Resource Description and Access

Resource Description and Access (RDA) is the descriptive cataloguing standard that replaces the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR2). Library and Archives Canada (LAC) uses RDA to create its bibliographic records.

Benefits of RDA

RDA has many of the strengths of AACR2 including these benefits:

  • provides a consistent, flexible and extensible framework for the description of all types of resources, including digital resources and those with multiple characteristics
  • is compatible with internationally established principles, models and standards
  • is compatible with encoding schemas, such as Metadata Description Schema (MODS), Dublin Core, ONIX and MARC
  • enables grouping of bibliographic records for different editions, translations or formats of a work, to achieve a more meaningful data display
  • is web-based so cataloguers may move between related instructions using hyperlinks, and may integrate their own institutional policies

RDA toolkit

The RDA Toolkit is available by subscription (see pricing for details). The American Library Association, Canadian Federation of Library Associations and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals developed this standard.

RDA developers and publishers

Two international bodies, the RDA Steering Committee (RSC) and the RDA Board, developed the RDA.

The RSC consults with stakeholder groups to develop the RDA. RSC members are taken from the Canadian Committee on Cataloguing (CCC), the American Library Association (ALA), the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), the Australian Committee on Cataloguing (ACOC), the British Library and the Library of Congress.

The RSC reports to the CoP, which is responsible for broad policy, budget and management issues. The CoP comprises representatives from the Canadian Federation of Library Associations, American Library Association, CILIP, the Library of Congress, Library and Archives Canada, the British Library, and the National Library of Australia.

The co-publishers of RDA are the American Library Association (ALA), the Canadian Federation of Library Associations and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP).

Propose a revision to RDA

Any library may propose a revision to RDA to the CCC.

French translation

The Fédération des milieux documentaires coordinates the translation with Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ), the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) and other partners.