|
|
Confused by library terms? Consult the following list for help.
Note: these are working definitions of terms in use in our library; for authoritative definitions of these and other library terms, please consult the sources listed below.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
A
- Abstract
A short, non-evaluative description of the contents of a book, an article, or another library resource. Abstracts often appear with citations in online indexes and databases.
- Acquisitions
The department of the library where book and journal orders are processed and new materials are received.
- Annotated Bibliography
A list of citations with accompanying notes that summarize and/or evaluate the subject matter or content of each work.
- Archives
(a) A special collection of non-circulating historical materials related to a library or institution.
(b) The area of the library that houses these records. The Davidson College Archives is located on the second floor of the E.H. Little Library and contains institutional records and manuscripts related to the college and the town of Davidson.
B
- Bibliography
(a) A list of citations to works used by an author to write his or her paper, article, or book.
(b) A list of books, articles, and other sources on a particular subject, about a particular person, or published in a specific region or time period.
- Blackboard
An online course management system that your professors can use to post assignments, announcements, syllabi, and other course documents; the software also provides tools for communication and collaboration, such as chat and a digital whiteboard.
Many Davidson professors use Blackboard, although some do not. Please be aware that your professors may sometimes put course readings in Blackboard, on electronic reserve, or both; when in doubt, ask your professor.
- Boolean Operator
Boolean Operators are named after the British mathematician George Frederick Boole (1815-1864), who developed a system of logic to show the relationship among terms or concepts. There are three primary Boolean operators, AND, OR, and NOT, and they can be used to group search terms. They are primarily used in keyword searches.
C
- Call Number
An alphanumeric code that identifies a specific book or other item in the library and also indicates its location within the library. Call numbers can also indicate the general subject content of a book. The Davidson College Library uses the Dewey Decimal System for most materials; government documents are shelved by SUDOC number, however.
- Carrel
A table or a workspace for an individual library user. The E.H. Little Library has many study carrels for students; some are reserved, and others are available for anyone to use. There are also a number of reserved, closed carrels for faculty members.
- Catalog
A list or inventory of all the materials within a specific collection or at a particular location. The Library Catalog at Davidson includes information about the books, journals, magazines, newspapers, musical recordings, maps, videos/DVDs, and other materials in the library.
- Circulation
The department of the library that handles book check-outs and returns as well as reserves and holds.
- Citation
Information about a book, journal article, or other source that you refer to or quote from in a paper. The citation includes all of the information needed to identify this source, such as author, title, publication information, date, and page numbers.
Different disciplines can use different citation styles; be sure to consult the style manual that is appropriate for your course.
- Controlled Vocabulary
A set of terms that have been carefully selected in order to avoid having multiple terms for the same subject; indexers often use a controlled vocabulary when they assign subject headings or descriptors to articles or books. A controlled vocabulary "controls" synonyms and is thus a powerful tool to use when searching databases.
- Course Reserves
Books, articles, videos, sound recordings, and other materials selected by your professor for use by your class. Some reserves are in electronic form and are accessible through the library's Web site; other materials, such as books and videos, are kept in the Reserves section of the Circulation Desk. You can find information about all the materials on reserve for your class by going to the Course Reserves section of the Library Web site.
- Cross-Reference
A direction in a catalog or index that leads a user from one subject heading to another related one. In the Davidson Library Catalog, a cross-reference appears as "See related headings for."
D
- Database
A system that organizes and arranges data into fields and provides the means to sort, group, and retrieve information from those fields. The Library Catalog is a type of database. Many of our other indexes and databases are electronic versions of print indexes.
- Descriptor
See the entry for subject heading.
E
F
- Field
A defined category of information in a record, such as author (AU), title (TI), or keyword (KW). Users can search for terms in an online catalog or database using specified fields. Field names and the information contained within them can vary in databases; always check the "Help" screens or ask a librarian.
- Full Text
The complete text of an article, book, or other item. The full text may be in Microsoft Word, HTML, or pdf format.
G
- Government Documents/Government Information
Documents and other information issued by the United States Government, state governments, and foreign governments. Government documents may include books and serials. The Davidson College Library is a selective depository library and receives a large number of publications issued by the Federal Government. The print collection is housed on the ground floor of the library, and items are arranged by SUDOC, or Superintendent of Documents Number, a special type of call number. For more information on the Government Information department in the Library, see the Government Information pages.
H
- Hold
A service offered at the Circulation Desk; when a book you want is checked out, you can request a "hold," and staff will contact you and reserve the book for you when the other user returns it.
- Holdings
Information about the books, journals, newspapers, and magazine issues owned by the library.
I
- ILL
See the entry for interlibrary loan.
- ILLiad
The Davidson College Library's interlibrary loan system, See the entry for interlibrary loan.
- Index
(a) A list of the major topics, places, and people discussed in a book or other source. The index often appears at the end of a book and usually directs readers to relevant page numbers.
(b) A tool containing a list of citations to articles in journals, magazines, and newspapers on a particular subject, in a specific discipline, or published in a given time period. Indexes differ from each other in scope, content (some contain full-text; some don't), and years of coverage. Unlike the Library Catalog, indexes may also include information about publications that aren't available at Davidson. The library has a wide variety of print and online indexes and databases.
