Bilingual Cataloguing Policy

We are currently updating this Policy and some of the information on this site is not up to date. If you have questions about Library and Archives Canada’s current cataloguing practices, please contact bac.descriptiondesressources-resourcedescription.lac@canada.ca.

Table of contents

Authorities

Headings required for use as either main or added entries in records created for Canadiana, plus headings authenticated by Library and Archives Canada for the Library of Congress or for CONSER will be established in both an English and a French form (i.e. according to the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, second edition, 2002 revision, and the Règles de catalogage anglo-américaines, deuxième édition, révision de 1998, and their respective updates), provided they fall into one or more of the categories listed below. All other headings will be established in one form only, but that form, in most cases will be equally valid for use in both English and French catalogues, and will be designated as such.  

Headings: Personal names

1. Headings for persons who are known by different but well-established forms of name in both English and French (see rules 22.3B3, 22.3C1 and 22.3C2).

  • Pliny the Elder
  • Pline l'Ancien
  • Homer
  • Homère
  • A.N. Scriabin
  • A.N. Skriabine 

2. Headings for persons with names written in nonroman script which yield different forms depending on whether they are romanized according to the LC/ALA transliteration tables or the scheme adopted for French-language catalogues (ISO, etc. ) Footnote1 (see rule 22.3C2).

  • Evgenii Evtushenko
  • Evgenij Evtusenko

Note: the English form “Evgenii” should have a diacritic over the “ii”.

3. Headings for persons which include as an addition to the name a term conventionally given in the language of the cataloguing agency, where the English and French forms for the addition are different (see rules 22.11A, 22.13, 22.14, 22.16A-.16C and 22.19A). 

  • Seton, Elizabeth Ann, Saint
  • Seton, Elizabeth Ann, sainte
  • Beethoven, Ludwig van (Spirit)
  • Beethoven, Ludwig van (Esprit)
  • Sverre, King of Norway
  • Sverre, roi de Norvège
  • Paul VI, Pope
  • Paul VI, pape
  • Joannes, Bishop of Ephesus
  • Joannes, évêque d'Éphèse
  • Thomas (Anglo-Norman poet)
  • Thomas (Poète anglo-normand) 

Headings: Corporate names (non-government)

1. Headings for corporate bodies with names written in nonroman script which yield different forms depending on whether they are romanized according to the LC/ALA transliteration tables or the scheme adopted for French-language catalogues (ISO, etc. ) Footnote2 (see rule 24.1A).

  • Chung-kuo wen tzu kai ko wei yüan hui
  • Zhongguo wenzi gaige weiyuanhui

2. Headings for corporate bodies that use both English and French as official languages (see rule 24.3A).

  • Canadian Committee on Cataloguing
  • Comité canadien de catalogage

3. Headings for corporate bodies that use either English or French (not both) as one of their official languages, but which use as the predominant name a form in another language (see rule 24.3A).  

  • Puerto Rican Society of Journalists and Writers
  • Socied a Puertorriquena de Periodistas y Escritores

4. Headings for international bodies that use either an English or French form of name, or both (see rule 24.3B).

  • League of Nations
  • Société des Nations

5. Headings based on the conventional name for a body in the language of the cataloguing agency (see rules 24.3C2-.3C3 and 24.3D).

  • Knights of Malta
  • Chevaliers de Malte
  • Antioch (Jacobite patriarchate)
  • Antioche (Patriarcat jacobite)
  • Poor Clares
  • Clarisses

6. Headings for corporate bodies that include as an addition to the name a place name or the name of an institution, where the name used as an addition has been established in both an English- and a French-language form (see rules 24.4C1-.4C5).

Effective December 1, 2003, headings for corporate bodies that include the name of the province Québec/Quebec as an addition will be established using only the one form, Québec. This form will be equally valid for use in both English and French catalogues. Previously established headings not reflecting this policy will be revised on an as encountered basis.

  • Sociedad Nacional de Mineria (Peru)
  • Sociedad Nacional de Minería (Pérou)
  • Loyola University (New Orleans, La.)
  • Loyola University (Nouvelle-Orléans, Louis.)

7. Headings for corporate bodies that require the addition of other types of qualifiers in the language of the cataloguing agency (see rules 24.4B, 24.4C7 and 24.11A).

  • Apollo 11 (Spacecraft)
  • Apollo 11 (Engin spatial)
  • Church of God (Adventist)
  • Church of God (Adventiste)
  • CFRB (Radio station : Toronto, Ont.)
  • CFRB (Station de radio : Toronto, Ont. )

8. Headings for subordinate and related bodies that are entered as subheadings of bodies for which both an English- and a French-language form have been established regardless of whether the name of the subordinate unit itself has both an English- and a French-language form or one language form only (see rules 24.13-24.14).

