LIBRARY & MEDIA SERVICES INFORMATION

Discover Your Library: Glossary of Terms

Services | Collections | Locating Materials | Developing a Search Strategy | Glossary of Terms | ALA Code of Ethics

Abstract: A brief summary of an article

Bibliography: A list of works which may include books, journal and magazine articles, pamphlets and non-print materials. The list may relate to a given author, publisher, or subject area.

Boolean searching: In computer searching, the use of logical operators AND, OR, and NOT to arrange topics or terms into logical groups or sets

Bound periodicals: Magazines and journals that have been gathered into volumes at a bindery. In-house bound volumes have cardboard covers for temporary storage.

Call number: Letters and numbers or symbols assigned to a book or other material to indicate its location on the shelf. Call numbers are usually assigned according to the subject classification of the item. Call numbers are part of the catalog record.

Catalog: A list of books, maps, and media software which records, describes, and indexes the resources of a library or group of libraries. A catalog may be on cards, microfilm, or computer.

CD-ROM(Compact Disk-Read Only Memory): An optical disk which stores information that can be accessed by microcomputer. Many reference tools are available on CD-ROM as well as in print, with each of these formats providing certain advantages.

Check out: To borrow materials from the library

Circulating materials: Materials which may be borrowed from the library

Circulation desk: Area where you check out, return, and renew materials

Citation: A reference listed in an index or bibliography, identifying and locating a particular item. Bibliographic information in a citation varies with the type of information source, but typically includes author, title, and publication information.

Classification system: A systematic scheme for arranging books and other materials according to subject. The CCBC Catonsville Library uses the Library of Congress classification system, and classifies only books and some documents.

Copyright: The exclusive right to reproduce, sell or publish a work

Cross reference: A direction leading from one subject heading to another subject heading to find additional material. For example, see or see also

Database: An organized collection of related information, stored in machine- readable format. Databases may contain citations to books or other materials, or they may contain the full text of material.

Due date: The date stamped on the book to indicate the date by which it must be returned to the library

Field: A single element of a citation in a database. For example, the title field contains the title of a document.

Folio: An oversized, or extra large, book. Folios do not fit on standard book shelves and will be found on shelves marked FOLIOS. FOLIO is part of the call number.

Hit: An occurrence of your search term in a computer database. A false hit means that your term was found in the record, but the record is not relevant to your topic.

Hold: The process by which you request the library to notify you when a book is returned

Index: A reference tool which provides subject access to materials, whether one specific book or designated set of books, periodicals or other materials. In computer searching, an index is a list of all the words found in the database. There may be different indexes, such as an index of titles, subjects, article types, etc.

Journal: A periodical containing scholarly articles written by researchers and experts in the field

Keyword: A word or phrase that describes a particular concept or topic and may be used in a computer search

Library of Congress Subject Headings(LCSH): The standardized list of subject headings used in the Library of Congress classification system.

Magazine: A periodical intended for the general public rather than scholars

Microform: A photographic reproduction of printed material on film which has been reduced in size. Information is on a roll of film, known as microfilm, or on cards known as microfiche.

Overdue: Material which has been kept out of the library past the due date which is stamped on the material

Periodical: A publication appearing at stated or regular intervals, containing articles by several contributors. Journals, magazines, and newspapers are all types of periodicals.

Periodical Holdings List: A list of periodicals owned by the library. The list is by title and indicates the dates held and the physical format of back copies (usually microform or bound).

Record: A unit of information in a database. In most databases, the record includes the citation and further information describing the document. A record may also contain an abstract or full text of the document.

Reference Books: Books used for consultation purposes which may not be checked out of the library. Examples are encyclopedias, dictionaries, indexes, handbooks, and directories.

Reference Librarian: A specialist in information retrieval who has a masters degree in library science and often additional degrees in other subjects. Reference librarians are available at the Information/Reference desk to assist you in all aspects of research.

Renew: To extend the time which you may keep a book out of the library

Reserve: Material set aside so that it is readily available to the students in a specific course. Reserve materials are kept at the Circulation desk, and are usually for use only in the library.

Search Statement: A collection of search terms, sometimes connected with Boolean operators, used to search a database

Search Strategy: A systematic research plan to locate needed information. See p.10 for a discussion of search strategy.

Search Term: A word or phrase to be searched. It may be a subject heading or a keyword.

Serials: Publications that are issued on a continuing basis including periodicals, annual reports, books in series, conference proceedings, etc.

Stacks: Library book shelves

Stop List: A list of words for which a computer will not try to find a match. All databases include such words as of, by, for, and which as stop words; some also include substantive words such as United States or Conference.

Subject Heading: A standardized or controlled vocabulary term used to describe the subject content of a document. In a computer database, subject headings are often called descriptors.

Thesaurus: A list of the controlled vocabulary used in a database. Most indicate broader, narrower, and related terms to assist in finding all the terms you may want to use.

Truncation: Searching on word roots in order to retrieve all variant forms of words. Some systems automatically truncate; others require use of a symbol, such as ? or * . For example, teen ? would retrieve teen, teenage, teenager, etc. Use of truncation may retrieve many unwanted terms; exercise caution.

Vertical File: A collection of pamphlets and other unbound material housed in file cabinets