The Development of Resource Description & Access and Its Impact on Music Materials

Resource Description & Access (RDA) developed over a six-year period as a replacement to the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2d edition, 2002 revision (AACR2). The new code, while rooted in the Anglo-American cataloging traditions, uses international standards developed by the International Federation of Library Associations as the basis of its organization. Because RDA focuses solely on content, encoding and display considerations are governed by other standards, such as MARC21 and ISBD. Implementation of RDA offers an opportunity to consider new approaches to end-user search and display options. In addition, RDA data, while functioning in our current environment, will enable the library profession to make bibliographic and authority data more broadly available on the Semantic Web. Many AACR2 rules migrated to RDA, but they now appear in a different context and organization. The new code includes fewer case-based rules, but some specialized instructions remain for music materials. Changes from AACR2 range from the cosmetic to the substantial; some highlights for music include consistent use of the term "score" for notated music not in part-format, and a new way of consistently naming librettos. Although officially published, RDA is not considered static. The Music Library Association has recently submitted several rule change proposals, with more under consideration. The Library of Congress has announced that it will implement RDA no earlier than January 2013. MLA's Bibliographic Control Committee remains committed to improving RDA to support music resource discovery.