The IFLA Library Reference Model (LRM) has been adopted by the RSC (RDA Steering Committee) as the underlying theoretical framework for RDA. The LRM is an international standard that has been optimized to both reflect what tasks cataloger users are performing when searching for resources and what catalogers are currently doing to support those tasks. The theoretical model which has emerged is being adopted by the RSC to harmonize RDA, the cataloger's "Bible" used to make bibliographical records intercompatible and shareable, with models and frameworks used by the international cataloging community. In this way it is hoped that RDA will become a resource not only for English-speaking catalogers working in the library community, but a true international standard for use in all communities dealing with cultural artifact records, including libraries, museums, archives, and repositories.
With the change to the the LRM, many rules and processes that catalogers have typically relied upon will be modified or deprecated to harmonize with the new framework. This session will go over some of the new changes and additions to RDA and will discuss the ramifications of adopting a model that can be used in a linked data environment. We will also discuss the new, expanded RDA toolkit and its updated format.