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Help
Table of Contents
Contact RVM
Browser Functions
Searching RVM on the Web
Lists of Subdivisions
Contact RVM
For queries concerning RVM's content or policies, products available, subscription to this service or any question relating to the presentation and functionality of this website, please Contact RVM.
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Browser Functions
Répertoire de vedettes-matière (RVM) on the Web relies on the functions available in your Web browser. The display (in terms of font and arrangement) is, for the most part, based on the browser you use and the settings you have selected. It is assumed that you know the basic functions available in the browser to move around within the site. For example, you should know how to use the navigation buttons and menus of the browser, such as Back, Forward and Go or View - Go to, to move quickly to a page already displayed and temporarily saved. You should also know how to use Bookmarks or Favorites, stored in your personal directory or listed in the menu, to move to another part of the site or to another Web resource.
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Searching RVM on the Web
Within the RVM website, you can choose the interface language by selecting the English or Français tabs that appear in the header. Note that you cannot change the language of the RVM data itself. The following menu options can be selected at any time, except from the Subdivision List pages: Introduction, Help, Search or Subdivisions. The Search page also gives access to: free lists of Subdivisions; free lists of Monthly Changes of subject headings and of geographical names; resource persons, by means of Contact RVM; Related Sites; and Canadian Subject Headings, the free list of English subject headings for Canadian subjects.
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Search form
Note that for any new search request, the Source of Heading and the Search Type are set by default to RVM and Browse.
- Source of Heading: The arrow on the right side of the selection box allows you to choose either RVM or LCSH/CSH. If you select RVM, the search is performed within all French subject headings and subdivisions, and all rejected terms (UF, references) in RVM. If you select LCSH/CSH, then the search is performed within all English subject headings and subdivisions listed in LCSH, CSH, or others headings (MeSH, aat ...) appearing as equivalents in the records for the French headings in RVM. The rejected English terms (UF) in Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), Canadian Subject Headings (CSH), the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) or the Art and Architecture Thesaurus (aat) are not included in the RVM database.
- Search Type: The examples below illustrate each type of search possible. Please consult the following descriptions:
- Browse: allows you to browse through the headings or subdivisions in alphabetical (Rather sort) order, starting with the term or terms that you have typed in the Term box. This search type allows you to position yourself within the alphabetical list and then view the headings that precede or follow the searched term(s) by using the Previous and Next buttons, which are located above and below the search results display. Use the singular or plural form of a term as required. The use of the double hyphen (--) to find subject headings containing subdivisions is optional, for example, Chronologie or -- Chronologie. To search headings beginning with Canada--Histoire--18, type exactly these terms. Either type the whole word or truncate the ending of a word (it is not necessary to use a symbol) based on what part of the alphabetical order you want to reach; for example, immuno-, conservation , or conser.
- Exact: immediately displays the record for the heading that exactly matches the search terms you indicated (bypassing the search results display screen). This type of search is useful when you know the exact spelling of the heading being searched. Use the double hyphen (--) to find subject headings that contain subdivisions. For example, type féminisme--aspect moral to consult this heading without displaying the other headings that precede or follow it. Word truncation does not function with this type of search: femmes--asp will generate an error message "Search returned 0 items".
- Keyword: retrieves all occurrences of the term(s) in RVM, regardless of their placement in the heading's string of elements. This search type is an efficient means of searching for headings with long strings of elements, instead of using the Browse or Exact search types.
Keyword searching looks for terms that exactly match the search term. This means that if the search term is entered in the singular form, the plural forms of the term will not be identified in the search. If the search term is preceded by "d' " or by "l' ", for example l'enseignement, all headings containing this combination will be identified.
If more than one term is entered in the search term box, for example francophones canada, the search will produce a list of all headings where these two terms are present, regardless of the order of the search terms and regardless of whether the terms are sequential or a part of these headings, for example, Canada--Relations entre anglophones et francophones, Canada--Relations entre Québécois et francophones hors Québec, Francophones (Canada).
