Abstract

A brief summary of an article or a book that includes bibliographic information such as author, title, source, subject headings or descriptors, etc.

Almanacs

Annual publications that contain calendars, facts, statistics, and other miscellaneous information.

Annotation

A note that describes, explains, or evaluates a particular document.

Atlases

Collections of maps.

Archives

An organized body of documents made or received in connection with the function of the institution or the library. Archives are maintained and preserved as a part of the record-keeping process and usually collected in a separate physical location.

Bibliography

A list of books, periodical articles, government documents, or other materials systematically arranged by author, title, date and place of publication, publisher, details of edition, and page numbers. Published bibliographies on specific subjects are often found in the reference collection.

Biography

A written account of a person's life or the group of literature concerned with people's lives.

CD-ROM

A computer-based format that means Compact Disc Read-Only Memory. CD-ROMs are used for storing and retrieving information from a compact disc using a CD player and a personal computer. The information on a compact disc is in a Read Only format and cannot be amended or altered by the user.

Call number

A combination of letters and/or numbers which assist in locating materials in the Library. Call Numbers are based on the subject material of the book. Our call numbers are assigned using the rules of the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system.

Circulation Desk

The service desk where books and other materials are loaned or checked out.

Citation

A reference to a text or publication that includes the bibliographic information--author, title, name of journal or name of publisher, date, pages, volumes and other information that is necessary to locate a book, a magazine or journal article, or some other material.

Database

A collection of data or file of information in a form accessible by computer or indexed in machine readable form. In a sense, a database is a computerized library in which individual records can be retrieved.

Descriptors

A word or a group of words used as a subject to describe the content in books, articles, and other materials for the purpose of indexing or organizing these items by topic. As an important element of effective research, descriptors are needed to determine the correct headings for a specific database or catalogue.

Directory

A systematically organized list of persons, businesses, organizations, associations or computer files that provides addresses, affiliations, telephone numbers, and similar information.

Format

The organization or arrangement of information in a particular display or print mode; the type or manner in which information is provided, displayed, or retrieved.

Gazeteer

A dictionary of geographical information and data about places.

Hold

A hold reserves library material which is not immediately available. Patrons may place holds by asking staff at the desk, or by phone.

Holdings

In a computerized catalogue, the fields in a record that shows exactly which years and volumes of a book are available, and where they can be found.

Interlibrary Loan

The sharing of materials between libraries to meet the needs of their patrons. After all, no library can own every book!

Journal

A periodical collection of articles or other material such as reports, proceedings, or transactions issued by a society, an organization, or an institution.

Keyword Searching

A method of searching a database or library catalogue using natural language rather than the controlled language of subject descriptor searching.

Magazine

A periodical publication for general interest such as news, current events, and popular material.

Microforms

A general term used to describe the microfilm, microfiche, or microform formats used for the storage of documents that have been photographed and reduced in size to conserve space or to preserve materials that deteriorate rapidly. Newspapers, magazines, journals, college catalogues, and government documents are often found in these formats.

Periodicals

publications issued in successive parts at regular intervals, including journals, magazines and newspapers. See also Serials.

Primary Source

Manuscripts, records, or documents providing original research or documentation. See Secondary Source.

Record

A collection of related data that is arranged in fields forming a unit.

Renewal

An extension of the loan period for material that has been previously checked out. Renewals can be made in person at the circulation desk or by phone.

Reference

A department within the library where staff can provide assistance or help 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 as well as periodical indexes, and subject bibliographies. Computer workstations provide access to the WebNcompass catalogue, and many research databases.

Reference Librarians

specialists in the field of information retrieval who hold Masters degrees in library and/or information science. As subject specialists, reference librarians generally have other graduate degrees as well.

Search Strategy

A logical series of steps for collecting pertinent information about a particular topic.

Secondary Source

Materials or sources that contain information that has been cited, translated, or based upon another - primary or original source.

Serials

publications issued at regular intervals--daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually, or biennally-- and are generally intended to be continued indefinitely. Serials include Periodicals as well as annual publications, proceedings, and transactions.

Stacks

The sections or areas of the library where the collection is stored. Books and periodicals are arranged on shelves in the stacks and grouped by call numbers.

Subject Headings

A word or groups of words that are assigned to books, articles, and other materials in order to indicate the subject matter and to group or organize similar materials by topic. As an important element of effective research, subject headings are needed to determine the correct headings as indexed within a specific database or catalogue.

Terminal

An electronic device such as a computer or a workstation that communicates with a host computer or system. The terminal can send or receive data as well as display output in either on screen or in a print format.

Truncation

The method of using a special symbol at the end of a word to retrieve the stem or the root and all possible endings of that word. To truncate a word while searching use an asterisk (*). In other databases, the question mark (?), the pound sign (#), or the dollar sign ($) can be used to truncate terms. Entering comput* will retrieve compute, computes, computing, computer, computers, for example.

World Wide Web

A client-server information system that uses the Internet to access computers containing millions of hypertext documents.

The above is based on a list compiled by the University of Akron Libraries.