1. Committee Membership
An Expression of Interest will be posted towards the end of July, hoping to capture interest from underrepresented groups in the current ACORD membership.
The updated Terms of Reference has been drafted, with minimal feedback received from within the group. The final ToR will be sent to ALIA to formalise in the coming weeks.
2. ALIA AI Working Group
Earlier this year ALIA put out a call for Expressions of Interest in an AI-focused working group. Due to the level of interest received, the proposed structure of the group will be amended to allow a greater level of participation. There will be a Community of Practice and Advisory Committee (AIAC), as well as several working groups.
3. Metadata in Public Libraries
As metadata processes continue to be automated or external to libraries, there was discussion regarding public libraries and how to ensure staff remain up to date with broader sector shifts like Official RDA. This forms part of an ongoing conversation, particularly as topics like AI in metadata creation, metadata ownership and reuse, and subject analysis in an Australian context remain relevant. It also underlines ACORD’s recognition that greater public library participation within the committee is needed.
4. TSAC Update
The TSAC election has concluded, with a full list of representatives available here. ACORD Chair Nicole Hunt is also TSAC Chair for the next two years. There are still a couple of ALIA-appointed roles to be filled.
The ICIP Metadata Mapping survey is currently being reviewed before dissemination to the sector. The survey seeks to find out how the sector is applying ICIP.
Round-up of Community of Practice and Project updates:
- Cataloguers’ Catch-Up – The next Cataloguers’ Catch-Up will be held on 7 July 2026, with facilitators Melissa Parent and Michela Goodwin.
- Reparative Description CoP – At a recent meeting of the RDCoP, speakers from Monash University’s Indigenous Engagement Group presented.
- NSLA RDA Project – Policy Statement testing is complete. The group received really good feedback during this phase. The last working group for Workflows commences this month and will run until December, giving organisations time to provide training.
- Schools Cataloguing CoP – The most recent catch-up had a focus on RDA in school libraries and a presentation from SCIS staff on their practices, providing a great opportunity for school staff to be involved in the broader sector conversation.
- Australian Subject Access Project (ASAP) – There is no update yet on the survey results.
- ORDAC – There are currently four proposals out for feedback. More information on an upcoming drop-in session will be provided in due course.