To search for words whose root is a letter sequence such as rap (e.g., rapide, rapaces, rapatriement), truncate the word and place the truncation operator * at the end. To search for terms containing the letter sequence rap within the word, precede and end the letter sequence with the truncation operator *, for example *rap*, and search results will display headings such as biographies, dérapage, radiographie. If the truncation operator is not used, the search will produce all terms that exactly match the term, for example Rap (Musique). Searches using the Boolean operator underscore (single character wildcard) can be performed in this search type (see Boolean). It also allows for searching "excluded" terms from the Boolean search, for example et, ou, sauf, but it cannot search for their English equivalents, i.e., and, or, not.
- Boolean: this search type identifies all occurrences of the search term, based on the search relationships you select amongst terms and express with the Boolean operators. If two or more terms are entered, for example droit de la, without an operator, the search will identify all uses of these terms, as an expression and in the given order.
Boolean searching uses the most popular Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT, * , _ , ( ) , { } ) or their equivalents. Boolean operators can be in lowercase or uppercase, and the number of spaces before or after has no impact on the search. English operators can be used as well as French equivalents. The terms used as Boolean operators in English are "excluded" from the Boolean search, i.e. and, or and not. To search headings containing terms et, ou and sauf,, enclose the terms between { }, or use Keyword search (see table below).
Here are some examples of search syntaxes:
| Search syntax |
Headings identified |
législation and femmes
or
législation & femmes |
Headings containing both terms législation and femmes:
Femmes--Santé, Services de--Droit--Législation , Femmes--Travail--Droit--Législation, Femmes enceintes--Travail--Droit--Législation, etc. |
sourds or maladies
or
sourds, maladies or sourds | maladies |
Headings containing either of the terms:
Abdomen--Maladies, Artistes sourds, Astrologie et maladies mentales, Écrits de sourds, Éradication des maladies, Médecins sourds, Services personnels aux élèves sourds |
législation and (femmes or hommes)
or
législation & (femmes, hommes) |
Headings containing législation and either one or the other of the two terms:
Discrimination à l'égard des hommes--Droit--Législation, Hommes--Droit--Législation, Femmes--Santé, Services de--Droit--Législation, Femmes--Travail--Droit--Législation, Femmes enceintes--Travail--Droit--Législation, etc. |
auto*
or
auto% |
Headings in which the root auto is followed by more than one character:
Anémie hémolytique auto-immune, Auto-apprentissage, Autobiographies, Autodafé de livres, Cours d'eau--Auto-épuration |
| e_e |
Headings in which terms corresponding to these two letters with any single intermediary letter are present, for example: ère, Ève, etc. |
| {ou} |
Headings containing the terms corresponding to an expression that is used as a Boolean operator,
for example: Acheter ou louer, Examens du type vrai ou faux. N.B. These delimiters do not function with "and, or, not". |
| fibres optiques |
Headings containing an expression in the exact order, for example: Câbles à fibres optiques, Fibres optiques--Industrie. |
Other examples of Boolean syntaxes searches: législation and (femmes or hommes) , (vitamine or vitamines) and alimentation not (amimaux or humaine) , vitamin* and alimentation , %r_t% not particules , *r_t* and administration and locale , canada and histoire and 1945 , l_ not la* , fibres optiques & médecine, {vrai or faux}.
- Term: enter in this box either one or multiple terms; when more than one term is indicated, the browser will perform the search on these terms either taken separately, in sequence or in relationship with one another depending on the Search Type selected (see above). Search results are identical whether the terms are entered with or without capitals, or whether diacritics are
used. Double hyphens (--) are required between terms when attempting to locate a subdivision under a heading. On the other hand, the browser ignores punctuation marks encountered in headings, for example commas and parentheses.
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Search Results
Search results display on one or several pages, with a maximum of ten (10) headings on a page. Alphabetical listing of the results is according to "Rather sort" filing rules. For Keyword and Boolean searches, the search term(s) and a count of the records containing the term(s) are shown above the results. The subject heading that matches the search term, or the one that most closely matches the search term, will appear on the second line of the search results. When there is only one heading that matches to the search term(s), the Search Results step is skipped and the record for the heading is immediately displayed. French headings and English equivalents are listed without any symbol, while references are preceded by an asterisk (*). If the same term is used as a subject heading and a subdivision, the subject heading will file first, followed by the form subdivision and then the subject subdivision, for example, Chronologie. Subdivisions are identified by the double hyphen (--) that precedes them.
