Libraries named to test new format for web environments

UND is one of 16 library sites selected to participate in testing the proposed Resource Description and Access (RDA) format and its online RDA Toolkit. RDA is a new set of guidelines for providing bibliographic and descriptive metadata in the web-enabled environment.

The project is being coordinated by the Library of Congress and includes three national libraries, 16 libraries and seven additional testing partners. Under the direction of Shelby Harken, Head of the Chester Fritz Library Department of Acquisitions and Bibliographic Control, staff from the Chester Fritz Library and the Thormodsgard Law Library are participating in the testing process.

RDA was developed by an international committee representing a number of organizations including the Library of Congress, the American Library Association and the British Library. RDA is designed to be used by libraries, museums and other organizations throughout the world to describe not only books, but all kinds of content and media. The project’s goal is to make descriptions of the millions of resources held by libraries, museums and other organizations more easily retrieved via the Internet.
Testing will continue through December 2010 with a review period until April 2011.

— Wilbur Stolt, director of Libraries, 777-2189, wilburstolt@mail.und.edu.