About ACORD

A Community on Resource Description (ACORD) is an ALIA Special Interest Group which aims to support the Australian resource description community. ACORD carries forward the role previously played by the Australian Committee on Cataloguing (ACOC), which dissolved in May 2019, after 40 years of serving the Australian cataloguing and resource description community.

ACORD aims to facilitate, foster and, where appropriate, lead:

  • Information sharing about resource description issues.
  • Engagement in resource description issues from all sectors of the library and cultural heritage communities that are involved resource description (including libraries, collecting institutions, and support services such as book vendors, cataloguing agencies and training providers).
  • Co-operation on activities and initiatives within the Australian resource description community.
  • Development of frameworks for skills training and education in the field of resource description.
  • Development and maintenance of best practice for data exchange.
  • The representation of the Australian resource description community in the development of international resource description standards (e.g. representation on the Oceania RDA Committee (ORDAC) and the Dewey Editorial Policy Committee (EPC)).

ACORD will function as a Special Interest Group, allowing interested professionals not on the Committee to connect with the work of the group and receive information from and through ACORD.

The ACORD Committee also hopes to establish working groups to carry out projects or ongoing activities in key areas of interest in the resource description community, such as standards for resource description, training and professional development, accreditation, and working with Indigenous materials. ACORD will welcome suggestions for any other areas of work related to resource description.

ACORD Committee Members

The ALIA Board has confirmed the following members of the ACORD Special Interest Group:

  • Nicole Hunt (Chair)
  • Glenn Wells (Vice-Chair)
  • Sara Davidsson (Secretary)
  • John Timoney (Treasurer)
  • Edith Fullalove
  • Alissa McCulloch
  • Melissa Parent
  • Catherine Barnes
  • Renate Beilharz
  • Cath Ferguson
  • Bradley Chugg
  • Lesa Maclean