Canadian Books in Print 2005: Subject Index

Sarah Robertson is editor of the Canadian Book Review Annual.

In the words of long-time editor Marian Butler, Canadian Books in Print
“is a reference tool intended primarily to bridge the gap between
Bowker’s Books in Print and Whitaker’s British Books in Print.”

Compiled from information supplied by publishers, Canadian Books in
Print includes mainly English-language titles “bearing the imprint of
Canadian publishers or originated by the Canadian subsidiaries of
international publishing firms.” Of the 51,442 titles included in the
2005 edition, 4502 have a 2004 imprint. Government publications of
interest to the general public are included, as are “French-language
titles published by predominately English-language Canadian publishers,
as well as titles from French-language publishers outside Quebec.”

The Author and Title Index is divided into four sections: a
cross-referenced author index, a title index, a publisher index, and a
list of publisher ISBN prefixes. The Subject Index comprises a
cross-referenced subject list, a subject index that lists all books in
the Author and Title Index (some titles appear under two or more
headings), a publisher index, and a list of publisher ISBN prefixes.
There are 13 key subjects: amusements, art, business administration,
geography, history, information sciences, language and languages,
literature, music, religion, science, social sciences, and technology.

The Author and Title Index, Butler notes, “is issued quarterly—the
hardcover edition followed by complete microfiche editions in April,
July and October of each year.” The Subject Index, on the other hand,
“is published annually in hardcover only.”