RDA and the Reference Librarian: What to Expect from the New Cataloging Standard

TLDR: What internal users of the catalog will find familiar in the new type of records and what will require a learning curve are shed on.

Abstract: Reference librarians' work will be affected by the upcoming change in cataloging standards from the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules to the Resource Description and Access (RDA). Reference librarians were asked to give their perceptions about RDA records. They found that RDA records were comparable in terms of quality and quantity of information. However, terms used in new fields that provide format information lacked clarity. RDA records live compatibly with their Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules counterparts but do have distinctive differences. This study sheds light on what internal users of the catalog will find familiar in the new type of records and what will require a learning curve.