Outcomes of the 2012 JSC Meeting

The Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA (JSC) met at American Library Association Headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, USA, from November 5-9, 2012. Troy Linker and James Hennelly, representing ALA Publishing, also attended.

Left to right: Christine Frodl (Deutsche Nationalbibliothek), Bill Leonard (Canadian Committee on Cataloguing), Gordon Dunsire live via the Internet (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals), Barbara Tillett (JSC Chair, Library of Congress), John Attig (American Library Association), Judy Kuhagen (JSC Secretary), Alan Danskin (British Library), Kevin Marsh (Australian Committee on Cataloguing)

The JSC welcomed Bill Leonard (the new representative from the Canadian Committee on Cataloguing) and Gordon Dunsire (the new representative from CILIP, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals). Gordon attended the meeting via an Internet connection with two-way audio and video connections, using GoToMeeting software; this meeting was the first time JSC used an Internet connection for an attendee.

Barbara Tillett, current chair of JSC who retires from the Library of Congress on December 14, 2012, will complete her term as JSC Chair through 2013. Gordon Dunsire was elected Chair-elect of JSC; his term as Chair will be 2014-2015.

Dave Reser will be the Library of Congress representative to JSC beginning December 2012. John Attig’s second term as the American Library Association representative to JSC ends in June 2013; his successor has not yet been announced.

The JSC met with the Committee of Principals (CoP) on the morning of November 7 to discuss strategic issues related to the JSC's work, the composition of the JSC, and the governance of RDA. The CoP will be announcing outcomes of that joint discussion.

The next meeting of the JSC is tentatively scheduled for the first week in November 2013 in Washington, D.C.

The JSC discussed a record number (57) of proposals and discussion papers plus the responses to those documents. The documents represented a wide diversity of topics and included submissions from cataloging communities beyond the JSC: the European RDA Interest Group (EURIG); the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (IAML); the ISBD Review Group; and the ISSN Network.

Changes to RDA approved by the JSC during the meeting will appear in the RDA Toolkit in the April 2013 update. Documents, labeled as “Sec final” versions, of approved proposals will be posted on the JSC public web site during January 2013. JSC members will respond to the non-JSC communities who submitted proposals and discussion papers. A table listing the JSC decisions/actions for all proposals and discussion papers will be posted on the web site during December.

The discussion papers included the following:

• 6JSC/ALA/17: “Machine-Actionable Data Elements in RDA Chapter 3: Discussion Paper.“ The JSC endorsed the direction noted in the discussion paper; the ALA group will continue to develop proposals.


• 6JSC/CILIP rep/1: “Machine-actionability and interoperability of RDA value vocabularies: a discussion paper.” The JSC accepted the recommendations; Gordon Dunsire, with assistance from John Attig, will be responsible for further analysis and/or implementation of the recommendations.


• 6JSC/CILIP Rep/2: “RDF representation of RDA relationship designators: discussion paper.” The JSC accepted recommendations 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 10. Gordon Dunsire will take responsibility for implementing these recommendations. The JSC asked Gordon Dunsire to prepare a discussion paper on recommendations 7, 8, 9, and 11. Gordon Dunsire will also prepare a discussion paper giving further information about the implications of recommendation 4.

Some approved proposals will have an impact on the preparation of training materials (some of the proposals were modified based on comments from other JSC constituencies):

• 6JSC/ALA/6: “Revision of RDA 11.5.1.3 (Recording Associated Institutions) and 9.13.1.3 (Recording Affiliations).” The JSC approved the revision to use the preferred name of the corporate body for both elements and the deletion of the exception for the form of the name of an institution associated with a conference, etc.


• 6JSC/ALA/18: “Proposed Revision of RDA Instructions for Government and Non-Government Corporate Bodies.” The JSC approved the changes to merge the existing instructions for government and non-government subordinate bodies and renumber subsequent instructions.


• 6JSC/ALA/19: “Proposed Revision of RDA 16.2.2 (Preferred Name for the Place).” The JSC accepted the recommendations except for the one related to the removal of Malaysia from RDA 16.2.2.9; Barbara Tillett will contact colleagues in Malaysia for assistance. JSC did not think that an optional addition to the place name is appropriate, but agreed that the provisions of 16.2.2.9 should be generalized, by the addition of an alternative instruction. ALA was encouraged to work on further proposals for place names, including the elimination of abbreviations for place names and adding instructions for treating larger/smaller places as relationships.


• 6JSC/ALA/20: “Proposed revision of RDA 2.1.2.2 and 2.1.2.3, Basis for Identification of the Resource.” The JSC approved changes in 2.1.2.2 and 2.1.2.3 to use a collective title when available and to use a source of information for a predominant work to represent the resource as a whole.


• 6JSC/ALA/21: “Proposed Revisions of RDA instructions on Sources of Information (RDA 2.2.2.1-2.2.2.4).” The JSC approved the changes to clarify in 2.2.2.1 the status of containers issued and not issued with the resource, to indicate that the cover or jacket in the priority order of sources in 2.2.2.2 is one issued with the resource, and to allow the use of textual content when describing moving image and electronic resources (2.2.2.3-2.2.2.4).


• 6JSC/BL/4: “Other designation associated with the person: Revision of RDA 9.0, 9.6.1 and 9.19.1.” The JSC approved the following changes: the core statement at 9.6 revised to say that the element Other designation associated with the person is a core element only for a Christian saint or a spirit; the addition, with some rewording, of 9.6.1.6 (Persons named in religious works), 9.6.1.7 (Fictitious and legendary persons), 9.6.1.8 (Non-human entities), and 9.6.1.9 (Other designations); the revision of 9.19.1.2, and the addition of 9.19.1.8 (Other designation).


• 6JSC/LC/20: “Revisions to RDA Chapter 6 to treat ‘Selections’ as a work attribute.” The JSC approved the changes to instructions. Gary Strawn (Northwestern University) has developed automated processes to update authorized access points in MARC records.


• Addition of the sentence “Consider all online resources to be published" to RDA 2.8.1.1. The JSC approved the addition.

Several proposals included changes to instructions relating to music resources; the JSC approved these proposals with modifications based on comments from other JSC constituencies:

• 6JSC/ALA/8: “Revision of RDA 6.28.1.9, Additions to access points representing musical works with titles that are not distinctive.”


• 6JSC/ALA/13: “Revision of RDA instructions relating to librettos and lyrics for musical works (RDA 6.2.2.10.2, 6.27.4.2, Appendix I.2.1, and Glossary).”


• 6JSC/CCC/7: “Proposed revision to instructions 6.14.2.7.2, ‘Two or More Parts,’ 6.14.2.8, ‘Compilations of Musical Works,’ and 6.28.2.3, ‘Two or More Parts’.” The JSC asked the RDA Music Joint Working Group to look into the inconsistencies between these revised instructions for music and the general instructions.


• 6JSC/CCC/8: “Proposed revision to instruction 6.28.1.11, ‘Additions to Access Points Representing Compilations of Musical Works’.”


• 6JSC/CCC/9: “Proposed revision to instruction 6.16.1.3, "Recording Numeric Designations of Musical Works.” The JSC asked the RDA Music Joint Working Group to investigate what to do about constructing the authorized access point when there is more than one numeric designation.

The JSC also asked the RDA Music Joint Working Group to address the following topics:

• To investigate adding “traditional” music to RDA 6.28.3.2.2, consulting with colleagues in EURIG. (6JSC/ALA/14)


• To consider the addition of the following elements at the expression level: medium of performance, key, and numeric designation, consulting with the FRBR Review Group. (6JSC/EURIG/4)

Date posted: 5 December 2012

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