  • Association of Postal Officials of Canada. Postal Operations Group (Supervisory)
  • Association des officiers des postes du Canada. Groupe des opérations postales (Surveillants)
  • Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. British Columbia Division
  • Société canadienne des clinico-chimistes. British Columbia Division

9. Headings for religious bodies (councils, provinces, dioceses, synods, diplomatic missions, etc. ) and religious officials, where there are forms in both English and French for the name of the body, the title of the office, or of a higher body to which the name is subordinated (see rule 24.27).  

  • Catholic Church. Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
  • Église catholique. Conférence des évêques catholiques du Canada
  • Church of England. Diocese of Winchester. Bishop
  • Church of England. Diocese of Winchester. Évêque
  • Catholic Church. Province of Quebec
  • Église catholique. Province de Québec
  • Catholic Church. Apostolic Delegation (Great Britain)
  • Église catholique. Délégation apostolique (Grande-Bretagne) 

Headings: Corporate names (government)

1. Headings for government agencies that use both English and French as official languages (see rules 24.17 and 24.18).

Effective December 1, 2003, Library and Archives Canada will use only the French form of name for Quebec provincial bodies for the period 1974- . To harmonize with the Bibliothèque nationale du Québec (IRIS), Bibliothèque de l'Assemblée nationale du Québec (CUBIQ) and the Library of Congress, LAC will use only the form, Québec (Province), for provincial government headings. This form will be equally valid for use in both English and French catalogues. For the period prior to 1974, Quebec (Province) will still be used for Quebec government headings in English. A nonpublic usage note (667) will be given on the latest English heading to indicate that as of 1974 only the French form of name will be used and only the French form of name of the government body will be established. Equivalent headings will no longer be created; if an English form of a subordinate name is found, it will be treated as a variant of the French heading and given as a see-reference, subordinated to Québec (Province), if appropriate. Previously established headings not reflecting this policy will be corrected as soon as possible.

  • Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information
  • Institute canadien de l'information scientifique et technique
  • Air Canada. Employee Communications
  • Air Canada. Service des communications
  • Canada. Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism
  • Canada. Commission royale d'enquête sur le bilinguisme et le biculturalisme 

2. Headings for government agencies below the provincial, territorial level that are entered subordinately either under the name of the government or under the name of a higher body, where the name of the government or higher body has been established in both an English and a French language form, regardless of whether the name of the subordinate agency itself has both an English and a French language form or one language form only (see rules 24.17-24.19) Footnote3

Effective December 1, 2003, headings for corporate bodies that include the province Québec/Quebec as an addition will be established using only the one form, Québec. This form will be equally valid for use in both English and French catalogues. Previously established headings not reflecting this policy will be revised on an as encountered basis.

  • Vancouver (B.C.). False Creek Study Group
  • Vancouver (C.-B.). False Creek Study Group

3. Headings for governments and government agencies below the provincial, territorial level that include as an addition to the heading the name of the government, a place name, a term indicating type of jurisdiction, etc. , where the name or term used as an addition has been established in both an English- and a French-language form (see rules 24.4C and 24.6). Footnote4

Effective December 1, 2003, headings for corporate bodies that include the province Québec/Quebec as an addition will be established using only the one form, Québec. This form will be equally valid for use in both English and French catalogues. Previously established headings not reflecting this policy will be revised on an as encountered basis.

  • Halifax (N.S. : County)
  • Halifax (N.-É.  : Comté)
  • Joliette (Québec : Regional county municipality)
  • Joliette (Québec : Municipalité régionale de comté)

4. Headings for heads of state, where the title of the office has both an English and French form, or a form in one of those two languages plus a form in another language (see rule 24.20B).

  • Canada. Governor General (1979-1984 : Schreyer)
  • Canada. Gouverneur général (1979-1984 : Schreyer)

5. Headings for heads of governments and of international intergovernmental bodies, where there are official forms in both English and French for the title of the office (see rule 24.20C).

  • Canada. Prime Minister
  • Canada. Premier ministre
  • United Nations. Secretary General
  • Nations Unies. Secrétaire général

6. Headings for legislative bodies, constitutional conventions, courts, armed forces, embassies, delegations, etc. and subordinate units thereof that use both English and French official languages (see rules 24.21-24.26).

  • Canada. Parliament. House of Commons
  • Canada. Parlement. Chambre des communes
  • Canada. Court of Appeal
  • Canada. Cour d'appel
  • Canada. Canadian Armed Forces
  • Canada. Forces armées canadiennes
  • Canada. Embassy (Belgium)
  • Canada. Ambassade (Belgique)
  • Canada. Delegation (United Nations. General Assembly)
  • Canada. Délégation (Nations Unies. Assemblée générale) 

Headings: Uniform Titles

1. Uniform titles based on titles in nonroman script, which yield different forms depending on whether they are romanized according to the LC/ALA transliteration tables or the scheme adopted for French-language catalogues (ISO, etc. ) Footnote5 (see rule 25.2D). 

