Canadian Companion to Sears List of Subject Headings
Background
The Sears List of Subject Headings was created in 1923 by Minnie Earl Sears as an alternative to Library of Congress Subject Headings for small public libraries. It is currently in its 18th edition. The Sears List of Subject Headings: Canadian Companion was first published in 1978 to supplement the 11th edition of the Sears List in specifically Canadian subject areas. It is currently in its 6th edition.
Both the Sears List and the Canadian Companion are published by HW Wilson and are available in paper format only. The Canadian Companion list is updated by Lynne Lighthall, formerly a professor at UBC's School of Library, Archival, and Information Studies. Updates to the Canadian Companion list appear when the Sears list is updated, unless Lynne Lighthall believes there is no need for an update at the time.
Types of Headings Used in the Canadian Companion
The types of topics that can be found in the Canadian Companion are:
- Canadian history
- Politics
- Constitutional matters
- Official languages
- The multicultural nature of Canadian society
- First Nations
- Headings relating to Canadian cities and provinces, holidays, art scene, sports, and many others.
Structure of Sears and the Canadian Companion
The Sears subject headings attempt to follow the format of the LC headings as much as possible, with the intention of making it easier for small libraries to switch to LC headings as they grow larger. Nevertheless, there are some variations. Sears typically uses fewer scientific terms and does not use inverted word order as CSH and LCSH do (for example, Cookery, Canadian). Sears also uses many more pattern headings than LCSH. For example, in the entry for “Animals,” there is a note authorizing the creation of headings for specific kinds of animals as needed.
The Canadian Companion attempts to follow the the style and format of Sears List as closely as possible, including using American spelling. However headings do diverge from Sears when necessary. Lynne Lighthall determines which headings are needed and in what forms by consulting interested groups, the Canadian Subject Headings list, and by reviewing indexing terms used in Canadian periodical indexes.
For example, consider the concept of First Nations people.
- Sears uses Native Americans
- Canadian companion uses First Nations
- LCSH and CSH use Indians of North America
However, like CSH, the Canadian Companion uses Native Peoples for works collectively discussing First Nations, Metis, and Inuit. This change in the Canadian Companion was based on research and discussion with First Nations groups.
Other examples where the Canadian Companion differs from the Sears List:
- Federalism--Canada instead of Federal government
- Quebec (Province)--Separatist movements instead of Quebec (Province)--History--Autonomy and independence movements
- French-speaking Canadians instead of French Canadians
Who Uses It
The Sears list was designed for use in small or medium sized public libraries. It is also useful for school libraries because the headings are simpler than in LCSH. However, because CIP data and copy cataloguing data most often use LCSH, Sears Subject Headings are used less and less, meaning the Canadian Sears headings are also used less. In addition, many school libraries outsource their cataloguing and although vendors will use Sears if the librarian requests it, not all school librarians are aware of the difference between Sears and LCSH [1]. We had a very difficult time finding a library that used Sears and were only able to identify one in the United States (Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida has a private school on campus that uses Sears headings and their catalogue is integrated with the university’s library catalogue).
Because the Sears List of Subject Headings as well as the Canadian Companion are used so infrequently, we will not be covering them in the rest of this web site.
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