
Kathy Glennan
Librarian IV
Director, Cataloging and Metadata Services
Collection & Metadata Services
University of Maryland Libraries
Kathy Glennan currently serves as the Director of Cataloging and Metadata Services, managing all aspects of cataloging and metadata for the UMD Libraries’ digital and physical resources. She also is UMD’s NACO Coordinator. She has over 35 years of experience cataloging scores and audio recordings, commencing in 1985 with a one-year NEH grant funded position at the Arnold Schoenberg Institute, then located at the University of Southern California. She subsequently became USC’s music cataloger, a specialization she held until moving to a similar position at the University of Maryland in 2005. She holds a master’s degree in Library Science from UCLA, and a B.A. with Distinction in Music from Swarthmore College.
Nationally, Kathy is a member of the Music Library Association (MLA), where she has served as a member and later as the chair of: the MARC Formats Subcommittee, the Descriptive Cataloging Subcommittee, and the Bibliographic Control Committee. She became active in ALA, serving for four years as the MLA liaison to MARBI (the Machine Readable Bibliographic Information Committee), and later on CC:DA (the Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access), as a liaison or as a voting member for over fourteen years. She also served as a member of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging’s Standing Committee on Standards for a three-year term. In 2012, she chaired the Task Group to Formulate or Recommend PCC/NACO RDA Policy on Authority Issues.
Since 2005, Kathy’s professional contributions and scholarship have focused on the development of RDA: Resource Description and Access, with a special emphasis on music cataloging instructions. Based on her expertise and ability to grapple with issues beyond those affecting music resources, she was appointed to two task groups for the Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA (JSC): the Appendices Working Group and the RDA/MARC Working Group.
In recognition of her contributions and leadership skills, she served as the ALA Representative to the JSC (later renamed the RDA Steering Committee, or RSC) from 2013-2017. In this role, she interpreted RDA instructions, identified problems, and shepherded change proposals from ALA to improve RDA. She also contributed to the implementation of a new governance model for RDA, including the establishment of the North American RDA Committee (NARDAC), for which she served as a founding member in 2018. In late 2017, the RDA Board appointed her the RSC Chair-Elect; she served as RSC Chair from 2019-2022 and will serve as RSC Past Chair in 2023.
Kathy has given numerous presentations on RDA, FRBR, LRM, and MARC Formats issues, including four ALA Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) webinars relating to RDA; she also spoke during the 2017 ALCTS Exchange. Many of her RDA-related presentations are available on the RSC website. She recently authored an article in the Nov./Dec. 2022 issue of Technicalities: “Reality Check: The Development of RDA: A View from the Trenches”. She also published a peer-reviewed journal article in the March 2012 issue of the Music Library Association’s quarterly journal Notes, “The Development of Resource Description and Access and Its Impact on Music Materials.” She continues to speak about RDA to various professional organizations throughout the country and internationally. In June 2018, she received an ALCTS Presidential Citation recognizing “her outstanding leadership, contributions, and service as the ALA Representative to the RSC; her willingness to provide informational and practical presentations on RDA to the broader cataloging community; and serving as an exceptional leader in the constantly evolving areas of description and metadata.”
Selected presentations
- Nov. 14, 2022: Future Projections: RSC Action Plan 2023-2025
NARDAC RDA Update Forum [YouTube link; presentation starts at 43:00] - Jun. 24, 2022: The Times They Are A-Changin: The “Whys” of RDA Toolkit Restructure & Redesign (3R)
RDA Preconference, ALA Annual 2022 - Nov. 8, 2021: Getting ready to use the new RDA
RAILS (Reaching Across Illinois Library System) webinar - Aug. 30, 2021: RSC in 2021: An Operational Reboot
Presentation at NARDAC RDA Update Forum - Apr. 20, 2021: Global Standard, Local Choices — The New RDA Toolkit
Core webinar - Mar. 1, 2021: The New RDA Toolkit: How did we get here, and what do we do next?
Presentation at Joint Meeting of the Music Library Association and the Theatre Library Association - Nov. 12, 2020: LRM in the RDA Toolkit: An Overview
Keynote address at Tercer Coloquio sobre RDA en América Latina y el Caribe - Sept. 15, 2020: Ongoing RDA Development: What’s Next for the RSC?
Presentation at RDA in Europe Virtual Meeting - Aug. 3, 2020: 3R is Almost Done – What’s Next?