  • [Sluzhebnik]
  • [Sluzebnik]

Note: The French form “Sluzebnik” should have a diacritic over the “z”.

2. Uniform titles for classical, Byzantine Greek and anonymous works written before 1501 in nonroman script and for stories with many versions and cycles that are known by different but well-established titles in both English and French (see rules 25.4B-25.4C, 25.12).

  • Homer. [Iliad]
  • Homère. [Iliade]
  • Arabian nights
  • Mille et une nuits
  • Reynard the Fox. English
  • Roman de Renart. Anglais 

3. Uniform titles that include as additions to the title a word or phrase given in the language of the cataloguing agency (see rule 25.5).

  • Charlemagne (Play)
  • Charlemagne (Pièce de théâtre)

4. All collective titles (see rules 25.8-25.11, 25.15A1).

  • Mirebeau, Honoré-Gabriel de Riqueti, comte de. [Works]
  • Mirebeau, Honoré-Gabriel de Riqueti, comte de. [Œuvres]
  • Maugham, W. Somerset. [Plays] 
  • Maugham, W. Somerset. [Pièces de théâtre]
  • Ontario. [Laws, etc.]
  • Ontario. [Lois, etc.]

5. Uniform titles for subject compilations of laws and single laws, etc. that have short titles, citation titles, etc. in both English and French (see rules 25.15A1- .15A2).

  • Canada. [Canada Corporations Act]
  • Canada. [Loi sur les corporations canadiennes]

6. Uniform titles for treaties, etc. (see rule 25.16).

  • France. [Treaties, etc. 1920 Aug. 10]
  • France. [Traités, etc. 1920 août 10]

7. Uniform titles for sacred scriptures, their parts and additions, where English- and French-language reference sources differ in the form of title used to identify the scripture (see rules 25.17-25.18).

  • Koran . . .
  • Coran . . .
  • Bible. N.T. Epistles of John . . .
  • Bible. N.T. Épîtres de Jean . . .
  • Lord's prayer
  • Pater

8. Uniform titles for liturgical works that are known by different but well established titles in both English and French (see rules 25.19- 25.23).

  • Catholic Church. [Missal]
  • Église catholique. [Missel]
  • Kinot
  • Qînôt

Note: the “t” in the French form “Qînôt” should be underlined. 

  • Catholic Church. [Office, Assomption de la Bienheureuse Vierge Marie]
  • Église catholique.  [Office, Assomption de la Bienheureuse Vierge Marie]

9. Uniform titles for music, where terms used in the title differ in English and French (see rules 25.27- 25.35).

  • Cambini, Giovanni Giuseppe.  [Duets, flute, violine, op. 20 (Bland) . . .] 
  • Cambini, Giovanni Giuseppe.  [Duos, flûte, violon, op. 20 (Bland) . . . ] 

10. Uniform titles for works with identical titles proper, where the qualifying term is the name of a corporate body or a place name that has been established in both an English- and French-language form, or where an addition is made to the heading to indicate the language of the publication (see 25.1 Guidelines for the application of uniform titles to works with identical titles proper).

Effective December 1, 2003, headings for uniform titles that include the province Québec/Quebec as an addition will be established using only the one form, Québec. This form will be equally valid for use in both English and French catalogues. Previously established headings not reflecting this policy will be revised on an as encountered basis.

  • Bonjour (Hotel Association of Greater Montreal)
  • Bonjour (Association des hôtels du Grand Montréal)
  • Dialogue (Montréal, Québec : 1962). French
  • Dialogue (Montréal, Québec : 1962). Français 

Notes and references

References to the selected headings from variant forms of the heading will be made according to the same criteria as outlined above for headings themselves. For example, references will be made from both English and French variant forms of name for a corporate body that uses both English and French as official languages. References will be made from English variants to the English form of the selected heading, and from French variants to the French form. The English and French forms of the heading will be designated as equivalents, but neither the equivalent heading nor the variant forms associated with that heading will be repeated as “see” references to the heading in the other language.

European Economic Community
    x E.E.C.
    q Communauté économique européenne

Communauté économique européenne
    x C.E.E.
    q European Economic Community

Canadian National Railways
    x Canada. Canadian National Railways
    q Chemins de fer nationaux du Canada

Chemins de fer nationaux du Canada
    x Canada. Chemins de fer nationaux du Canada
    q Canadian National Railways

Effective December 1, 2003, headings that include the province Québec/Quebec as an addition will be established using only the one form, Québec. This form will be equally valid for use in both English and French catalogues. The language of the note(s) will be determined by the language of the corporate name or title itself (see guidelines for headings that have been established in one form only). Previously established headings not reflecting this policy will be revised on an as encountered basis.

