ALCTS RDA e-forum

Of late ALCTS has been hosting several e-forums. Basically these are discussions via email. You have to subscribe but you do not have to be a member of ALCTS to participate. The September 14-15, 2010 e-forum was “Preparing Your Library for RDA“. If you didn’t join in, you can still read the archived discussion and catch up. The hosts/moderators (Mary Beth Weber and Christopher Cronin) did a beautiful summing up email after each day. 

What struck me most about the comments on this e-forum was that almost all are awaiting word from the USA National Libraries testing.  This seems to be a concern for libraries worldwide.  International AutoCat members speak about waiting to see what the USA will be doing.  Céline noted on Thing Blogging that Europe as a whole is looking, waiting, and watching.  Another international concern is the present lack of translations of RDA. Again, Céline noted on Thing Blogging that the lack of translation is a major issue for several countries.

Cost is another big factor.  Participants of the e-forum noted it is difficult to justify spending the money to obtain access to the RDA Toolkit in this time of economic woe.  They also noted the costs of training and re-training as well as the potential costs in upgrading their ILS.