Library Glossary

Abstract — A brief summary of a periodical article or a book.

Bibliography — A list of citations for books, periodical articles, or other resources where information on a particular topic may be found. It is systematically arranged by author, title, date and place of publication, publisher, details of edition and page numbers.

Boolean Operator — A word used when searching electronic information sources. AND, OR, and NOT are used to combine search terms to either broaden or narrow the results of a search.

Call Number — A combination of letters and numbers assigned to a book that gives it a specific location in the library. It is placed on the shelf near other books on the same subject. Jen Library uses the Library of Congress (LC) Classification system.

Citation — Specific information (including author, title, place and year of publication) that describes an information source. The purpose of a citation is to give the reader the information necessary to locate a resource.

Controlled Vocabulary — The use of specific words or phrases, known as subject headings or descriptors, to classify books, articles, etc. for a particular index or catalog.

Database — A collection of information arranged into individual records to be searched by computer. This term is often used to describe the electronic or computerized version of an Index.

Index — Most frequently refers to periodical indexes, which list articles that have appeared in journals, magazines, or newspapers during a specified period. An entry in an index usually includes the author(s), article title, name of periodical, volume and page numbers, and publication date. Many indexes also include abstracts, which are summaries of the content of the article. Indexes to periodicals are found on the Research Databases link at the Jen Library home page.

Inter-Library Loan — Items not held by Jen Library may be requested using ILL. This service is available to faculty, staff, and students. Requests may be made electronically through the ILL link on the Jen Library Homepage. Internet An international system of computer networks. This worldwide network enables users to communicate vie e-mail, find information on the World Wide Web and access remote computer systems, such as library catalogs.

Journal — A periodical which is scholarly in nature. It contains a collection of articles, issued by a society, an organization, or an institution. See Magazine.

Keyword Search — Use of a word or combination of words that describe a document in natural language as opposed to the controlled language used in a subject or descriptor search. See Subject Search.

Magazine — A periodical publication containing articles of general interest and audience, such as news, current events, and popular material. See Journal.

Medium — The physical material or substance on which data may be stored or recorded. Print and Electronic are two common media of information.

Peer Review — A process by which an article submitted for publication in a scholarly journal is evaluated by an editorial board of subject experts for acceptance or rejection.

Periodical — A publication issued at regular intervals and expected to continue indefinitely. Examples of periodicals are journals, magazines and newspapers. See Journal and Magazine.

Periodical Index — An access tool that locates and lists articles that have appeared in journals, magazines, or newspapers. A periodical index lists author, title, name of periodical, volume, pages and date of publication. Some indexes supply abstracts that summarize the content of articles. See Index.

Reference — A department within the library where librarians can provide assistance in locating information or researching a topic. The reference department also contains a selection of materials such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs, directories, or statistical sources.

Reserve Material — Selected by a professor to be available to all students in a class. These materials are housed behind the circulation desk and organized by call number. Items may be found by searching the online catalog by course number or name of Professor.

Search Engine — On the Internet, a program that finds Web resources and indexes them. Computer users search and are returned results that match their request. Google and Alta Vista are examples of a search engine.

Serial — Any publication issued in successive parts, appearing at intervals and intended to be continued indefinitely. Examples would include newspapers, periodicals, annuals, and proceedings of a society. See Periodical.

Site — A location on the Internet, such as a Web site. Do not confuse with cite.

Subject Heading — Standardized words or phrases assigned to books, articles or other materials. Subject headings are used to describe materials as well as to bring together materials that are similar in subject matter. The Jen Library uses the Library of Congress Subject Headings for holdings in our catalog.

Subject Search — In database searching, the use of standardized words or phrases (controlled vocabulary) to find books, articles or other materials. See Keyword Search.

Web or World Wide Web — A client server information system that uses the Internet to access computers containing millions of hypertext documents.