We're wrapping up the #RDAday at the MDG #Conference 2026 #MetaFutures - big thank you to UKCoR and our facilitators Anastasia, Anne, Thurstan, & Jenny.
Thank you to our Conference sponsors @bibliodataservices.bsky.social Third Iron and @thoth-metadata.bsky.social & to all our speakers & delegates.
The afternoon of the #RDAday of MDG #Conference #MetaFutures is more interactive & will not be recorded. tinyurl.com/Cilip-MDG
RDA Toolkit: access.rdatoolkit.org
RDA Toolkit is an integrated, browser-based, online product that allows users to interact with a collection of cataloging-related documents and resources including RDA: Resource Description and Access. #RDAday #MetaFutures
The subscription is meant for groups serving a large community.
Pricing is flexible but meant to protect RDA Toolkit from loss of subscriptions and copyright infringement by AI sites.
#RDAday #MetaFutures
A companion subscription is available & is meant for those institutions planning to create an online RDA manual that will be freely accessible.
#RDAday #MetaFutures
RDA Toolkit needs to protect their copyright from AI tools and web-scrapers - so the content cannot be openly shared on the web. A subscription is required to access the content.
#RDAday #MetaFutures
Legacy instructions are likely to moved to their own area of the Resources tab.
Legacy content will never change but Policy Statements may link to the content. #RDAday #MetaFutures
Community Resources are also in the RDA Toolkit.
There are two ways to contribute:
As a Partner – contribute through CMS ($)
As a Contributor – contribute through HTML editor
Documents are freely accessible to all Toolkit subscribers.
#RDAday #MetaFutures
Inside the Toolkit: Shared Notes/Folders Policy Statements $ HTML Documents Combination Outside the Toolkit: Inhouse Documentation/Website Public Access Website $ Print Manual $
Application Profiles are a necessary part of official RDA, but institutions can rely on Application Profiles created by others as a guide or as a starting point.
They are ways to create APs in the Toolkit and out. #RDAday #MetaFutures
We're now moving to "Using the Toolkit as a toolkit" with James Hennelly of @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social & Director of RDA Toolkit dialling in from America #RDAday #MetaFutures
There's no way to read the Official RDA Toolkit from cover to cover - it is a purely online resource and a 'behemoth' of options - but Anne has put together a confidence-building approach to 'taming the fear of jargon' #RDAday #MetaFutures
Anne promises that we'll also have fun with some buzz activities that we can take back to our home institutions and try out with our colleagues! #RDAday #MetaFutures
Anne Welsh @annewelsh.bsky.social now presents "Removing the barrier: the language of RDA" looking at some of the terminology, why it has changed, and how to cope. #RDAday #MetaFutures
Other sources of information:
- RDA Toolkit YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/RDAToolkitVideo
- Learning Resources | RDA Toolkit https://www.rdatoolkit.org/news/rda/learning-resources
- Catalogue & Index December 2025, Issue 213 journals.cilip.org.uk/catalogue-an...
#MetaFutures #RDAday
Next up:
- RDA implementation for British Library’s Sound Archive
- Changes to cataloguing outputs designed to exploit RDA’s changing scope.
#MetaFutures #RDAday
Phase 2 of implementation already started:
- Revising existing documentation based on phase one feedback
- Drafting documentation not covered in phase one
- Horizon scanning other implementations
- Widening staff engagement with the RDA development process
#MetaFutures #RDAday
In 2021 the University of Washington initiated a project to create reciprocal mapping and, in recent years, the British Library has provided technical support for this.
See: marc2rda.info/wiki/doku.ph...
#MetaFutures #RDAday
The BL continue to maintain RDA/MARC Mappings in the RDA Toolkit in collaboration with Library & Archives Canada. Reciprocal mappings, whilst a feature of Original RDA, are not part of the Official Toolkit. #MetaFutures #RDAday
Changes to the BL's LMS configuration in preparation for Official RDA have mainly been a consequence of changes to MARC 21. Many changes to MARC 21 resulting from Official RDA took place between 2019 and 2022 during the period immediately following the new Toolkit’s publication #MetaFutures #RDAday
Dependencies:
Permission from the RDA copyright holders (ALA/CILIP/CLA)
Secure delivery method: RDA Toolkit? PDF download? Other?
#MetaFutures #RDAday
Access to British Library documentation is a work in progress and access is currently restricted to BL staff.
Future: BL hope to make it available externally for information or reuse / adaptation to local needs
#MetaFutures #RDAday
An example of a cataloguing template we gave cataloguing staff as part of their training. Cataloguers were expected to create practise records for up to ten resources using the templates and scanned surrogates provided.
An example of a cataloguing template we gave cataloguing staff as part of their training. Cataloguers were expected to create practise records for up to ten resources using the templates and scanned surrogates provided. #MetaFutures #RDAday
- Learning Reports (Presentations viewed / Quiz games completed)
- Spreadsheet cataloguing templates
- Scanned resources to catalogue
#MetaFutures #RDAday
Training materials used:
I- n house PowerPoint Presentations (Live / Recorded / AI generated)
- RDA Toolkit YouTube Presentations
- Quiz games (Yes / No / Multiple Choice Answers) ...
#MetaFutures #RDAday
Screenshot of Learning Hub RDA Course
Materials used to support BL RDA training were hosted on the BL’s local instance of Learning Hub from Learnify whilst others were based on Teams / Sharepoint. #MetaFutures #RDAday
It covers:
LRM / RDA Models and terminology
Toolkit navigation
BL documentation
Cataloguing with 3R
Special topics including:
Aggregates, Diachronic works
Provenance, Relationship elements,
Community resources
#MetaFutures #RDAday
Training for staff is:
Modular
Incremental
In person / Online
Interactive
Light touch
Measurable
#MetaFutures #RDAday
Screenshot of RDA Policy statements in the RDA toolkit
BL have developed element guidance and policy statements - the latter are visible in the RDA Toolkit. There are about 200 policy statements in the Original RDA Toolkit. There are over 4000 options in the new Toolkit. BL have provided policies for most of them to this point. #MetaFutures #RDAday
A BL RDA Application Profile for Bibliographic Records in spreadsheet form.
A BL RDA Application Profile for Bibliographic Records in spreadsheet form. #MetaFutures #RDAday
They are:
- Bibliographic Records
- Authority Records
- Based on ALMA templates and LDL Standard Record
- RDA element MARC encoding
- Recording methods
- Vocabulary encoding schemes
#MetaFutures #RDAday
