About

This page contains key information about the Répertoire de vedettes-matière de l’Université Laval (RVM). RVM has been a world leader in controlled French vocabularies for more than 70 years, serving French-language and bilingual libraries in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. It offers 5 thesauruses with MARC 21- and SKOS-coded data.

The 5 thesauruses

RVM (Topics)
- an encyclopedic thesaurus that has been expanding constantly since it was created in 1946 at Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
- a Canadian standard and benchmark for indexing in all francophone countries
- standardized terms, subject headings (vedettes-matière), on all subjects and for all document types for use by indexers in document research environments and by all organizations seeking to classify the content of documents or products and services
- a rich source of French and English vocabulary for students, teachers, and researchers in all fields, and a simple, user-friendly display customized to their needs
- translated and adapted subject headings from
  - Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)
  - Canadian Subject Headings (CSH) of Library and Archives Canada
  - Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) of National Library of Medicine
  - Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) of J. Paul Getty Trust
- equivalence with Répertoire d’autorité-matière encyclopédique et alphabétique unifié (RAMEAU) of Bibliothèque nationale de France
- original subject headings, unique to RVM
- subject headings
  - topical
  - geographic
  - buildings
  - events
  - certain categories of proper names: gods, dukes, last names, programming languages, fictional and legendary characters, sects, and more
- subdivisions
  - topical
  - form
  - chronological
  - geographic

RVMGF
- standardized terms, descripteurs de genre/forme, specifying the genre and form of the indexed document or item
- translated and adapted terms from
  - Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms (LCGFT)
  - Guidelines on subject access to individual works of fiction, drama, etc. (GSAFD) of American Library Association
  - Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) of J. Paul Getty Trust

RVMMEM
- standardized terms, descripteurs de moyens d’exécution en musique, specifying the instruments, voices, etc., used in the performance of musical works
- translated and adapted terms from
  - Library of Congress Medium of Performance Thesaurus for Music (LCMPT)

RVMGD
- standardized terms, descripteurs de groupes démographiques, for defining the characteristics of the intended audiences of resources, and the creators and contributors of those resources
- translated and adapted terms from
  - Library of Congress Demographic Group Terms (LCDGT)

RVMFAST
- translation of FAST vocabulary developed by OCLC Research and the Library of Congress
- faceted post-coordinated vocabulary without free floating subdivisions
- simple to learn and apply

Products and services

RVM offers a vast range of products and services, in continuous development, to meet your indexing needs for all types of documents on all subjects.
Learn more

RVM team

Management

Maryse Legault

Director, Direction de l'accès aux ressources informationnelles

Development and upkeep of the thesauruses

Maxime Bouchard

Spécialiste en ressources documentaires

Susanne Brillant

Spécialiste en ressources documentaires

Philippe Cadieux

Spécialiste en ressources documentaires

Rose-Marie Racine-April

Spécialiste en ressources documentaires

Marie-Joëlle Tardif

Technicienne en documentation

Training

The RVM team is currently developing online training materials that will replace classroom training. However, if you need help using RVM, please contact the RVM team. You can also refer to the following documents, specially designed to guide you in the use of RVM thesauruses and in your indexing work :