To display another search results screen, use Next, Previous, or the Page numbers appearing at the top right of the search results. Also, the Back, Forward, Go or View - Go to functions of your browser allow you to move around already posted pages.
A search using terms from LCSH/CSH may produce results where the same English heading is displayed more than once. This is because the same English heading may be used as an equivalent to more than one French heading. In such cases, check each of the identical headings to determine which one corresponds to the French heading for which you are searching.
The message Search returned 0 items appears when no heading or reference corresponds exactly to the terms indicated in the search form. It may be that RVM does not contain these terms, or that the terms are spelled differently in RVM. To modify the search criteria used, click on the Back function of your browser to display the already completed search form. To perform a completely new search, click on Search.
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Record (display)
All headings that form part of the network of headings (BT, RT, NT), or appear in the notes under a specific heading, carry hypertext links and appear in blue. The heading being consulted, its English equivalent(s), the rejected terms (UF) and the text of notes are not hyperlinked and appear in black. By clicking on one of the blue headings in the network, a new heading is immediately displayed. The display of the record's network of headings uses a few symbols. The most frequently used symbols include:
- EQ = Equivalent;
- UF = Used for;
- BT = Broader term;
- RT = Related term;
- NT = Narrower term.
- LC = Class number from the Library of Congress Classification.
To the right of the English equivalent headings, the initialisms LCSH, CSH, MeSH and aat identify the source of the heading: Library of Congress Subject Headings, Canadian Subject Headings, the National Library of Medicine's Medical Subject Headings and the Art and Architecture Thesaurus.
The Thesaurus Display is the default record display. You can also consult the MARC format record for a heading by clicking on MARC Display. The MARC display contains all the MARC fields (MARC 21) and codes for a particular heading, including various data excluded from the Thesaurus Display. For instance, the MARC display contains field 670, which indicates the sources consulted by the RVM team to establish the heading. As well, you can view the control number fields for the record, such as field 001 used by the Bibliothèque de l'Université Laval, field 035 used by A-G Canada Ltd. (formerly ISM or UTLAS) and field 073, indicating the Library of Congress subdivision numbering, for example, --Military Aspects, H1153.
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Link to AMICUS Web
From the Thesaurus Display, you can search Library and Archives Canada's catalogue by clicking on the AMICUS Web icon that appears next to the English or French heading. The link to the AMICUS Web database is automatic. This means that the bibliographic records containing the heading are displayed; these records correspond to items held by Library and Archives Canada on this subject. The search results also indicate the number of documents indexed under that heading.
There is no button or link specially identified to exit AMICUS Web. To return to the RVM database, click on the Back function in the browser or select the RVM page saved under Go or View - Go to, or lastly, use a bookmark saved for the search form page.
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Lists of Subdivisions
These lists are available in both PDF and RTF formats. You can easily download the free Adobe Acrobat viewer software, which enables you to view these lists in PDF format, by clicking on the hyperlink found on the page pertaining to Lists of Subdivisions.
This portion of the site, in contrast to the RVM database portion, does not use a search engine or hyperlinks. However, in the PDF document, there are links between the Table of Contents and the section titles, for example, Biographies. To locate a particular subdivision, you can browse through the list or lists that you think may have it or you can consult the index of all the subdivisions contained in all the lists. When in doubt, the index can save you time, and it also provides you with the subdivision's equivalent in the other language.
In PDF format, a table of contents for all available lists allows you to select the list you want, and it will display at a click. The table of contents indicates each list's English and French abridged titles. Depending on whether you click on the English or French title, you will get the same list but displayed according to the English alphabetical order of the subdivisions or of the French alphabetical order of subdivisions. Each list also displays in bilingual format: English-French, or French-English. In the English-French lists, an English subdivision may not carry a French equivalent subdivision; a blank space is then displayed in the column for French subdivisions. An English subdivision may correspond to more than one subdivision in French; you will then need to determine which one corresponds to the item's subject.
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