Columbia has been selected by the US National Libraries RDA Test Steering Committee as one of 26 partners to test the content, benefit and functionality of Resource Description and Access (RDA).  RDA is the new cataloging code that is expected to supersede the currently used Anglo-American Cataloging/Rules (AACR2).

The 26 partners were chosen to be as inclusive as possible and include representatives of all types and sizes of libraries–national, government, academic, public, school, special; archives; museums; book vendors; systems developers; library schools; and consortia. The test will run approximately 6 months and catalogers will create records for a core test set of 20-25 resources in all formats and an additional set of records chosen locally for review and analysis by the Steering Committee.  Columbia testers will include catalogers from OSMC, Law and the East Asian Library.

Formal testing will begin as soon as possible after RDA Online is released.  Being a test partner will give us early access to training materials and an opportunity to influence the development of the new code.  More information can be found on the Library of Congress RDA website at http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/rda/

-Kate Harcourt