| Sumario: | The launch of Resource Description and Access (RDA) expected in early 2009 will transform cataloging standards that have been virtually unchanged for 30 years. Existing standards, as laid out in the Anglo American Cataloging Rules, have struggled to keep pace with new publishing formats and new publishing practices. RDA provides a more flexible framework for resource description and is likely to be adopted by the major cataloging agencies. These developments in standards for bibliographic description follow on from the introduction of the MARC21 formats, adopted in the UK in 2004, but poorly covered in existing cataloging textbooks. As yet there is little help for catalogers in the transition to RDA, and a new textbook is urgently needed to assist them in mapping the new standard onto the existing rules for description. This textbook, which builds on John Bowman's highly regarded "Essential Cataloging", will fill that gap. It features coverage of FRBR (Functional Requirements of Bibliographic Records) and FRAD (Functional Requirements of Authority Data), on which the new rules are built, and will also explore how RDA elements can be incorporated into MARC21. The key chapters are: introduction to catalogs and cataloging standards; publication formats and bibliographic elements; access points and headings; RDA: the new standard, its development, structure and features; AACR and RDA: the similarities and differences between the two standards; the MARC21 record, studying tags, indicators and sub-field codes; and, summary, outlining the major issues. The new code will be crucial in ensuring that continually emerging new formats are made fully accessible by users. The cataloging standards are internationally applied, so this timely new guide will have global application. It will be essential reading for students of library and information studies and practicing library and information professionals in all sectors. It will also be of great interest to the archives sector.
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