“LIBRARY-SPEAK”
Glossary of library and information seeking terms,
some unique to Purdue’s Veterinary Medical (VM) Library
A-
Abstract – a brief summary of the contents of
a paper or journal article. Usually available
with articles in bibliographic, non full-text databases like CAB Abstracts and
MEDLINE.
Acronym - a word formed from the initial
letters of other words (e. g., JAVMA is the acronym for the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical
Association.)
Annotation - a note added to a written list to
explain, comment on, or define each item, (e.g., an annotated list of databases
describing the subjects covered by each database.)
Annual – a type of book or journal in
which successive numbers are published once a year,
usually to review the events of the past year; a year-book, (e.g., Veterinary Annual)
Atlas - a
volume containing primarily maps, plates, engravings, radiographic images, etc.
and some explanatory text.
Audio-visual material
(SEE Media)
Author – the
writer of a book or article. Usually this is one or two people for a book,
while a journal article often has several authors. In the case of multiple authors, the first
author listed is the one used to search for the article in a catalog or
database. (SEE ALSO Corporate author.)
B-
Barcode – a unique 14 digit machine-readable
code used to identify individual library materials and/or patrons.
Bibliography – a list of books, articles, etc. on
a particular topic. Bibliographies may
appear at the end of a book, journal or encyclopedia article, or as a separate
publication.
Bibliographic record (or item record
or record) – a collection of descriptive information about a book or
journal title, recorded in a standard format in a database
or online catalog. The information
includes title, author, publisher, copyright date, etc.
Bindery - A company where periodicals and
books are sent to be bound or re-bound in hard covers.
Boolean logic – developed originally by George
Boole, a mathematician in the mid-1900s.
Used in database searching.
Boolean operators - the three basic
operators are AND, OR, NOT. They are
commands used to combine search terms to either narrow or broaden a search.
Book “dummy” - a wooden block in the shape of a
book, with a call number & location information on it. Placed by call
number on the shelf, the block tells the user where the book the “dummy”
replaces is actually kept.
Book return or book drop – a designated place to return charged
books and journals. The VM Library has
two book returns, across from the Circ/Reference Desk and in the wall south of
the Library’s entrance.
Bound journal - several consecutive issues of a
magazine or journal that are glued or sewed in one volume with a hard cover,
similar to a book.
Browser – a computer application allowing
navigation of the world wide web, (e.g., Netscape or Internet Explorer.).
C-
CAB Abstracts – online database covering journals
and some books in the fields of agriculture, biology and veterinary medicine 1973 to the present.
Call number – the unique combination of numbers
& letters assigned to classify a piece of library material according to a
classification system such as the Dewey Decimal System or Library of Congress
system. It serves to shelve the book
with other books on a general theme.
Career account (SEE Purdue Career
Account)
Carrel – an individual study space in the
Library.
Catalog - a listing of all books, journals
and media owned by a particular library. Purdue’s online catalog is named THOR. (SEE also Online catalog.)
CD-ROM – an acronym for Compact Disk-Read
Only Memory, a storage disk holding thousands of pages of information and accessed
by a microcomputer.
Charge – To borrow library materials for a specified period of time. The materials are “charged” to the borrower
who is responsible for their return.
Check out (SEE Charge)
Circulating - items that can be borrowed from the
library are said to circulate. Some materials, such as those in Reference, are
non-circulating.
Circulation Desk – a counter where books and journals
are charged to patrons. In the VM
Library, it is combined with the Reference Desk.
Citation – standardized information (title,
author, publisher, date, etc.) about a book or journal article, provided so the
item can be located and to give credit to the original author for work used by
another.
Cite - (1) as a verb, to provide a reference to a source. (2) as a
noun, a shortened form of citation, (e.g., How many cites does the
article have?)
Collection – a group of books and journals
dealing with a specific topic or discipline, (e.g., an animal welfare
collection, a history of veterinary medicine collection).
Compact shelves – space-saving, movable shelves with
no stationary aisles. In the VM Library,
compact shelves house the bound journal collection.
Computing Lab – collection of computers for
student use operated by ITaP. (SEE ALSO ITaP Student Computing Lab)
Conference proceedings (SEE
Proceedings)
Controlled vocabulary – descriptive words designated by the
compilers of a database as preferred terms for searchers to use to maximize
their results. For example, in the
medical database MEDLINE, the preferred term for cancer is neoplasm. Searching by neoplasm will yield more results.
