Glossary of research and library
terms
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
Abridged - a shortened or reduced version of a novel or dictionary.
Abstract - A brief summary or description of the main ideas of a book, article,
or other document. When an index not only cites an article on your subject,
but also provides a brief summary, the article is said to be abstracted.
Access point - Searchable fields of a record in a database used to retrieve
information. These fields can include the author's name, subject, date, title,
etc.
Access tool - Bibliography,
catalog, database, or other information source which leads you to information
on your topic.
Almanac - a one-volume collection, published each year, of useful and interesting
facts (i.e., World Book Almanac).
AND - The Boolean
operator used to narrow a search by specifying that the words or phrases connected
by AND be present in the retrieved results.
Annotation - a description of each item selected to be used in a research paper,
i.e., annotated bibliography.
Annual - a yearly publication.
Atlas - a book of maps and geographic tables.
Audiovisual Media Services - library services that help patrons locate non-book
resources, i.e., films, videos, and recordings, in support of college curriculum
and research.
Author - the person who is responsible for the writing and intellectual content
of a book or article. Two or more persons collaborating on a work are called
joint authors. If an organization (companies, conferences, governments and their
agencies, associations, etc.) is responsible for the written material they are
considered an corporate author.
Author field The
field in a record in a database where the author or authors are listed.
B
Bibliographic Citation - all necessary information to uniquely identify a particular
publication. Typically includes author, title, journal or publisher, date, and
pages.
Bibliography - a list of citations for books, periodicals, or other materials
on a given topic usually found at the end of scholarly articles, books, or research
papers. Annotated bibliographies list and describe the contents of these items.
In a research paper it may also be called WORKS CITED or REFERENCE LIST.
Biography - source that has background and other personal information about
someone living or dead. (Called an AUTOBIOGRAPHY when the author writes about
him/herself).
Book Review - evaluation of a new book expressing an opinion on the quality
of the material.
Boolean Logic - a method of logic (developed by George Boole, a 19th-century
English mathematician) which uses the logical operators - AND, OR, and NOT -
to combine two or more search terms to increase or lesson the amount found.
Boolean logic (Operators) The connectors AND, OR, NOT used to combine key words
or subjects to narrow, broaden or limit a computer search.
Bound Periodical - a number of issues, usually one year, held together in one
hard-back volume.
Browser - software used to access websites and information from internet servers.
Examples include Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla, etc.
C
Call Number - a designated set of letters and/or numbers used to identify a
particular item in the collection by subject and to provide the item's location
on the shelf. The Luce Library uses the Library of Congress classification system
to create their call numbers, many public libraries may use the Dewey Decimal
system.
Catalog- a database describing the materials contained in the library, searchable
by keyword, author, title, and subject.
An access tool used to learn what a library owns and where it is located. A
standard format is used to describe books, journals, audiovisual holdings, etc.
Most catalogs are now online or computerized. See OPAC.
CD-ROM Acronym
for Compact Disk-Read Only Memory. Data on a CD-ROM can only be read, not changed
or altered.
Circulation - refers to library department whose main function is to check out
books and ensure that books are returned by the due date. Materials that may
be borrowed are called CIRCULATING, and materials such as Reference books that
may not be borrowed are called NONCIRCULATING.
Citation Information - a reference note that fully identifies a publication.
A complete citation usually includes author, title, name of journal (if the
citation is to an article) or publisher (if to a book), or Internet address
or URL (if to a website), and date. The form of the citation depends on the
style required: Modern Language Association (MLA) or American Psychological
Association (APA).
Classification system - Used by libraries to arrange materials by subject. Dewey Decimal System and Library of Congress Classification System are the most frequently used classification systems.
Controlled Vocabulary
- a list of specific words, called descriptors or subject headings, used to
describe items in a bibliographic database.
Copyright - the legal provision of exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute
a work. Under U.S. Public Law 94-553, these rights are granted to the author,
composer, artist, etc. for his/her lifetime plus 50 years thereafter. Some provisions
for educational use of material is addressed under the Fair Use sections of
copyright law as well. For more see the government web site for Copyright.
Cross-Reference - a record that refers you from one subject heading to another
heading which might also be helpful for your research topic. Used in catalogs,
thesauri and indexes, the cross reference entries might be prefaced by the words:
See, See also (SA), Use, Use for (UF), Broader Term (BT) , Narrower Term (NT).
Current Periodicals - recent, unbound journals or magazines that are located
in the Periodicals area.
