Resource Description and Access (RDA)

Resource Description and Access (RDA) is an international cataloguing standard. This standard was introduced in the German-speaking countries as part of a comprehensive project led by the German National Library that spanned the period between 2012 and 2016. We have been using these rules for cataloguing our collections since October 2015.

The standard is based on the IFLA Library Reference Model (IFLA LRM) and the IFLA Statement of International Cataloguing Principles (IFLA ICP). RDA encompasses data elements, guidelines and instructions and is made accessible in the form of a web product – the RDA Toolkit. Along with the RDA text, the RDA Toolkit contains a number of tools and materials. Institutions in the German-speaking countries can use the RDA Toolkit under a consortial licence after joining the consortium.

RDA Toolkit

Download consortial agreement from RDA-Info-Wiki

RDA is constantly undergoing further development as part of a cooperative international process. The restructuring of the cataloguing code in 2018, for example, was a decisive step forward in the direction of user-oriented linked data applications. Work on adapting the rules in the German-speaking countries to the new RDA Toolkit has been ongoing since 2020. This adaptation work is expected to be complete by the end of 2022, and the adaptations will be communicated during adaptation training sessions in the spring of 2023.

The RDA has been undergoing continual further development ever since the standard was restructured and the new Toolkit released. The new developments include significant internationalisation, the option of importing special rules from user communities, and an increasing focus on other cultural institutions such as archives and museums.

One good example of this is the resulting standard RNAB, which was developed in the German-speaking countries and is mostly used in literary archives. You will find it here.

The German National Library’s Office for Library Standards (AfS) supervises and coordinates the maintenance and further development of the RDA standard by participating in European committees such as EURIG and the RDA committees.

General information on the current status of developments and applications in the RDA-Info-Wiki

More about the RDA Steering Committe (RSC)

IFLA Library Reference Model (IFLA LRM)

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) has been supporting the development of conceptual models for cataloguing data since the 1990s. The first such model was the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR), published in 1998. Other FR models were released during the years that followed.

More about IFLA LRM

The IFLA Library Reference Model (IFLA LRM) is a conceptual model that covers all aspects of bibliographic cataloguing. It also supports the integration of bibliographic data into linked data applications. It is based on the preceding models Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR), Functional Requirements for Authority Data (FRAD) and Functional Requirements for Subject Authority Data (FRSAD).
The German National Library was a member of the IFLA working group that developed the IFLA LRM and is now observing further work on the models in the FRBR family as part of its involvement with the IFLA Cataloguing Section.

More about IFLA

International Cataloguing Principles (ICP)

The first Statement of Principles, also known as the “Paris Principles”, was issued in 1961. This international agreement on fundamental cataloguing issues became the basis for international standardisation: all the standards and cataloguing codes developed since then are based on the ICP. A revised version dating from 2009 also takes non-printed resources and the requirements of online catalogues into account. The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) published the most recent version in 2016. This version is more closely aligned with changing user requirements. The German National Library has compiled a German translation. The ICP are currently being revised by a sub-group in the IFLA Cataloguing Section.

More about ICP