GLOSSARY OF LIBRARY TERMS

Abstract: a brief summary that gives the essential points of a book or magazine article

Annotation: a note that describes, explains, or evaluates the subject and contents of a book or article

Anthology: a collection of individual works, usually by more than one author. EXAMPLE: An Anthology of Japanese Short Stories.

Appendix: additional information following the main part of a book

Autobiography: a history of a person’s life written by that person

Bibliography: the list of works cited by an author at the end of an article, paper, book, or other research-based writing. There are also specialized subject bibliographies, published separately as books.

Biography: a written summary of a person’s life and character

Boolean operators: connecting words, such as AND, OR, and NOT, that link search terms together in certain logical ways. (Thus, they are sometimes called logical operators.) Used when searching databases that have sophisticated programs.

Bound periodical: a set of magazine issues collected and held together between two hard covers. Each volume of a bound periodical usually contains magazine issues for a one-year period of time.

Call number: a unique combination of letters and numbers assigned to a book to designate shelving location. It is an “address” which allows you to find a book in the library collection. EXAMPLE: E807.R634 1975

Card Catalog: a cabinet with file drawers containing cards that list the books and other materials in a library collection. Most libraries have replaced card catalogs with online catalogs (OPAC’s).

Catalog: a systematic list of items in alphabetical or other logical order. Usually each item in the list is accompanied by a brief description. A library catalog lists books and other materials in a library collection. Most libraries use a computerized catalog usually referred to as the online catalog or OPAC.

CD-ROM: Stands for “Compact Disk – Read Only Memory”. A computer storage disk that holds vast amounts of textual information. .

Check-out: to borrow an item from a library for a specified period of time. Must be done using a library card.

Circulating collection: those books that may be borrowed (“checked out”) from the library

Circulation desk: the counter (desk) where you can get a library card and borrow books and other materials from the library

Citation - the information given in an index or catalog about a particular book, magazine article, video, or other source. The citation may include the article title, periodical title, book title, place of publication, publisher, volume, pages, and date. Refer to a style manual to learn how to format citations for your own bibliographies.
(Synonyms for “citation” include bibliographic citation, bibliographic entry, and reference.)

EXAMPLES:
BOOK: Sidel, Ruth. On Her Own: Growing Up in the Shadow of the American
Dream. New York: Viking, 1990.

ARTICLE: Karen, Robert. “Becoming Attached.” Atlantic Monthly Feb. 1990: 35-50.

Cross-reference: information that directs you from one heading to another in a catalog or index. There are 2 types of cross-references:

* “see” reference: tells you that the word you are using to look up your subject is
not the correct word to use for that catalog or index. Instead, another word is given
under which you should look up the subject.

For example: DEATH PENALTY see CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

* “see also” reference: tells you that the word you are using is the correct subject
heading, but it suggests other terms or names where additional or related information
may be found

For example: COMPUTERS see also ELECTRONIC DATA PROCESSING.
INFORMATION STORAGE AND
RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS.

Database: an organized collection of information stored electronically (i.e. on a computer).
EXAMPLE: the InfoTrac OneFile is a database that provides citations to periodical articles, some of which are accompanied by the full-text of the article.

Download: to transmit information from a central computer to a remote computer or from a computer database to a floppy disk

Edition: a version of a book. A revised or new edition indicates that the text has been changed or new material added.

Editor: the person responsible for compiling and organizing a book or periodical issue that is written by several authors

Footnote: any note used to document borrowed ideas or to further explain a detail outside of the main text. The term usually refers to notes at the bottom of a page but may also include endnotes, which are found at the end of the text, and parenthetical notes, which are found within a parenthesis in the middle of the text.
Full-text: every word of an article or book. Usually used when referring to databases, which often offer the full-text of all or some articles or books within that database.

Holdings: the specific materials that a library owns

Index: 1) (noun) – an organized list of articles in magazines, books, anthologies, etc.
2) (noun) – an alphabetical list of topics given at the end of a book that offers page locations for those topics
3) (verb) – to list or indicate

Interlibrary loan: the process by which one library borrows materials from another library for use by individual patrons

Journal – a periodical that is scholarly or academic in content and purpose. EXAMPLES: Journal of Applied Psychology or American Anthropologist. Compare with magazine.

Keyword searching: a method of searching a database in which you use of your own “natural language” (i.e. keywords), rather than standardized subject headings

Library catalog: see OPAC

Library of Congress Classification System (LC) the system of letters and numbers used by most academic libraries to assign a call number to books and other library materials.

Logical Operators: see Boolean operators

Magazine - a general-interest periodical that has a broad, wide audience. EXAMPLE: Time or Glamour. Compare with journal.

Online Catalog: see OPAC

OPAC : stands for “Online Public Access Catalog”. A library computer catalog that contains information about books and other materials in a library collection. Often referred to as the online catalog. OPACs have replaced card catalogs in most libraries.

Oversized: a book too large to fit on standard sized library shelves

Periodical: a publication such as a magazine, newspaper, or journal that appears in successive numbers or parts (no. 1, no.2, etc.) at specified intervals (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.).
Magazines, journals, and newspapers are all periodicals. A synonym for periodical is serial.

Periodical index: a list of articles that appear in journals, magazines, and newspapers, usually arranged alphabetically by subject and author. They index only a specific group of periodicals for a specified time period. A periodical index will provide all the information you need ( i.e. citations) to locate the article (title of article, title of publication, date, page number, etc.). Many periodical indexes are now in computerized form, i.e. they exist as databases.

Primary source: information in its original, first-hand presentation. EXAMPLES: diaries, speeches, interviews, letters, memoirs, autobiographies, eye-witness accounts, etc.

Reference book: a book designed to be consulted to learn specific pieces of information rather than read in its entirety. Reference books contain facts, statistics, biographical information, and overviews of a subject area. These books may not be taken out of the library and are shelved separately from the rest of the collection.

Reference collection: the section in the library where reference books are kept. Reference books must be used in the library and cannot be checked-out.

Reference desk: a desk in the Reference Area of the library where librarians are available to answer your questions about using the library and finding materials

Reference librarian - a faculty member who has studied the field of library science at the graduate level. A librarian is skilled in using print and electronic resources and is the person to ask for research assistance in the library.

Research – the process of gathering, evaluating, and interpreting information, usually to answer a particular question or problem. This includes using ALL appropriate print and electronic sources, asking the reference librarian for help, and making use of bibliographies given by other authors.

Reserve desk: a desk where special course materials from your teacher are kept. At Skyline Library, the Reserve Desk and the Circulation Desk are one and the same.

Secondary source: Second-hand commentaries or interpretations

Serial: see periodical

Stacks: bookshelves in a library where the books available for check-out are kept

Style manual: a book that tells the reader how to format a research paper. Style manuals contain specific guidelines on how to create footnotes, parenthetical references, bibliographies, pagination, etc. Ask your instructor which style manual you are to use. The most commonly used style manuals are the following:

The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association

Subject heading: a word or groups of words under which all materials on a particular topic are listed in a catalog or index

Subject searching: searching a database using an approved word of groups of words known as subject headings

Subtitle: a secondary and usually explanatory title which follows the main title. In this example: China : A Concise History, the subtitle is “A Concise History.”

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