D
Database- a regularly updated, organized information file system that is rapidly
searchable and retrievable by computer in a variety of ways. The libraries'
databases can either serve as an index -- providing information about a
document (title, author, subject headings, source) -- or serve as an full-text
database, providing the citation information and access to the document itself.
Depository Library - a library legally designated to receive, without charge,
copies of all or a selected portion of government publications in exchange for
making them available to that library's community.
Descriptor/Subject term- an indexing term used to designate the subject or topic
of a work. Descriptors are generally used when searching computerized indexes.
Dissertation - publication reporting original research that is a requirement
for a PH.D. degree.
Domain - internet address of the organization hosting a web page. Examples include
.com, .net, .gov, .org, .info, etc. Government (.gov, .mil ) and education (.edu)
are regulated domains, other domains are registered through ICANN.
E
Edition - all copies of a book printed at one time. If changes are made before
the book is printed again, the next printing becomes a NEW EDITION. (If no changes
were made to the original text, the publisher may put out a SECOND PRINTING.)
Editor - the person responsible for compiling a collection of writings by different
authors.
E-journal - Journal published in electronic format.
Email - Electronic
mail. It may consist of text and/or graphics.
Encryption - a method of encoding data or concealing information so that it
cannot be read except by someone who has the key to decode it. Theoretically
encryption could guarantee the privacy of information sent over the Internet
but some encryption codes have been broken by unauthorized people.
Encyclopedia - Collection of articles (published in print as a a book, set of
books or published electronically), containing information on subjects in many
fields of knowledge or a specific field.
F
FAQ - an acronym for Frequently Asked Questions. A FAQ page on a website addresses
questions that are asked regularly by new users.
Fields - The individual areas of a database record. Examples include the title field, the subject field, the author field, etc.
Footnote - explanatory
information about material in the text, numbered consecutively and usually placed
below the text.
Format - physical form of an information source or the manner in which information
is presented. Examples of formats include print, audiovisual, electronic, digital,
microform, etc. A magazine can be in print or microformat, whereas a musical
recording or videotape is in an audiovisual format.
Free-text - A computer
search for words wherever they appear in the searchable fields of the records
in a database. A free-text search scans all searchable fields for any specified
word or term. Most default keyword searches are free-text searches.
Full-text database - database that gives the users access to citation information
and the entire text of an article or book which has been entered or scanned
into a database (instead of just a citation and summary or brief description).
G
Government Documents - all materials published by government: federal, state,
local, or foreign. While many government documents are available on the Web,
some are still delievered in print form only. Consulting a librarian will help
you to locate the government information you need.
H
Home Page - The "cover" page of a Web site, or the web page you see
first when you access a web site. It may include an index to the contents of
the pages that comprise a Web site.
Holdings - a set of fields that shows exactly which years and volumes of a serial
are available.
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) - coding language focussing on data-display,
used to create webpages so that information (text and graphics) can be displayed
in various different web browsers.
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) - the Internet Protocol used to transfer
hypertext documents from an internet server to a client computer. Other common
Internet Protocols are gopher and ftp.
Hypertext - document that has links to other documents imbedded in it.
Humanities - the subjects of archaeology and classical studies, area studies,
folklore, history, language and literature, literary and political criticism,
performing arts, philosophy, religion and theology, and other related subjects.
Ebsco will help you find articles in these areas.
I
Index - an alphabetical listing of the contents of a book, journal, or collection.
Also, a listing of citations organized by subject. Articles included in an index,
like the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature or InfoTrac, are said to be
indexed.
Information Literacy - the ability to define problems in terms of information
needs, and subsequently locate, evaluate, and apply information effectively
and ethically.
Interlibrary Loan (ILL) - exchange of books or photocopies of journal articles
between libraries for a brief period. Enables patrons, in some cases for a fee,
to borrow materials not owned by St. John's.
Internet
- a global
network of computer networks which links information through computers connected
by cables and other links.
Issue - a periodical of a certain date (the June 2007 issue of Foreign Affairs).
J
Journal - a periodical containing scholarly articles and/or current information
on research and development in a particular subject field. May also be called
a PERIODICAL.
K
Keyword - Important word in a title, abstract, etc. Doing a keyword search
may help you discover the descriptors/subject terms used by the chosen database.
In some journals, (ex: Psychology) keyword is also used to describe the
word/s the authors assign to describe the content of their articles.
Keywords may or may not overlap with descriptors/subject headings.
Keyword searching
- Keyword searching allows you to retrieve information in a database
by looking for a word or combination of words. Key words can be used in general
(free-text) or in specific fields, such as title or subject.
L
Librarian - a member of the Luce Library trained in finding and managing information
services and resources.
