repositories for the rest of us

2007/04/13: All I can think of...

As I am reading the new draft ch.3 of RDA, all I can think is, "how the $*%& am I going to train people how to use this thing?"

And I love metadata. Picture how it would read to somebody who doesn't thrill to the notion of cataloging. Picture how reading it will feel to a new hire in a formerly-known-as-cataloging department or a library-school student. I have to confess, I skimmed the AACR2 when I was in Gloria Leckie's kick-ass cataloging class back in my lib-school days. It really is meant to be a reference book digested in wee pieces. I'm not suggesting that newbies read it wholesale like the current reviewers are doing with RDA. Yet one needs a mental model of what the whole "book" is about in order to understand how to use it. At least for me. I'm a visual thinker.

If any a text required a visualization, the AACR2 AACR3 RDA does. It's difficult for me to digest the many and varied connections between RDA and other standards. I'm constantly flipping back and forth between FRBR, ISBD, FRAR, FRAD, etc. I'm glad I can print them out at work and I don't have to spend for the printer ink on my own dime. And don't even get me started about carrying them to ALA for the CC:DA meetings.

I do have thoughts on what I've read of the rev.Ch 3 so far. Oh yes indeedy do. I need to clean them up and clarify a few things for myself before I comment publicly. Mostly I want to get caught up with NGC4LB and RDA-L and make sure I add value to the discourse

Labels: metadata, RDA

posted by Laura @ 7:52 PM