AACR2:
“Weird stuff” in your library catalogue may be old, following pre-2013 rules
“Local practices” now may be superseded AACR2 rules
Outside HE, AACR2 is still in use in many places. #NAGcd14
AACR2 is an artefact of the past for national and UK HE libraries; metadata created pre-2013 was created in AACR2 or earlier and then updated… with various degrees of update … (maybe) #NAGcd14
AACR2 = Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules. 2nd Edition, derived from AACR, in turn derived from ALA &BL Rules. Rooted firmly in the card & dictionary catalogue, but modernised (ish); some libraries still use AACR2 & cannot move to RDA yet eg. small specialist libraries. #NAGcd14
The IFLA LRM
• Has been around since 2017
• Is foundational to ISBD and RDA
• Most cataloguers, most days, don’t need to think about it, but it’s what makes us focus on ‘elements’
ifla.org/g/cataloguin...
#NAGcd14
The landscape for cataloguing in 2024 covers the IFLA LRM, RDA, DCRMR and.... still... AACR2 #NAGcd14
Anne explains that she is here today to 'de-jargonify' the cataloguing and metadata landscape for acquisitions and procurement librarians #NAGcd14
Anne Welsh has been a librarian & a cataloguer for 30 years. - Her new book Beginning Cataloguing will go to press once there are more concrete examples of RDA Application Profiles (national & institutional decisions on how metadata standards are applied). #NAGcd14
Opening slide with "Cataloguing 2024" and Anne Welsh with pic of garden
The final paper of the day is from Anne Welsh of Beginning Cataloguing, @beginningcat
speaking about "Cataloguing 2024" - an overview of what’s happening in the field, including the continuing variety in international cataloguing standards #NAGcd14
- Of interest to CILIP MDG...
Conclusions:
API gave most reliable results
API process was more efficient
AI did work, but not at scale
Next steps, to combine elements of the two processes. #NAGcd14
AI Methodology: How can we test critically?
How does the prompt affect the result?
Does it run on different data?
Can we influence the temperature (how creative the AI gets)?
#NAGcd14
When asked for an 'academic review' CoPilot makes the same mistake as non-academic review; it draws from popular rather than academic sources:
Same structure & content, covering Setting & Premise, Characters, Plot & Humour, BUT omits Writing style & film adaptation #NAGcd14
@RachelSchulkins
asks "what about non-quantitative data? How do we record qualitative data in a way that can also inform our service development?"
Not everything that should be measured can be measured, and not everything that can be measured has actual value. #NAGcd14
We need to know what we want from our data and why? - What's the purpose of those dashboards?! What problems are you trying to solve?
What are we measuring and why; how valid are our KPIs and targets? #NAGcd14
Terminology is also an issue, 'engagement' can be used to mean different things in different areas of the Library... common terms can help to standardise data organisation and better support comparisons. Data literacy training is key. #NAGcd14
The Data Officer, Sean, says the data is 'lumpy' - we record it in different places in different ways, it needs to be standardised via common identifiers before it can be aggregated and compared #NAGcd14
BCU Library has a Data Officer and a new data vision to have all library engagement data in a format that can be interrogated by cohort and by student demographics. #NAGcd14
