Task Force on RDA Instructions for Heads of State and Heads of Government

CC:DA/TF/Heads of State and Heads of Government/1

August 9, 2010

Charge

The CC:DA Task Force on RDA Instructions for Heads of State and Heads of Government is charged with reviewing the current RDA instructions under 11.2.2 on Heads of state and Heads of government to address previously identified concerns of ALA that “the principle behind [having separate rules for recording the Heads of state and the Heads of government] is unclear. … [T]he instructions for these two kinds of officials [should] be consistent, particularly regarding choice of language”. The task force should consider the possibility of merging the two groups of instructions in a rational and principle-based solution, generating appropriate rules revisions to accomplish those ends.

Further, the task force should review the previously drafted proposal for Ruling Executive Bodies — 5JSC/RDA/Full draft/ALA response, p. 19 — to insure that it is consistent with the task force’s recommendations and proposal(s) regarding the instructions for Heads of state and Heads of government. The proposal regarding ruling executive bodies may be included in the Task Force’s proposal(s) or submitted separately.

The task force will submit an interim report at the 2011 ALA Midwinter Meeting and a final report at least a month prior to the 2011 ALA Annual Conference. Proposals for consideration by the Joint Steering Committee should be submitted to CC:DA at least three months prior to the date of the JSC meeting.

Full text from 6JSC/Sec/1, p.27:

Heads of state and Heads of government

Current RDA instruction number: 11.2.2.21
AACR2 rules: 24.20B; 24.20C

From 5JSC/RDA/Sections 2-4, 9/ALA response:

11.2.7.2 and 11.2.7.3. Although AACR2 included separate rules for recording the titles of Heads of state and Heads of government, the principle behind this distinction is unclear. ALA recommends that the instructions for these two kinds of officials be consistent, particularly regarding choice of language; we prefer the language of the jurisdiction. ALA would even support combining the two instructions, and some commentators would support merging all of the instructions for officials.

Full text from 6JSC/Sec/1, p.26:

Ruling executive bodies

Current RDA instruction number: 11.2.2

From 5JSC/RDA/Full draft/ALA response:

While there are instructions in chapter 11 for formulating access points for heads of state and chief executive (11.2.2.19 Type 9 and 11.2.2.21), there are no instructions for how to formulate the access point for a ruling executive body. This is an omission carried over from AACR2 that needs to be rectified. RDA should have instructions on how to record the name of a ruling executive body. Below is the proposed text for these instructions.

At the March 2009 meeting the JSC acknowledged there is a gap and agreed that it was willing to consider a formal proposal after first release (line 827).

CC:DA/TF/Heads of State and Heads of Government/2

August 9, 2010

Roster

Task Force Members

CC:DA/TF/Heads of State and Heads of Government/3

June 25, 2011

Report

The report is available in the following format:

• PDF version