Canadian Serials Directory

Dean Tudor is a journalism professor at the Ryerson Polytechnical
Institute and founding editor of the CBRA.

This third edition of the CSD follows the format established by the second edition, which was published by the University of Toronto Press in 1976. There is access here to the title, subject, and publisher of 3,000 Canadian magazines, periodicals, annuals, yearbooks, journals, newspapers, and newsletters. Not included are most government periodicals, directories, school calendars, annual reports, monograph series, and community newspapers (why not the latter?). Most entries include data about frequency, price, number of pages per issue, bibliographic history, circulation, availability of advertising, publisher’s name and address, editors, and date of commencement. Both French-and English-language publications are listed here. Information was obtained through the usual questionnaire method; occasionally, sample copies were submitted. The basic arrangement is the major title entry where all the bibliographic details are revealed, followed by the subject entry index and the publisher / sponsor index. A fourth edition is planned for 1989.

Overall, the work appears to be incomplete. Just taking one area of which I have knowledge — wine — I find that Wine Tidings is here (but no mention is made that it is also a “club” magazine), but The Wine Companion (a newsletter from 1986), Beverage Canada (from 1975), and BAR: Beverage Alcohol Reporter (from 1949) are not. The subject section under “Journalism” is woefully small and misrepresentational. These omitted magazines are just a handful selected off my shelves, within two feet of my typewriter. So they exist, but not in the CSD.

It would not hurt for Mr. Ripley to cross-check everything with Canadian Advertising Rates and Data — he may even find a couple of hundred more magazines that way.