Canadian Selection: Books and Periodicals for Libraries

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

This book was originally reviewed in CBRA 1978, item 1000 (and its supplement reviewed in CBRA 1980, item 1001). The data here are now completely computer-generated and typeset, spread over three columns. The purpose of the book remains the same: “designed to meet the need for a selective guide to significant Canadian books and periodicals for adults... the choice of materials has been made with small and medium-sized public libraries in mind, but school and college libraries will also find it useful” (p.xi).

Originally modelled after the H.W. Wilson Co.’s Standard Catalog series, Canadian Selection has expanded to include a magazine section (about 255 are listed, with short annotations). New to this edition is part three (Canadian Literary Awards, with descriptions of 38 of them). The heart is the numbered listing of 5427 books, with brief annotations and full bibliographic data. The scope covers through 1983, but it is restricted to English-language items. The arrangement is classified, by Dewey Decimal numbers, but there are author-title-subject indexes. There are no cross-references, however, in the subject index, and, by using the National Library’s subject headings, the book perpetuates the use of the word “Indians.”