RDA Transition in Turkey : Perspectives and Experiences of the Libraries

Information organization as a core component of library and information science consists of many technical processes related to information resources and objects. These processes are mainly shaped by technological developments and user expectations. Conceptual models and standards are also detrimental factors for these processes. In this regard, many awareness raising activities and scientific events related to RDA transition have been carried out in Turkey since 2012. Libraries independently implement RDA rules in their catalogues in Turkey because of the copy cataloguing approaches, attempts to create new collections in new founded universities and efforts for providing user-centred environments. It is detected that there are 10 libraries using RDA rules for their information resource description processes. In the light of this information, this study aims to examine the perspectives of libraries which implement RDA rules in Turkey.

Accordingly, a structured interview form containing ten open-ended questions was flourished with the aim of gathering qualitative data. In order to obtain deeper results interviews were carried out with cataloguing experts and decision makers in these processes. Results exposes that the current situation of Turkish libraries in RDA implementation, experienced difficulties and their perspectives related to transition process in Turkey. As an originality value, this study is the first study indicating perspectives and experiences of Turkish libraries which implement RDA rules.