Impact of FRBR on Cataloguing Standards and RDA Implementation

RDA integrates the FRBR conceptual model with cataloguing principles to establish a framework that enhances cataloguers judgment and improves future systems. FRBR is not a cataloguing code in itself. It illustrates how users can gain advantages from a meticulously organized system centered on the FRBR entities and their interrelations. As an IFLA study its first impact was on the ISBDs International Standard bibliographic Description in terms of applying recommendations about which data elements should be mandatory and which data elements should be optional. This is a non-empirical study that tries to explore the impact of FRBR on cataloguing standards and RDA implementation. The concepts of functional requirements for bibliographic records resource description and open access were well presented and highlighted. The study also elucidated on the impact of FRBR on cataloguing and RDA implementation. Since the release of FRBR in 1998 there has been a growing reflection in the bibliographic community around the ideas it represents. FRBR has provided a unifying framework and a common terminology for discussion. Theoretical work on the principles underlying cataloguing had been going on prior to FRBR but authors had to inventdefine their own terms particularly for entities in FRBR Group 1. The study recommends appropriate training of cataloguers on the current trends in cataloguing practices as well as good maintenance of cataloguing tools and equipment.