The Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA (JSC) is the new name of the Joint Steering Committee for Revision of AACR. The JSC was responsible for maintaining the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, and is now working on a new code, “RDA: Resource Description and Access” scheduled to be released in June 2010. In order to enable the JSC and constituencies to concentrate on this work, the last update to AACR2 was in 2005.

The Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR) are “designed for use in the construction of catalogues and other lists in general libraries of all sizes. … The rules cover the description of, and the provision of access points for, all library materials commonly collected at the present time.” [Rule 0.1]

The current text is the Second Edition, 2002 Revision (with 2003, 2004, and 2005 updates) which incorporates all changes approved by the JSC through February 2005. The rules are published by:

• The American Library Association
• The Canadian Library Association
• CILIP: Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals

For information on purchasing AACR, see the AACR2 Web site.

AACR is published in English and has been translated into other languages; see “Translations of AACR.”

For information on the history of AACR see “A Brief History of AACR.”

The constituent organizations represented on the Joint Steering Committee are:

• The American Library Association
• The Australian Committee on Cataloguing
• The British Library
• The Canadian Committee on Cataloguing
• CILIP: Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals
• The Library of Congress

The current Chair of JSC is Alan Danskin, the British Library representative.

The work of the JSC relies heavily on the members of the constituent organizations. From time to time the JSC issues certificates to express its appreciation to individuals who have made a significant contribution to AACR; see “JSC Certificates.”

Proposals for revisions to AACR may be submitted for consideration by the Joint Steering Committee. For a description of the process, including information on how to submit proposals, see “The Rule Revision Process: Submitting Proposals To Revise AACR.”

For further information, contact:

Alan Danskin
Chair, JSC