Chris Oliver has taken a complex set of subjects and made them accessible to the library community through clear language, a multitude of examples and many references for further reading. RDA (Resource Description and Access) is the new cataloging standard proposed to replace AACR (the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules) and is the focus of the book. She covers the differences in AACR and RDA and how the new cataloging code can be implemented easily and without discarding the many existing bibliographic records in library catalogs formulated under AACR.

The book contains the clearest explanation for FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records) and FRAD (Functional Requirements for Authority Data) that I have seen. I finally “got it” after months of reading, attending seminars and webinars, and following discussions on various lists. It took this book to make clear what was murky before. I am still not sure that this code is what the library community needs at the present time, taking many more hours of work in already stretched library budgets and not giving much more benefit. But I understand the issues more clearly. This book is necessary reading for anyone interested in the cataloging rules debate. ( )