From: Wojciech Siemaszkiewicz <wsiemaszkiewicz@NYPL.ORG>
Date: November 2, 2010 9:46:55 AM EDT
To: OCLC-CAT@OCLC.ORG
Subject: [OCLC-CAT] November 2010 Memorandum Against RDA Test
Reply-To: OCLC-Cataloging <OCLC-CAT@OCLC.ORG>

To all catalogers,

We have found ourselves in an unenviable position of opposing the work that
supposedly has been authorized by agencies representing our interests. I
might compare it to a military coup d’état. I mean here the RDA “test” and
its implications on the cataloging world at large. After extensive
discussions on the PCC, OCLC cataloging e-mail lists with opinions from the
British Library, Australia and North America, we can safely conclude that
there is a broad consensus against principles of RDA and the way RDA “test”
has been imposed on the cataloging world.

Therefore, I suggest the following memorandum to be implemented by
catalogers throughout the world in response to the “RDA coup d’état”:

                November 2010 Memorandum Against RDA Test

We instruct the OCLC to do the following:

  Immediately suspend coding the test RDA records as acceptable records
     and recode them as substandard records with a code “RDA” (no PCC, LC,
     etc. coding should be allowed on these records). The encoding level
     for these records should be “K”, which usually triggers a full review
     of the record by highly trained technical assistants or professional
     catalogers. The LC records should be coded as level “7”.
  The RDA test records should be treated the same way as records coded
     with Spanish, French, German, etc. codes. This would allow catalogers
     to create parallel records for 040 English records according to
     existing and widely accepted AACR2 rules.
  Under no circumstances should RDA testers be allowed to create
     conflicting NAF or SAF records in LCNAF or LCSAF. This has already
     created a great deal of confusion and has been universally rejected
     by catalogers involved in the discussion.

We instruct agencies responsible for the RDA test to instruct its testers
to follow above mentioned rules as a way to avoid workflow complications
and growing confusion in libraries around the world.

We understand that the RDA test is just a test and in no way is an
indicative to a future cataloging procedures and rules that would replace
universally accepted AACR2 rules.

Wojciech Siemaszkiewicz
New York Public Library
Library Services Center
31-11 Thompson Ave.
Long Island City, N.Y. 11101
(917) 229-9603
e-mail: wsiemaszkiewicz@nypl.org