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Endnote

The Future of the Moys Scheme in Canada

The use of KF Modified may be the greatest threat to the use of the Moys scheme in Canada. Indeed, the Law Society of Saskatchewan Libraries are currently converting to KF Modified from Moys classification. There are three reasons for this conversion:

  1. “It is a lot easier to find sources for copy cataloguing using KF Canadian Modified.”
  2. “For a small collection like ours, it makes more sense to use KF instead of Moys. The flow of the classification from one subject to the next makes more sense.”
  3. “The law library at University of Saskatchewan uses KF Modified. Lawyers who went to school at U of S are already quite familiar with the subject arrangement. It saves them the hassle of having to learn to use another system...We need to have a system that the lawyers can find their way around with ease on their own.”(35)

In British Columbia, the BC Courthouse Library currently shows no signs of converting to another scheme. However, the UBC Law Library is now considering a change to Library of Congress Classification due to concern over the future of the Moys scheme. 

There is the possibility is that the Moys scheme may gradually die out in Canada altogether. LC Classification is maintained by a large number of paid staff and KF Modified seems to be well represented in Canada. Elizabeth Moys visited Canada, a few years before her death in 2002, because she was concerned that very few Canadian libraries were using the scheme and she was able to encourage some Canadian contribution of ideas to the fourth edition of Moys Classification and Thesaurus for Legal Materials (2001). But, with no further editions planned as yet, there is no way of knowing whether Canadian contributions will continue and if the scheme will remain relevant to Canadian law libraries.

In conclusion, it is difficult to predict whether the Moys Classification Scheme will survive in Canada without conducting comprehensive research into how many libraries still use it, or have used it in the past, which is not within the scope of this project. It is clear that Moys classification is not utilized as much in Canada as in the United Kingdom or Australia and New Zealand, however it remains to be seen whether or not the Moys scheme will continue to have a place in Canadian law libraries after the death of its creator. 

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