- Information Literacy
The competencies and skills that students need to locate, retrieve, evaluate, analyze, and use information. These competencies are developed over time and are essential for lifelong learning.
- Interlibrary Loan
A library service that allows you to borrow or obtain copies of materials from other libraries. If our library doesn't have the book or the article that you need, simply request the item using ILLiad, our interlibrary loan system. We'll get the material for you -- at no charge to you -- and will let you know when it is available. Just be sure to allow 3-5 days for the material to arrive.
- ISBN
International Standard Book Number, a unique ten or thirteen-digit number assigned to each book published.
- ISSN
International Standard Serial Number, a unique, eight-digit number assigned to each magazine, journal, newspaper, and serial publication. The standard format for the ISSN is two sets of four digits, separated by a hyphen (e.g.1234-5678).
J
- Journal
A type of periodical usually published several times a year.
K
- Keyword
(a) A word describing a topic or subject. Unlike a subject heading, a keyword is not a form of controlled vocabulary.
(b) A word that may form part of a title, author's name, subject heading, or other part of a citation; a keyword search in a database searches across all fields of a record.
L
- Limits/Limiters
An option in many databases that allows users to restrict search results by criteria not related to the subject. Common limiters include language, date, and format. Since limit options vary by database, check the "Help" screen or ask a librarian.
M
- Microfiche
A micrographic reproduction stored on a film card; the card is approximately the size of an index card. A microfiche is a type of microform.
- Microfilm
A micrographic reproduction stored on a reel of film; microfilm is a type of microform.
- Microform
A micrographic reproduction of a book, journal, or other type of information source. You must use a special piece of equipment, called a microform reader, to view the text. There are several types of microforms, including microfilm and microfiche.
- Monograph
(a) A treatise on one subject or about one person.
(b) A type of publication distinct from serials (i.e. a book).
P
- pdf
The Portable Document Format (pdf), created by Adobe, retains the original formatting and appearance of an article or book. A pdf document is an accurate copy of the original, unlike HTML and some other full-text versions, which, because they are often re-keyed versions of the original text, can contain textual errors. You need Adobe Reader to view pdf files; the Reader is already loaded on all library and ITS computers, but you can also download it free from the Adobe site.
- Peer Review
The process by which scholarly articles and books are published. The editors of peer-reviewed publications require authors to submit drafts of their work for consideration. These drafts are then reviewed by experts in the field who evaluate them. In considering articles for publication, reviewers assess the quality of authors' research as well as their contribution to scholarship. For more information, see Scholarly Articles: How to Identify Them.
- Periodical
A type of publication that is issued at regular intervals (e.g. monthly, weekly, daily). Journals, magazines, and newspapers are all periodicals. See also the entry for serials.
- Phrase searching
A type of search syntax that allows you to search for phrases in a database. In the Library Catalog, you need to put phrases in double quotation marks ("cold war"). The syntax may differ in other databases; always check the "Help" screens or ask a librarian.
R
- Record
The collection of information about an item listed in a database. For example, a record for a journal article will contain citation information (author, title, journal title, publication information, volume number, date, page numbers) as well as subject headings, an abstract, and other information. A record in the Library Catalog contains citation information as well as subject headings, a call number, and information about the item's status.
- Reference
(a) A library service; reference librarians assist students and faculty with research and information needs.
(b) A department of the library; the reference desk is located just inside the front door of the E.H. Little Library.
(c) An area of the library where the books in the reference collection are kept.
(d) A note or citation to a book, article, or other information source.
- Refereed
See the entry for peer review.
- Reserves
See the entry for course reserves.
S
- Scholarly
See the entry for peer review.
- Serials
(a) Publications issued at intervals; serials usually have the same title over time. Periodicals are types of serials.
(b) The department of the library that processes periodicals.
- Stacks
The area in the library containing most of the bookshelves. Generally, "the stacks" are the bookshelves containing the books that can be checked out. The "reference stacks" are the bookshelves that hold the materials in the reference collection.
- Subject Heading
A word, phrase, or group of words that describes the subject content of a book or other item. In most databases, subject headings, which can also be called "descriptors," are a form of controlled vocabulary. A given item may have more than one subject heading.
T
- Thesaurus
(a) A list of the subject headings or descriptors used in a database, with information about their use and their relationships to each other. You could search the thesaurus in PsycINFO to identify appropriate descriptors for your topic, for example.
(b) A lexicon or classification of synonyms and related terms (e.g. Roget's Thesaurus).
- Truncation
A symbol that stands for one or more letters at the end of a word. In an online index or database, you can use truncation to search for the root of a word and all variant endings. For example, in the Library Catalog, the symbol is $ (advertis$ retrieves "advertiser," "advertisers," "advertising," "advertisements"); in Academic Search Premier, you could search for human* to retrieve records with the words "humans," "humanity," "humanities," and so forth. Truncation symbols vary by database; always check the "Help" screens or ask a librarian.
W
- Wildcard
A symbol that replaces one character; in some databases, the wildcard may also represent more than one letter or no letters. In the Library Catalog, the symbol is ?, and it stands for one character (wom?n retrieves both "woman" and "women"). Wildcard symbols vary by database; always check the "Help" screens or ask a librarian.
Need more information?
For additional definitions of library-related terminology, ask a librarian or consult the following:
|
|