Conference on the Canadian Parliamentary Tradition (1987: Québec, Québec)
Monastère des Augustines (Québec, Québec)

If equivalent forms of heading have been established solely to accommodate a difference in the form of a place name or other term used as an addition to the headings, references will be made from the variant(s) with the English qualifier to the English form of the heading, and from the variant(s) with the French qualifier to the French form of the heading.

Front Line Assembly (Musical group)
     x Frontline Assembly (Musical group)
     q Front Line Assembly (Groupe musical)

Front Line Assembly (Groupe musical)
     x Frontline Assembly (Groupe musical)
     q Front Line Assembly (Musical group)

If the heading has been established in one language form only, but there is a variance in the references required that is dependent on the language of the catalogue in which the heading is to be used, the two reference structures will be separately recorded in separate authority records.

Windsor, Edward, Duke of
x Edward VIII, King of Great Britain

Windsor, Edward, Duke of
x Édouard VIII, roi de Grande-Bretagne

Notes (including explanatory references such as history notes, etc., and cataloguer’s notes on heading usage, sources consulted, etc.) will be recorded in either one or two languages, depending on the nature of the heading.  If the heading has been established in one form, note(s) and/or explanatory references will be gtiven in just one language.

For personal name headings, including name title headings, the language of the note(s) will be determined by the language most commonly used by that person in his or her writings (i.e. for those writing in French the note(s) will be given in French; for those writing in English or any language other than French the note(s) will be given in English; for those working in a nonverbal context (e.g. , musical composers), the notes will be given in the language of cataloguing of the bibliographic record).

For corporate name headings, including corporate name titles, and uniform title headings that have been established in one form only the language of the note(s) will be determined by the language of the corporate name or title itself (i.e. if the name or uniform title exclusive of any names or terms used as additions or elements to which the name or title has been subordinated, is in French, the note(s) will be given in French; if the name or title is in English or any language other than French, the note(s) will be given in English).

For headings that have been established in both an English- and a French-language form, the note(s) and/or explanatory reference will be given in both English and French. Footnote6 This includes cases where equivalent forms of heading have been established solely to accommodate a difference in the form of a place name or other term used as an addition to the heading.

Bibliographic records

Monographs

1. All French-language publications (including multilingual publications containing a substantial portion of text in French) will be catalogued in French, according to the Règles de catalogage anglo-américaines, deuxième édition, révision de 1998 and its updates. Subject headings will be assigned in both French and English.

2. All publications in other languages (i.e.  those containing no substantial portion of text in French) will be catalogued in English, according to the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, second edition, 2002 revision and its updates. Subject headings will be assigned in both English and French.

3. All bilingual and multilingual publications containing substantial portions of text in both English and French will be catalogued twice, once in English and once in French. English subject headings will be assigned to the English record; French subject headings will be assigned to the French record.

4. Texts in Latin and instructional materials will be catalogued according to the language of the intended audience (i.e.  those intended for a French-speaking audience will be catalogued in French; those intended for an English- speaking or other language audience will be catalogued in English). Subject headings will be assigned according to the policy outlined above at 1-3.  

Continuing resources

If a continuing resource, during any period of its publication, is issued in a bilingual English/French format, two separate records, one in English and one in French, will be created to describe that period of its publication history. Either of those records, or in some cases both, may be constructed simply by taking a previously existing record which described the same continuing resource (issued in a unilingual format) at an earlier period in its publication history, and revising it to reflect the change in the publication's format. In some cases, however, it will be necessary to close a previously existing record and to create a new record to describe the current publication. In other cases there will have been an existing record in only one of the two languages, and therefore one or more completely new records will have to be created in the second language. The particular bibliographic circumstances accompanying the change in language format and the cataloguing rules that address those circumstances will determine whether the existing record is simply revised, or if it is closed and a second record created, or if a record in the second language is created for the first time.

When a continuing resource changes from a unilingual to a bilingual format, there will always be records in both English and French to describe the bilingual publication. Previously existing records which described the unilingual publication(s) immediately preceding the change to the bilingual format will be revised as necessary, either to form the basis for the description of the “new” publication, or to reflect their relationship to that publication. Normally there will be no retrospective cataloguing done to create equivalent records in both English and French for the preceding title, unless either the English or French record for the “new” publication requires as its equivalent a set of two records in the other language, neither of which had existed previously.

Similarly, when a continuing resource changes from a bilingual to a unilingual format, there will always be records in both English and French to describe the bilingual publication. Normally, however, there will be no continuation of cataloguing in both languages for the “new” publication, unless either the English or French record for the preceding bilingual publication requires as its equivalent a set of two records in the other language, one of which describes the unilingual publication.