General RDA Guidelines

• Fewer abbreviations; what were formerly abbreviations are now spelled out UNLESS the abbreviation is transcribed.
  Exceptions
  • mono and stereo are no longer considered abbreviations
  • p and c are no longer valid preceding the date; instead, you'll see ℗ or © (or spelled out phonogram, copyright)
  • abbreviations of measurements (cm., in., min., sec., etc) are still allowed.
  • Music related numbers (i.e. op., n., no, no., Nr., etc) are left abbreviated.
• When there is no publisher information, the records will say [Place of publication not identified] and/or [Publisher not identified].
• Dates might look very funny. You might see phrases like "not before" or "not after," or "between YYYY and YYYY].
• In general, whenever more than one person or body is responsible for a work, only the first is required in the record. Alternatively, all persons will be listed.
  • If only the first of many is listed, that name will be followed by [and ## others].
• Not all persons listed need to be traced.
• Traced names do not need to be justified in the record.
• In general, there is a lot more room for cataloger's judgement; a variety of cataloging choices will be correct according to the rules. There will be a lot you just have to accept as is.