Presentation at NARDAC RDA Update Forum - May 21, 2020: String Encoding Schemes: Community Choice in RDA
Presentation at Program for Cooperative Cataloging Operations Committee Meeting - May 19, 2020: RSC Chair Report to EURIG
Contains two parts: “Approaching aggregates” and “String encoding schemes”
Presentation at EURIG Annual Meeting - Feb. 26, 2020: RDA Beta Toolkit Workshop: From overview to creating linked data
Presentation at preconference for Music Library Association Annual Meeting - Jan. 25, 2020: Overview of the RSC Action Plan 2020-2022
Presentation at ALA Midwinter, RDA Forum - Aug. 21, 2019: Practical Implications: A Look at Cataloging a Book Using the New RDA [YouTube recording]
Presentation at IFLA World Library and Information Congress satellite meeting - June 22, 2019: Stable but not Unchanging: Next Steps for the Beta RDA Toolkit
Presentation at RDA Update Forum, ALA Annual 2019 - May 10, 2019: Getting a Handle on the New RDA Toolkit
RDA Orientation Project webinar, presented with James Hennelly - May 2, 2019: RDA 3R Project – Stabilization Phase
and Demo: Using the Beta Toolkit to Catalog a Simple* Monograph
Presentations at Program For Cooperative Cataloging Operations Committee meeting - Feb. 2019: The New Expression of RDA (not RDA 2.0)
Presentation at Music Library Association Annual Meeting - Feb. 2019: The New RDA Toolkit: Everything Has Changed — or Has It?
Presentation at Music OCLC Users Group meeting - Jan. 2019: New Ways of Working? The RSC in the Post 3R Era
Presentation at RDA-sponsored meeting, ALA Midwinter 2019 - Jan. 2019: Getting Beyond Beta
Presentation at RDA Update Forum, ALA Midwinter 2019 - Nov. 2018: Evolution of the RDA Toolkit and Its Impact on Catalogers
Keynote address at Amigos Library Services online conference, The Future of Cataloging: RDA, Linked Data, and More - Oct. 2018: Recording Methods, Transcription, and Manifestation Statements
Presentation at half-day conference, The Redesigned RDA Toolkit: What You Need to Know to Get Ready, Montréal, Québec - June 2018: Using the New Toolkit: Creating a Personal Name “Authority Record”
You-tube version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZUbDbrE24I
Presentation at ALA Annual 2018 Preconference, A Practical Introduction to the New RDA Toolkit - May 2018: RDA: Communities, Communication, and Collaboration
Presentation at LD4 Workshop - Feb. 2018: RDA, Linked Data, and the 3R Project
Presentation at PCC Participants’ meeting, ALA Midwinter 2018 - Feb. 2018: Instantiating LRM in RDA
Presentation at FRBR Interest Group meeting, ALA Midwinter 2018 - Dec. 2017: Rethinking, Restructuring & Redesigning RDA
Presentation at Fall 2017 Northern Ohio Technical Services Librarians meeting, The Road Ahead: Trends in Cataloging and Metadata - Nov. 2017: Update on the RDA 3R Project (slides) (recording)
ALCTS webinar - May 2017: RDA Toolkit 3R Project: Incorporating the 4-Fold Path
Online presentation, given as part of the ALCTS Exchange - Jan. 2017: RDA Developments of Note
Presentation at Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access meeting, ALA Midwinter 2017 - Mar. 2016: A Fresh Look at the Jim Henson Collection – Via RDA and Linked Data
Presentation at Music OCLC Users Group meeting - Feb. 2014: RDA: Revising, Developing and Assessing, or, How the Instructions Evolve
ALCTS webinar - Oct. 2011: RDA Basics: Scores
ALCTS webinar - Oct. 2011: RDA Basics: Sound Recordings
ALCTS webinar
Articles
- Glennan, Kathy. “Reality Check: The Development of RDA: A View from the Trenches.” Technicalities v. 42, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 2022), p. 1-8.
- Glennan, Kathryn P. “The Development of Resource Description and Access and Its Impact on Music Materials.” Notes 68, no. 3 (2012): 526-534 (DOI: 10.1353/not.2012.0013).
Workshops (planned, facilitated, and presented)
- Feb. 2020: RDA Beta Toolkit Workshop: From overview to creating linked data
4-hour preconference workshop for the Music Library Association - Feb. 2017: The Beat Goes On-athon: Creating Linked Data for Music with RIMMF
6-hour preconference workshop for the Music Library Association - Mar. 2016: RDA in Many Metadata Formats (RIMMF) and Linked Data: Lenny-a-thon!
1.5 hour hands-on session during Music Library Association Annual Meeting - Oct. 2012: RDA and Sound Recordings—A Cataloging Workshop
3 hour workshop, Music Library Association Atlantic Chapter Annual Meeting - Feb. 2011: RDA: A Hands-On Interaction
Music Library Association Annual Meeting Pre-conference
Glennan presentations:
Introduction
Title and statement of responsibility
Edition statement
Publication statement
Extent, Carrier, Media, Content, Series
Descriptive elements and notes