<div dir="ltr"><div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small" class="gmail_default"><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Dear Colleagues,</span><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We are pleased to announce the publication of the RBMS Policy Statements in the </span><a href="https://access.rdatoolkit.org/" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(17,85,204);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Official RDA Toolkit</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. The RBMS Policy Statements are maintained by the RBMS RDA Editorial Group, a subgroup of the </span><a href="https://rbms.info/committees/bibliographic_standards/" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(17,85,204);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Bibliographic Standards Committee (BSC)</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). The statements provide guidance on the description of rare materials typically found in rare book, manuscript, and special collections repositories.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The RBMS Policy Statements are based on </span><a href="https://bsc.rbms.info/DCRMR/" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(17,85,204);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (DCRMR)</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, an open-source, integrating resource that will be updated over time. DCRMR is an RDA-aligned revision of a suite of manuals published as </span><a href="https://rbms.info/dcrm/" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(17,85,204);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (DCRM)</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, which cover various formats of rare materials. The current version of DCRMR includes instructions for the description of rare books only. As instructions for additional formats (e.g., rare graphics) are incorporated into DCRMR from the original DCRM suite, the scope of the RBMS Policy Statements will expand accordingly. For information on the application of RDA and the DCRM manuals, consult the BSC’s statement on </span><a href="https://rbms.info/dcrm/rda/" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(17,85,204);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">DCRM and RDA</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Most of the RBMS Policy Statements are brief, concise statements that provide guidance on the application of options in the RDA Toolkit. All of the statements include hyperlinked citations to relevant instructions in DCRMR for further information. Although the text of the RBMS Policy Statements is available without a subscription via a </span><a href="https://access.rdatoolkit.org/PolicyStatement/Index?externalId=en-US_rbms_landing" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(17,85,204);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">landing page in the RDA Toolkit</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, a subscription to the Toolkit is required to view them in context with RDA instructions.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We sincerely thank all current and past members of the RBMS RDA Editorial Group, previous DCRM and policy statement editorial groups, and the Bibliographic Standards Committee, as well as the larger rare materials cataloging community, for their contributions to writing, editing, and reviewing the RBMS Policy Statements. We are grateful for your collegiality, dedication, and good humor.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Best,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">RBMS RDA Editorial Group</span></p>

</div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br clear="all"></span></div><br><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif">Jessie Sherwood<br></span></div><div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif">Associate Librarian<br></span></div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif">The Robbins Collection and Research Center<br></span></div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif">University of California Berkeley, School of Law<br></span></div><div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif">Tel: 510.643.1236<br></span></div></div><span style="font-family:garamond,serif"><a href="mailto:jcsherwood@law.berkeley.edu" target="_blank">jcsherwood@law.berkeley.edu</a></span><br><div><div><div><div><div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>