Please note that these documents are being made available as a means of providing outreach to both library and non-library resource description communities and assisting the Joint Steering Committee in its work. Under no circumstances should the documents be copied or re-transmitted without prior consultation with the Chair of the Joint Steering Committee. Drafts and proposals are not an official part of RDA until they have received final approval from JSC and have been formally published.

NOTE: Some of the documents below are available in a PDF (Portable Document Format) version only. You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader software to view or print this document. You can download Adobe Acrobat Reader software free of charge from Adobe Systems Incorporated.

• Agendas of JSC Meetings

  The agendas are available in Adobe Acrobat PDF version only.

  
  

  October 2006 April 2006 October 2005

  April 2005 October 2004 April 2004 September 2003

  April 2003 September 2002 May 2002 October 2001

  April 2001 September 2000 March 2000 October 1999

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• Outcomes of JSC Meetings
  
  

  April 2006 October 2005

  April 2005 October 2004 April 2004 September 2003

  April 2003 September 2002 May 2002 October 2001

  April 2001 September 2000 March 2000 October 1999

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• Amendments to AACR
  
  
  • List of Changes in Amendments 2002
  • List of Changes in Amendments 2003
  • List of Changes in Amendments 2004
  • List of Changes in Amendments 2005

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• AACR2 Prefaces

  AACR2 prefaces for 1978-1998 were not published in the 2002 revision and are provided here for information.

  • 1998 revision — PDF version
  • 1988 revision — PDF version
  • 1978 — PDF version

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• AACR3

  Initial work on RDA was based on the development of a product with the working title of “AACR3 : Resource Description and Access.” After consideration at the April 2005 meeting of the feedback from the review of the draft of part I of AACR3, the JSC decided on a change of direction.

  • AACR3 part I draft, Background
  • AACR3 Editor announcement

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• Format Variation Working Group

  During the revision of Rule 0.24, proposals were made to deal more effectively with the complexities of preparing bibliographic records that intelligibly describe work expressions and the variations among their manifestations. In 2001 the Joint Steering Committee charged an international Working Group to develop an experiment to test the practicalities associated with the creation of bibliographic records for expressions. The Group presented its first interim report in October 2001, and progress with this work was discussed at each subsequent JSC meeting. At the April 2004 meeting, the JSC thanked the FVWG for their work and discharged the Group. The JSC charged the Editor with continuing the work of the FVWG on GMDs and chapter 25.

  • FVWG Terms of reference (Feb. 2001)
  • FVWG Terms of reference (Nov. 2001)
  • FVWG Additional term of reference (Oct. 2002)
  • FVWG Membership
  • FVWG First Interim Report (Oct. 2001) — PDF version
  • MARBI Discussion Paper 2002-DP08: Dealing with FRBR Expressions in MARC 21
  • FVWG Third Interim Report (Aug. 2002) — PDF version
  • FVWG Minutes of the London Meeting (Sept. 2002) — PDF version
  • FVWG Fourth Interim Report (Apr. 2003) — PDF version
  • Letter to discharge the FVWG (June 2004) — PDF version

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• International Conference on the Principles & Future Development of AACR

  In recent years, there have been repeated calls for fundamental revisions to the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules. In 1997, the Joint Steering Committee for Revision of AACR (JSC) sponsored an International Conference to address these issues, taking into account present and future trends in information resources and information management. The Conference reviewed the underlying principles of AACR, with a view to determining whether fundamental rule revision is appropriate and feasible and, if so, advising on the direction and nature of those revisions.

  The Conference took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on October 23-25, 1997. Nine papers were presented and discussed by 53 participants.

  • Further information about the conference

  Following the Conference, the Joint Steering Committee identified a number of action items which constituted a major part of the working agenda for the Committee from 1997 to 2002.

  • Progress report on the action items

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• The Logical Structure of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules

  One of the recommendations from the Toronto Conference was that a data modeling technique be used to provide a logical analysis of the principles and structures that underlie AACR. This study was carried out by Tom Delsey of the National Library of Canada, with assistance from Beth Dulabahn of the Library of Congress, Michael Heaney of Oxford University, and (for Part I) Jean Hirons of the Library of Congress. The model for both parts of AACR2 is available for review and comment. The Joint Steering Committee considered the recommendations and key issues presented in the model at their March 2000 Meeting in San Diego, California, USA .

  The following documents are all available in Adobe Acrobat PDF version only.

  
  
  • Part I (8/1998)
    • Full document [large file - 436 pages].
    • Introduction (including key issues and recommendations) is available as a separate file [40 pages] for your convenience.
    • Figures in these two documents are also available separately; they must be printed on legal size paper (8 1/2 x 14).
    
    
  • Part 2 (1/1999)
    • Full document [large file - 370 pages].
    • Introduction (including key issues and recommendations) is available as a separate file [94 pages] for your convenience.
    • Figures in these two documents are also available separately; they must be printed on legal size paper (8 1/2 x 14).

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• Revising AACR2 to Accommodate Seriality

  The Joint Steering Committee charged Jean Hirons of the Library of Congress with recommending rule revisions in support of the recommendations in the paper, “Issues Related to Seriality” presented at the Toronto Conference by Jean Hirons and Crystal Graham. The first result was a report containing specific recommendations, but without rule revision proposals; this report was submitted in April 1999 and considered at the October 1999 JSC Meeting in Brisbane, Australia. Guided by the JSC decisions, a set of rule revision proposals was prepared and submitted in February 2000 and were discussed at the September 2000 JSC Meeting in London, England. These proposals, along with comments from the constituent bodies, were reviewed at the September 2000 JSC meeting in London, England, and again at the April 2001 JSC meeting in Washington, DC. The Library of Congress representative prepared a clean version of chapter 12, and final decisions were made at the October 2001 JSC meeting. The revised chapter is included in the 2002 revision of AACR.

  • Report to the Joint Steering Committee (4/1999) — Adobe Acrobat PDF version [57 pages]
  • Rule Revision Proposals (2/2000) — Adobe Acrobat PDF version [51 pages]

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