A. Developments since 2006 annual conference
Between June 2006 (i.e., following the ALA annual meeting) and Dec. 31, 2006, CCDA entertained a total of 18 motions and votes. 14 of these were related to RDA, e.g., the List of Specialist Cataloging Manuals, updates to the Initial Articles list, revised uniform titles for Biblical works, Internationalization of Part A, persistent identifiers and URLS, the distinction between Content and Carrier; review of RDA drafts of chapters 6 and 7.
AJL provided feedback on the Biblical uniform titles proposal.
From July through the beginning of October, CCDA reviewed drafts of sections of Part I and related JSC documents. Beginning in late August, CCDA addressed some of the issues that stood out from the collected feedback as problematic: "performances" and "mixed responsibility" in ch. 7; bibliographic relationships in ch. 6; the overall development process of RDA; and the sequence of chapters 6 and 7 (that is, whether it should be reversed).
Motions and votes unrelated to RDA included review of the ISBD Consolidated Edition; Revisons to FRBR section 3.2.3; and formation of Task Force to review the Statement of International Cataloging Principles.
For additional details, see CCDA chair's report:
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/tas/jca/ccda/docs/chair35.pdf
B. Main Topics of the Midwinter Meeting
1. ALA concerns about Development and Administration of RDA
Several members of CCDA have expressed concern about the direction RDA is moving, and the committee voted to submit to JDC the document "RDA Development Issues" as part of the ALA response to RDA draft chapters 6 and 7 (http://www.collectionscanada.ca/jsc/docs/5rda-parta-ch6&7-alaresp.pdf). The five development issues were: (1.) absence of a top-down development approach (i.e., not starting with broad principles before editing specific rules); (2.) insufficient time reserved for constituency review of the complete RDA manuscript; (3.) insufficient support for RDA; (4.) overemphasis on backward compatibility with AACR2 at expense of compatibility with FRBR and other standards; (5.) unclear distribution of RDA decision-making authority and responsibiliity.
JSC discussed these concerns at their October 2006 meeting, and their responses are included in it's outcomes document. (http://www.collectionscanada.ca/jsc/0610out.html). Concerns that were shared by other constituencies and therefore acted on by JSC led to extending the development schedule for review of the full RDA draft, and a publication date moved back to the first quarter of 2009.
RDA Project Manager Marjorie Bloss attended the Monday meeting to shed light on how RDA is managed at the administrative level (and help resolve RDA issue no. (5) above). While JSC is the committee that writes the cataloging rules, the Committee of Principles (CoP) oversees administration, budget, and scheduling. The JSC is empowered to make changes to the structure of RDA, but only if all constituencies agree, and only if budget and other CoP interests are accommodated. As it happens, ALA's concerns were not always shared by the other constitutencies and by CoP. In such cases, the JSC is moving forward with the current plans.
One ALA concern not shared by other consituencies (and therefore not embraced by JSC) was the perception that RDA was insufficiently principles-based. Paul Weiss, Diane Hillman, and Karen Coyle announced that they are going to put forward an alternative draft of RDA (something more detailed than FRBR or the IME International Cataloging Principles, but less so than the current RDA draft) which they believe will illustrate what a principles-based cataloging code would look like, and to have it ready before JSC meets in London in the spring of 2007.
2. CONSER Standard Record "in the spirit of RDA"?
PCC asked JSC to endorse the new CONSER "Standard Record" as being "in the spirit" of RDA. JSC forwarded the query on to the constituencies to discuss on their own and then report back. As an aid to discussion, RDA editor Tom Delsey shared his analysis of the extent to which 8 specific CONSER recommendations are consistent with RDA guidelines (http://www.collectionscanada.ca/jsc/working2.html#ed-1). CCDA discussed during the Midwinter meeting, and the members were unable to reach consensus.
3. RDA Scope and Structure
Though JSC did not actually request feedback on this document, CCDA decided it was inportant to do so. Comments will be collected in Confluence and Jennifer Bowen will forward them to JSC in mid-March in order for them to be able to discuss at the April/May meeting.
C. Other Topics from Midwinter Meeting
1. Succession of ALA representative to JSC
Jennifer Bowen's term will end following the annual meeting in June 2007. She requested that a successor be identified as soon as possible in order to ensure a smooth transition.
2. ALA Publishing Report
ALA Editions will assemble focus groups at 2007 Annual to review the RDA print edition.
3. CCS will form a task force on RDA implementation
4. Communications Issues
With ALA's open meeting policy in mind, CCDA members discussed opening up CCDA mailiing list to the general public (e.g., with read-only mode for non-members).
Some members expressed interest in using other communication tools, such as wikis. In any event, CC:DA needs to find a replacement for Confluence. A task force will be formed to study the options.
5. Next meetings at Annual 2007 in DC (tentatively)
Friday, 1-5:30pm
Saturday, 12:30-5:30pm
Monday 8-10am, 1-3pm
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