RDA Online–the “other” RDA discussion

In the world of cataloging, nothing has ever generated quite the fervent discussion currently surrounding the content of the forthcoming Resource Description and Access (RDA)–well, nothing since AACR2 anyway. Such is the way of standards creation. Stinging jabs and left hooks aside, I’m finding the whole process very stimulating–from my seat on the sidelines–and I have a great deal of respect for those in the fray.

My role as editor on the publishing side is not my usual one. Instead of being involved with the content creation, I am focused on product creation. What features and functions should this online tool have to enable an effective and efficient workflow? What will the development of those features and functions cost, and how long will they take to develop? And, assuming we can’t have our entire wish list (can we ever?), how do we prioritize?

We took a giant step toward sorting these things out in an extremely productive one-day meeting here at ALA headquarters last Thursday. RDA content editor Tom Delsey flew in from Ottawa to meet with Nannette Naught (our product development consultant) and several other members of the project team to discuss exactly what is being done and what still needs to happen in order to make the features put forward in our original prototype possible. We were able to clarify for Nannette the purpose behind many of these functions, putting her in a good position to finish writing the draft functional requirements that will be a part of the RFP that we’ll send to software vendors.