The study presents data and commentary from 60 predominantly academic libraries about their use of Resource Description and Cataloging, or RDA. The questionnaire was largely designed and the summary written by award winning cataloging and metadata librarian Salman Haider, currently working as Cataloging Librarian at the U.S. Library of Congress. Data is broken out by of academic institution, tuition level, and type or Carnegie class among other variables.The study reports on library perceptions of RDA, ease of implementation, librarian training and use, and reception by patrons, among other issues. The study presents detailed commentary on the integration of RDA with ILS systems, and reports on the impact of RDA on cataloging productivity and use of staff time. The report also looks at the general state of cataloging in academic libraries with questions about budget, staffing, technology use and more.

Many major academic libraries in the USA, Canada, Australia and the UK participated.Just a few of the report's many finding are that: According to the survey participants 111.72 minutes is the mean extra time needed for every 10 library items cataloged using RDA vs. prior procedures. The median time was 50 minutes, and the range was from 0 to 600 minutes. A plurality of survey participants were not in favor of retro-conversion services for RDA cataloging as they do not think that it will result in saving of time and money, and high quality records. Out of all 56 responses received 26 were against retro-conversion, 12 favored it, and 18 responses contained mixed opinions. 35.

59 percent of all survey participants say the library has spent "about the same" on cataloging over the past five years, while 32.20 percent estimate that they have spent "somewhat less." Just 8.47 percent of participants say their institutions have spent "somewhat more" on cataloging.