Abstract - a brief summary of
a book, chapter, or article.
Access point- a name, term, code, etc., under which library materials may be searched
and identified. In an online storage and retrieval system, a field designated
as a means of access to a record or file. Example: Author’s name, Title
of book
Annotation - a note accompanying
an entry in a bibliography, reading list, or catalog describing, explaining,
or evaluating the publication.
Anthology - a collection of
the works of various authors, musicians, or artists, sometimes limited to a
particular subject.
Bibliography - a list of books,
articles, and/or documents related to a particular author or a specific subject.
Biography - a source that provides
information about a person’s life or accomplishments. Boolean - refers
to logical or algebraic operations formulated by George Boole involving variables
with two concepts. This includes the use of the words AND, OR, and NOT when
searching for specific information, such as Concept 1 AND Concept 2, Concept
1 OR Concept 2, Concept 1 NOT Concept 2.
Bound periodical - several issues
of a print magazine or journal, held together in one volume.
Call number - a designated set
of letters and/or numbers used to identify a particular item in the collection.
The call number groups books together by subject.
Catalog - see Online catalog
Check out - to borrow library
materials for use outside of the library.
Citation - a reference note
that generally includes elements necessary for the identification of a work
(i.e., author, title, and date of publication for a book; author, title, name
of periodical, volume number, date, and pages for an article).
Circulation/Reserve Desk - the
place in the library where materials are borrowed and returned, specified Reserve
materials are held, and overdue fines are paid.
CONSULS - the name of the Library's
online catalog, which stands for Connecticut State
University Library System. CONSULS is a shared catalog with
the four CSU libraries – SCSU, CCSU, WCSU, and ECSU, and also the State
Library in Hartford, showing the books, videos, music cds, print journals, and
selected digital resources owned by each library.
Curriculum Lab-
a collection of materials supporting teaching in the K-12 classroom, housed
in the Learning Resources Center.
Database-
an organized collection of computer records, standardized in format and content,
that is searched and retrieved by computer. Commonly used in libraries to refer
to collections of searchable article citations, with may also include full text
articles.
Descriptor - an indexing term
or symbol used to designate the subject of a work. Descriptors can usually be
used when searching in databases.
Dictionary - a book or online
database containing words with information about their meaning, form, pronunciation,
usage, and etymology.
Due Date - the day that borrowed
materials must be returned to the library. \
Encyclopedia - a collection
of informational articles providing background, terminology, and chronological
events related to a particular subject.
Fine - a fee charged for an
item returned to the library after the due date.
Hold - a library book already
checked out and/or available at another library can be put on hold for the use
of another borrower.
Index - an alphabetical or systematic
arrangement of terms used as a guide to the contents of a book, periodical articles,
or group of documents.
Interlibrary Loan (ILL) - a
service which provides books or journal articles not found at SCSU for students,
faculty, and staff of SCSU.
Journal- a
periodical containing scholarly or expert level articles and reports on research
in a particular field of study.
Keyword - the use of a significant
word or combination of words when searching the book catalog or journal databases
to help find a book or article on a topic.
Learning Resources Center -
holds the library's collection of films and music CDs, as well as the Curriculum
Lab.
Library Instruction - the teaching
of concepts and processes to help students develop the ability to locate, evaluate,
and use information to become independent life-long learners.
Librarian - a degreed professional
who specializes in finding, evaluating, and teaching the use of information
resources.
Loan period-
the length of time allowed for the use of an item checked out of the library.
Magazine - a periodical for
general reading, containing articles on hot topics and/or current events written
by journalists and free-lance writers.
Microforms-
a general term used for information that has been micro-photographed onto a
piece of film. Microfilm is held on a reel, microfiche is on a flat sheet of
film.
Non-circulating materials -
items that must be used within the library, such as reference books and bound
periodicals.
Online catalog-
an automated database of records describing and locating the materials (books,
videos, music cds, print journals, and selected digital resources) contained
in the library collection. Searching can be conducted by author, title, keyword,
and subject.
Overdue materials - items not
returned to the library by the due date.
Oversize - a book too large
to fit in its normal shelf space and therefore placed in a designated area of
the library marked "Oversize".
Peer review - a process of ensuring
the quality of an article prior to publication in a journal, where the article
is sent out by the editor of the journal to be read and commented on by experts
in a given field of study.
Periodical - a magazine, journal,
or newspaper published several times a year (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly,
etc.).
Primary source - documents containing
firsthand information (used in the preparation of a later work.) Diaries, letters,
and research reports are examples of primary sources.
Rare book room - a separate
collection of irreplaceable, fragile and/or valuable materials on a specific
subject, time period, or event. Use of materials may be limited, and may require
an appointment.
Refereed journal - a journal
comprised of articles that have been approved for publication through the peer
review process.
Reference books - resources
containing factual information, designed to be consulted rather than read cover-to-cover.
Examples include dictionaries, encyclopedias, almanacs, directories, and statistical
sources.
Reference Desk - the service
desk in the library staffed by librarians, where anyone can ask how to find,
use, and evaluate information. The Reference Desk is also accessible by phone
and email. Renew - to extend the loan period of library materials.
Reserves - readings for class
assignments available either in the library (at the Circulation/Reserve Desk)
or electronically through the CONSULS catalog. Secondary source - any material
other than the original document (generally used in the preparation of a written
work.)
Subject heading-
a specific word or words used as an access point to a bibliographic record in
the online catalog; also a word or words used to identify topics in a book or
periodical index.
Thesaurus - a list of terms
showing similarities, differences, dependencies, and other relationships to
each other. Thesaurus terms are used in a specific database to help search by
topic.
Truncation - to shorten or cut
off a word or phrase in order to retrieve varied endings of the word. An example
is “librar” in order to search for the terms library, libraries,
and librarian.
Unboundperiodical
- a paper issue of a journal of magazine.
Volume - the collective issues
of a journal of magazine, often identified by number or year.
Customized from The ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science Susan Miller
6/06