Library of Congress Subject Headings - terms used by the Library of Congress
to describe and classify areas of knowledge, listed in a four volume set of
books.
Literary Criticism - books or articles that discuss and/or judge an author's
writing.
M
Magazine - periodical for popular reading, aimed at a general audience, with
generally no references.
Media - films, videos, tapes, cds mp3s, records and other audio-visual materials
that may require the use of special listening or viewing equipment.
Microforms - Forms of reproduced information sources that are too small to be
read unaided, without enlargement. These reproduction formats use microphotography
to reproduce information onto either a thin piece of film, i.e., MICROFILM (a
roll of film, usually 35 mm) or MICROFICHE (a transparent 4" x 6"
sheet of film). Some older publications are preserved on Microform -- viewing
them requires the use of a microfilm reader. Consult someone at the circulation
desk for assistance using these information formats.
Monograph - a book.
N
Natural Language - A search
statement expressed in normal language. Example: Why is the sky blue? What role
did jazz play in Langston Hughes' poetry? (as opposed to a search statement
of Jazz AND Huges AND Poetry)
Network - Two or more computers connected to share information. Within a limited area, a building or a campus, called a LAN (Local Area Network), in a wider area, a WAN (Wide Area Network).
Networked Database - a database located on a central server so that it can be accessed by multiple users, either on or off-campus. The library databases are networked databases.
NON-CIRCULATING MATERIALS - items that must be used in the library, i.e., reference books, periodicals and some reserve materials.
NOT
-
The Boolean operator NOT is used to exclude words or phrases from a search.
Submarine NOT Yellow finds information on the water vessels but excludes information
on the popular song by the Beatles.
O
OPAC - an acronym that stands for On-line Public Access Catalog - an OPAC is
an online catalog that allows users to search whether the library owns a particular
book, government document or periodical. (see CATALOG). The Stephen B. Luce
library's OPAC is called The Sextant.
Operators - words such as AND, OR, and NOT that are used to combine search terms
to broaden or narrow the results of a search. Combining terms using operators
is sometimes called Boolean searching.
OR
- The OR operator broadens a search by including any of the terms. Examples:
cinema OR film OR movie OR moving picture OR documentary.
P
Periodical - a magazine, journal, serial or newspaper publication appearing
at regular intervals over a period of time; examples include: daily, weekly,
monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, etc. A periodical might also be referred to
as a serial publication (a periodical is one type of serial publication).
Periodical Indexs and Abstracts - periodical indexes list articles which have
appeared in journals, magazines, or newspapers. They list citation information
only: author, title, name of periodical, volume, pages and date of publication.
Abstracts are indexes that also contain article summaries as well. Some Indexes
and Abstracts are only available in print format, others are accessible through
electronic databases.
Plagiarism - Plagiarism is incorporating someone else's work into your work
without giving proper credit to the original source. Citations let your audience
know what work is yours and what is the work of others; failure to cite sources
properly qualifies as plagarism, and is a serious breach of ethics, inside and
outside the academic world.
Primary Source - research resource which is a fundamental or original document
or creative work relating to a particular subject or event,
A first-hand report by a writer, scientist, artist, musician or observer.
Examples include:
diaries, letters, some newspaper articles, an eyewitness account, an autobiography,
a lab report, a painting, an original musical score or a court transcript.
Q
R
Record -
Standardized
components of a database composed of various fields describing the book or article.
Reference Materials
- resources that allow users to locate facts or identify information quickly.
Reference Books are housed in a reference room as part of a reference collection,
and contain many sources of information, such as encyclopedias, dictionaries,
almanacs, directories or statistical compilations. They may also have bibliographies,
indexes and abstracts. Reference materials usually do not leave the library.
Reference Librarian - specialists in the field of information retrieval. Generally
they have a Masters degree in library science, and in an academic setting, they
ususally have a graduate degree in a subject discipline as well. They are available
at reference desks to help you find the information you are looking for.
Reviews - a critical commentary in an information source which often includes
an analysis, evaluation, interpretation or critique of the content and quality
of books, movies, software, etc.; it often includes the author's/reviewer's
opinion.
Revised Edition - an edition of a book which incorporates changes made by its
author or editor since the publication of an earlier edition. In certain fields
where timeliness is very important (science, medicine, technology, etc.), the
reader should be particularly alert to updated, revised editions of earlier
works.
S
Scholarly Journal - a periodical containing scholarly articles on research and
development. Usually characterized by a list of references at the end of the
article, and written by person (s) trained in the subject area.
