In May 1996, the Russian Library Association joined with OCLC in a project to explore the harmonization of Russian cataloging rules and the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd edition, (AACR2). The goal of the project is the facilitation of the exchange and use of bibliographic and authority data.
The project includes two major phases: a thorough comparison of current Russian descriptive cataloging rules and AACR2; and a comparison of sample records created under both sets of rules. As a part of the first phase, AACR2 was also translated into Russian. The sample records used in the second phase will be chosen from the databases of the National Library of Russia and OCLC.
The Phase 1 report identifies a number of differences between Russian and Anglo-American practices for bibliographic description and choice of main entry as well as headings for persons, corporate bodies and uniform titles. The report also proposes a number of revisions to the Russian cataloging rules and to AACR2.