See Also
Historica edition

Table of contents

Alphabetical arrangement

Form of name for entry

Types of entry

Asterisks, Cross-references

Usages

Abbreviations and acronyms

Bibliographies and writings

Lists of compositions

Discographies

Filmographies

Alphabetical arrangement

Compound headings are treated as one continuous word and are alphabetized, ignoring spaces, hyphens, apostrophes, accents, and quotation marks, up to the first comma. For names of persons or corporate entities the rule is applied following the comma: eg,

Musical Union precedes Music boxes;

Gagnon, Alain precedes Gagnon, André.

The ampersand (&), all numbers, and St/Ste (Saint/Sainte) are alphabetized as though spelled in full.

Form of name for entry

The professional, or best-known, or (in general) most recent form of a name has been used as the form of entry. Any other form of a name follows immediately after the heading.

The religious name of a priest or nun has been used when that is the best-known or professional name. Religious names are entered, without inversion: eg,

Sister Marie-Stéphane under S.

Family entries that treat more than one generation are entered first in a list of like names: eg,

Gagnon family precedes Gagnon, Alain.

French surnames that include the definite article L', Le, or La are entered under L, and those beginning with Du under D. Normally French surnames that include the preposition 'de' are entered under the word following. However, when professional usage dictates, such French names may be entered under D: eg,

de Foras, Odette under D.

Compound names are entered under the first word of the compound: eg,

John Adaskin Project under J;

Rebecca Cohn Auditorium under R.

The entries for most Quebec and other French-Canadian subjects appear in EMC under the French names: eg,

Académie de musique du Québec;

Société de musique contemporaine du Québec.

In a few instances English-language versions of French names have come into wide use in English-speaking Canada, and for each of these the English-language form of entry, marked by a dagger, is given first, followed by the French-language form: eg,

University of Moncton†/Université de Moncton;

Quebec Symphony Orchestra†/Orchestre symphonique de Québec.

Many national organizations have proper names in both languages; these are entered under the English-language name, followed by the French-language one: eg,

Canadian Music Centre/Centre de musique canadienne.

Types of entry

In addition to biographical or topical entries, there are three other types of entry in EMC.

The family entry. When members of more than one generation of a family are given individual biographies these are arranged in chronological order in a subdivided entry under the family name.

Asterisks, Cross-references

Within an entry an asterisk (*) has been used before a subject to indicate the existence of an entry on that subject in EMC. Such cross-references usually are made only at the first mention of the subject within the entry. However, in very long or subdivided entries and family entries the asterisk may be repeated at the first mention in any subsequent subsection. In the recording information given in a list of compositions the asterisk is used before the name of a performer (or performing group) to indicate that fuller discographic detail may be found in the entry for that performer or group.

'See' or 'see also' references have been provided in bibliographies and discographies, to avoid undue duplication of information.

Usages

Dates. '1964-76' should be read as 'from 1964 to 1976.' '(1903-81)' should be read as 'begun in 1903 and concluded (or dispersed or ceased operating) in 1981' or 'born in 1903, died in 1981.' A date followed by a hyphen, eg, '1965-', should be read as 'beginning in 1965.'

The abbreviation 'fl' used before a date indicates the span of years in which a person or organization is known to have flourished.

Place. Place-names have been used that were current at the time under discussion in the article, with the modern or familiar name given in parentheses: eg,

Berlin, Upper Canada (Kitchener, Ont).

A Canadian city or town named after an old-country city or town is given a qualifying provincial designation. London, Ont, is always so designated unless the context makes the designation unnecessary. London, unqualified, means the original city of that name in England.

Ranks, titles, specializations. In ordinary references within the text, military, religious, and academic titles are used only rarely. Academic promotions (assistant professor, professor, etc) have not been noted for reasons of space. At the beginning of a biographical article the subject's main specializations are listed in the approximate order of their importance in his or her career.

The term 'educator' usually is applied to the teacher whose sphere of activity extends or has extended beyond the studio or classroom (ie, into the formulation of educational theories or methods, the writing or editing of textbooks, etc).

Degrees. Standardized forms have been used for academic degrees and applied irrespective of the forms used by the granting institutions. These forms are listed under 'Abbreviations and Acronyms'.

Translations. When French-Canadian churches, concert halls, streets, or other such entities are referred to in EMC, the French form of the descriptive part of the name has been retained, but the generic part of the name has been translated: eg,

l'église Notre-Dame-de-Fatima becomes Notre-Dame-de-Fatima Church;

rue Ste-Catherine becomes Ste-Catherine St.