The first Resource Description and Access (RDA) implementation strategy in the National Library of Latvia (NLL) was created for 2013-2019, and priorities was national bibliography and authority data. The result is one database and one standard RDA for Union Catalogue and National Bibliography, which gives benefits both for cataloguers (one record for for Union Catalogue and National Bibliography, and more resources for authority work), both for users: one interface for all databases, more access points for search queries and enriched authority data. The impact of RDA implementation and main challenges are related with impact to cataloguers – necessity to change librarian-oriented cataloguing philosophy to user-friendly description of resources, as well as partly automated data editing and reduction of manual work.

In 2017 NLL started creating book metadata in accordance with the RDA standard, replacing the previous cataloguing standard “Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules” (AACR2). Over the implementation period, both advantages and disadvantages have been identified. One of the most significant advantages is that the more consistent regulations helps to make data more available internationally and to address to other metadata institutions outside of the library sphere. The benefit for readers is more detailed data concerning the national publishing output and thus better search options in the Electronic union catalogue of national significance. Unfortunately, there is a problem with the reusing and sharing of data, as well as using linked data functionality.

However, the goal is to be a part of modern data world, and implementation of RDA will be based only on the knowledge and competence of NLL experts and their skills of self-learning and training the staff by developing knowledge and skills of cataloguers.