Sciences - the subject fields of astronomy, atmospheric science, biology, botany,
chemistry, earth science, environment and conservation, food and nutrition,
genetics, mathematics, medicine and health, microbiology, oceanography, physics,
physiology, and zoology. For example, Science Direct, and BMT INDEX are resources
that can help you locate articles and other sources in these fields.
Search Engine - a navigational tool to search the internet by keyword search
or by topic, examples include Scirus, Google, Ask, Yahoo, etc
Search Strategy - methodology
for focusing your research on a particular topic; the
plan or steps taken to locate research materials. Involves determining the information
needed, the kinds of resources needed (primary, secondary, books, articles,
etc) and formulating keywords and concepts that will make your search results
more appropriate.
Secondary Source - any material other than the original document, which interprets
and analyzes primary sources; something
written or reported about someone else's work. Examples include: textbooks,
criticism, commentaries, encyclopedias, etc.
Serial - any publication issued at intervals or in parts and usually intended
to be continued indefinitely such as periodicals, yearbooks, annuals, etc.
Social Sciences - the subject fields of anthropology, economics, environment,
geography, law and criminology, planning and public administration, political
science, psychology, social aspects of medicine, sociology, etc. SOCIAL SCIENCES
INDEX helps to locate articles in these areas.
Sources - materials that are used as the basis of research. They can be primary or secondary sources. [i.e., works by Hemmingway (primary source) or works about him or his work (secondary source)].
Special Collections
- location of rare books, manuscript collections, and collections of historical
maps and photographs.
Stacks - book shelves containing the principal book collection of the library.
Open stacks are open for browsing; closed stacks require assistance from a library
staff member.
Style Manual - a book containing rules for citing the information you incorporate
into your research; MLA and APA are used most often at Maritime, these manuals
are available in the Reference area.
Subject field The field in a database record in which the terms or subject headings describing the content of the item are located.
Subject Heading
- words or phrases assigned to books
and articles to index these items by topic. These words can be used as
an access point to a bibliographic record in the catalog and also used to identify
topics in a book or periodical index. Determining the correct headings (also
called descriptors) for a specific database or catalog is important for effective
research. See also Controlled Vocabulary and Thesaurus.
Subject Periodical Index - a periodical index which is limited to periodicals
within a specific subject area. Example: BMT INDEX.
Supplement - section added to a book or journal after it has been published
to provide more up-to-date information or to focus on a special topic.
T
Thesaurus - a list of all
subject headings or descriptors used in a particular database, catalog, or index.
The thesaurus for most library catalogs is called the Library of Congress Subject
Headings. (Also, a list of synonyms.)
Thesis/Theses -
publication(s) reporting original research that are a requirement for a Masters
Degree.
Title Page - the first important page in a book. It contains the title of the
book, the author(s), editor(s), or organization responsible for the intellectual
content of the work, the edition (unless it is the first), and the place of
publication, publisher, and date of publication. (The date is sometimes located
on the reverse side of the title page.)
Truncation - the ability to enter
the first part of a keyword, insert a symbol and retrieve all possible endings
of that word. The Sextant and Infotrac use the asterisk (*), other databases
may use other symbols ( ?), ( #), ($). For example, it may be beneficial
to truncate the word "microcomputer" into "microcomput" in order to retrieve
items with the terms "microcomputers" and "microcomputing" as well as the original,
singular term.
U
Unabridged - complete version of a novel or dictionary, has not been shortened.
URL (Uniform Resource
Locator) - The
distinct address of a web site;
the method for stating the exact address or location of resources on the Web.
URLs are case sensitive, so they must
be entered exactly as given. As an example, the URL for the library at
SUNY Maritime is:
http://www.sunymaritime.edu/stephenblucelibrary/
V
Virtual Library - access to electronic information in a variety of remote locations
through a local online catalog or other gateway, such as the Internet
Volume - a single book, often part of a set of books.
W
Web Page - a file containing text and often graphics, which can be reached by
link from any other web page.
World Wide Web - (WWW or W3 or "The Web") An "area" of the
Internet using multimedia and hypertext links to communicate information. The
web is a hypertext-based, distributed information system in which users may
create, edit, or browse hypertext documents. An Internet system of servers that
supports access to documents formatted in markup languages as well as links
to other documents, graphics, audio, and video files. Note: the WWW is part
of the internet, not all internet websites are
www sites.
X
XML - eXtensible Markup Language: a coding language that was designed to focus
on describing data rather than focussing on displaying data (like HTML). In
describing data, XML makes the content/data of an XML document more "portable."
(For example, an RSS feed in XML allows the content/data of a web page to be
displayed in any number of ways in RSS readers.)