Abstract:
OLAC thinks that it is best for RDA to take a pragmatic approach to describing these optical disc characteristics. The instructions in RDA should be easy for catalogers without strong technical backgrounds to understand and apply. They should describe resources at a level that is useful and easily understood by end users and public services staff. We propose that only a short list of terms for formats that are currently in common use be maintained within the text of RDA. Less common or obsolete formats could be maintained, as needed, by other groups outside the core text of RDA. Shorter lists will be easier to maintain and should be sufficient for the needs of most general library collections. As discussed at the CC:DA meeting in June 2014, OLAC will maintain a somewhat longer list of terms that includes some obsolete formats. OLAC has created draft vocabularies for the proposed new elements, including the ones that we are not recommending for incorporation into the text of RDA, in the Metadata Registry Sandbox.
