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How to get the most from an X-athon

The following information is intended to help you get the most out of the day. If you have any questions at all during the time leading up to the X-athon, please email the event contacts.

Feedback from earlier X-athons makes it clear that coming prepared makes the day a lot more fun. There are instructions on the TMQ website and help is available if something doesn't quite work as expected.

Give yourself plenty of time to

  • Download RIMMF.
    • Windows OS required. RIMMF runs on Apple machines that have Windows or a Windows VM installed.
  • Work through the tutorials on how to use RIMMF
  • Practice using RIMMF on your own resources.
  • Attend RIMMF online training - there is usually a session scheduled before the event. Invitations will be sent out to participants. Recordings will be available for those who cannot attend a live session.
  • Collect examples of publications to bring with you – photocopies are fine, as long as you also have the additional information needed to create a standard description of the resource (e.g. pagination, illustrations, etc.) A copy of a MARC record can also be used to supplement photocopies or scans. We will provide a set of examples for each table or team to start with, but anything you can bring along will be a bonus. For further information and data-gathering forms, see Bringing examples of resources to the X-athon.

A week or two ahead

We will send out reminders and links to instructions so that you can

  • Update RIMMF to the latest version.
  • Download a folder of base data for the X-athon to your laptop.

On the day

  • Bring a laptop, if you can, with RIMMF and the base data loaded and ready for use.
  • Free access to RDA Toolkit is usually provided by ALA Publishing.
  • Help coordinate feedback from your table or team – by ensuring that questions, issues, insights, are collected together for sharing.

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