Challenges for the Implementation of Resource Description and Access (RDA) Case Study Germany

At the “97th Bibliothekartag” in June 2008 Susanne Oehlschläger from the German National Library spoke about the implementation of the new standardisation system RDA in Germany. As early as 2011 RDA will replace the German cataloguing standard “Rules for Alphabetical Cataloguing” (RAK). RDA is the successor system to AACR2 and RAK. The benefits of implementing RDA are (theoretically) internationalisation of national catalogue data and easier usage. Parallel to that implementation the Office for Library Standards of the German National Library is planning to combine the authority files for bibliographic description, namely the Corporate Body Authority File (GKD), the Subject Headings Authority File (SWD) and the Names Authority File (PND) to create one common authority file (Gemeinsame Normdatei, GND). If everything goes as planned, by 2011 we can expect a completely new body of rules and regulations for formal and subject cataloguing (RDA), a new exchange format (MARC 21 Authority) and a new authority file (GND). Nearly all of the now existing systems will be overhauled, updated or mapped to the new applications. The result will be the internationalisation and harmonisation of cataloguing which will facilitate the exchange of data across borders. We developed an online questionnaire for the qualitative evaluation of problems, opportunities and challenges which will emerge when RDA is finally put into practice