The Viewpoint of Cataloguers at the National Library and Archives of the I.R. Iran about Resource Description and Access (RDA) Rules and an Evaluation of their Acceptance

Document Type : Research َ Article

Authors

1 M.A. in Library and Information Science

2 Assistant Professor of Library and Information Science; Agricultural Scientific Information and Documentation Center, Tehran, I.R. Iran

3 Assistant Professor of Library and Information Science; Regional Information Center for Science and Technology, Shiraz, I.R. Iran

4 Associate Professor of Library and Information Science; Payame Noor University, Mashhad Branch, Mashhad, I.R. Iran

Abstract

Purpose: This research aimed at identifying the extent to which cataloguers were familiar with RDA, how ready they were to accept these rules, and how training may affect this.
Design/Methodology/Approach: The familiarity of 49 cataloguers working in the Cataloging in Publication (CIP) section of the National Library of Iran with RDA was evaluated using two methods i.e. self-reporting (personal opinion) and actual familiarity (using open questions) before and after training. Their acceptance of these rules was also studied.
Findings: The cataloguers’ self-reporting about their familiarity with RDA before being trained indicate a higher than average level of familiarity while their actual level of familiarity was lower than average. After being trained their familiarity – both self-reported and actual – was higher than average. Furthermore, the existence of a significant difference between self-reported familiarity, actual familiarity and level of acceptance by cataloguers was also studied according to sex, education, age, and cataloguing experience. There was no significant difference between the cataloguers’ self-reported and actual familiarity with RDA except for cataloguers with different levels of education i.e. before and after being trained, the self-reported familiarity of cataloguers with a master’s degree was higher than the self-reported familiarity of cataloguers with a bachelor’s; furthermore, the actual familiarity of cataloguers with a master’s degree was higher than the actual familiarity of cataloguers with a bachelor’s degree.
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Librarianship and Information Organization Studies
Volume 23, Issue 4 - Serial Number 4
92
March 2013
Pages 94-119

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History

  • Receive Date: 27 July 2012
  • Revise Date: 08 April 2015
  • Accept Date: 15 September 2012

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