Change don’t come easy, especially in the very structured and detailed work of creating catalog records. At “Vendor Plans for Implementing RDA” six brave souls on the panel took on the complicated subject of how their companies are attempting to implement RDA. Curiously they were at different stages of the process. Some were still struggling with the technical details of how the RDA rule changes would affect existing catalog records and how to reconfigure existing software models to retrieve search results for catalogs including both types of records and/or do some sort of conversion of old records to the new rules. But they are all doing something and customers should begin receiving info shortly from their vendors regarding where they are in the implementation process.

In contrast, the RDA Toolkit is a finished product already available to assist catalogers in using RDA. A great place to learn RDA is the RDA Sandbox where for a mere $60 a year librarians can practice using RDA. Of course the big question for libraries is how implementing RDA will affect search results for library patrons and no one could clearly answer that. To paraphase one of the panelists the belief (thought, hope) is that RDA will not be just another cataloging standard but a real benefit for end users.

For Change Stress Relief click on this link  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7-2Etc6c_0&feature=related)