RDA-L

Hi everyone,

I would like to know if it is correct according to RDA to use "double sided" for a poster printed on both sides.

The definition of "layout" under 3.11.1.1 is rather general: "An arrangement of text, images, tactile notation, etc., in a manifestation." Meanwhile, the list under 3.11.1.3 makes no mention of any restrictions on the use of the term "double sided".

If we consult the glossary, however, the definition of "double sided" is as follows: "A layout that uses both sides of a sheet. This term applies to sheets and tactile text." In your opinion, does the term "sheet" refer specifically to a sheet with printed text (as under 3.4.5.14) or rather to the carrier type "sheet" (which is the carrier type used for posters)? I'd be most grateful if you could share your insights on the matter.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Best regards,

Marie-Chantal L'Ecuyer-Coelho

Bibliothécaire responsable du traitement documentaire des collections iconographiques et de l'ISNI

Direction des métadonnées et de la normalisation bibliographiques

Direction générale de la Bibliothèque nationale

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec

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Marie-Chantal L'Ecuyer-Coelho
Metadata Librarian
Bibliothèque Et Archives Nationales Du Québec
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Marie-Chantal

'Sheet' refers to the carrier type. Official Toolkit tries to use terminology as consistently as possible.

A sheet is an unbound leaf. The definition of 'leaf' gives more information: 'A unit of extent that consists of a single bound or fastened sheet as a subunit of a volume; each leaf consists of two pages, one on each side, either or both of which may be blank.'

Thus a sheet may be printed on both sides, as with your poster.

The RSC Extent Working Group is developing a significant update to the treatment of extent in RDA which covers this situation. For the time being, I think it is fine to say:

extent of manifestation: '1 sheet (double-sided)'

or something similar.

This is likely to change to something like '2 pages on 1 sheet' in due course. The main impact of this particular development is to improve machine-readability of extent quantities; in this case it would make little difference to an end-user.

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Gordon Dunsire
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Dear Gordon,

Thank you very much for your prompt reply and for these clarifications. I'll make sure to keep up with developments!

Have a great day,

Marie-Chantal

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Marie-Chantal L'Ecuyer-Coelho
Metadata Librarian
Bibliothèque Et Archives Nationales Du Québec
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Original Message:
Sent: Jun 13, 2025 05:03 AM
From: Gordon Dunsire
Subject: Double-sided poster

Marie-Chantal

'Sheet' refers to the carrier type. Official Toolkit tries to use terminology as consistently as possible.

A sheet is an unbound leaf. The definition of 'leaf' gives more information: 'A unit of extent that consists of a single bound or fastened sheet as a subunit of a volume; each leaf consists of two pages, one on each side, either or both of which may be blank.'

Thus a sheet may be printed on both sides, as with your poster.

The RSC Extent Working Group is developing a significant update to the treatment of extent in RDA which covers this situation. For the time being, I think it is fine to say:

extent of manifestation: '1 sheet (double-sided)'

or something similar.

This is likely to change to something like '2 pages on 1 sheet' in due course. The main impact of this particular development is to improve machine-readability of extent quantities; in this case it would make little difference to an end-user.

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Gordon Dunsire
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