Copyright – the right
granted by law to the creator of a work (e.g., authors, composers, artists,
etc.) to produce and sell that work.
Copyright date – a small c in a circle followed by a
year - ©2004 - indicates when a work was published and copyrighted.
Core Collection – group of books in the VM Library
that circulate for 3 weeks.
Corporate author - a group, such as a government, governmental
department, institution, society, corporation, etc. that authorizes the
publication of materials under its name as author. A veterinary example of a corporate author is
the American Association of Animal Hospitals.
Course Reserves - materials designated by a professor
to be accessible for a specific course.
IN THOR, click on Course Reserves and
search by professor’s name and course number.
Credibility – an evaluation of a book or article
as to whether the author has the expertise be believed.
Current Journal Issues – recent, unbound journal issues
shelved in the VM Library’s NE corner room.
All the journals are arranged alphabetically by title.
D-
Data – facts; in particular, numerical facts.
Database – searchable collection of bibliographic records on a general subject. Some databases supply citations only; some
are full-text databases. Online library
catalogs like THOR are databases.
Descriptors – terms assigned to an article to
describe its main concepts; used in indexing the article for a catalog or
database. (SEE ALSO Subject headings)
Dewey Decimal System – a system for the classification of
books by topic.
Digital library – a “library” whose resources are in
online form rather than physical items in a physical space.
Digital reference– interaction with a reference
librarian online rather than in-person. (SEE
ALSO Q & A Ask Librarians)
Discharge – scan a book or journal when it is
returned to the library in order to remove its borrower from responsibility for
it.
Dissertation – a lengthy paper or report on
research, usually done in connection with the granting of a graduate degree.
Document delivery – at Purdue, it is the delivery to a
library patron of a book he/she has requested from another library on campus.
E-
Editor
- - the
individual responsible for pulling together a collection of papers or articles
for publication, rather than the author of the works.
Electronic book (e-book) – book published online in digital
format, rather than in print.
Electronic journal (e-journal) – a journal whose contents may be
accessed online in addition to, or instead of, in print.
Encyclopedia - a work containing information on many
subjects is a general encyclopedia. A subject
encyclopedia concentrates on all aspects of one subject or field.
F-
Fair use –conditions under which the copying
of a work does not infringe upon the rights granted to its author by U.S.
copyright law. In specially defined
circumstances, copying is permitted for the purposes of criticism, comment,
news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.
FAQ – acronym for frequently asked question. Some databases offer answers to FAQs in
their online help.
Field - a category of information used in
computerized catalogs and databases, (e.g., basic fields are author, title,
source and publisher).
Full-text – describes journals whose entire
contents may be accessed online.
G-
Government documents - materials published by federal,
state, and local government agencies. Usually shelved in a separate area in a
library.
Group Study Rooms (also called Small Group Study Rooms) – four rooms along the south
wall of the VM Library where up to four students may work together. Sign-up sheets are posted daily on the door
of each room.
Glossary - an alphabetical list of technical
terms and their definitions within a specific subject field.
H–
Handbook – a style of book that is concise and
compact, similar to a manual, (e.g., Handbook
of Veterinary Neurology.)
Hits – the results of executing a database search, (e.g., There were 1025 hits
from the search “cattle AND lameness.”)
Hold Shelf – shelf behind the Vet Med Library
Circulation Desk where books that have been recalled are held.
Holdings – the books, journals and media a
library actually owns. In the case of
journals, holdings also refers to what volumes (years) are in the collection.
Home page, Purdue Libraries (http://www.lib.purdue.edu/)
I-
ILL – acronym for Interlibrary Loan; the service that allows you to borrow
a book or receive a copy of a journal article not held at Purdue. Click on Interlibrary
Loan on the Libraries home page. (http://www.lib.purdue.edu/access/ill/index.html)
Index – a list or database of records
arranged by subject, by author or alphabetically to help locate individual
records.
Information literacy – the knowledge & skills needed to
find information by analyzing information needs; manipulating library tools
effectively (searching online catalogs; CD-ROMs, and the Web) to locate
possible sources, and finally, to evaluate the credibility and usefulness of
the material.
Intellectual property – intangible results of invention or
creativity, (e.g., a song, book, or speech) that may be patented or copyrighted
by the author or artist.
ISBN - the ten digit International Standard Book Number that uniquely identifies a book.
ISSN –the eight digit International
Standard Serial Number uniquely identifying a serial, journal,
magazine, or newspaper.
Issue - a part, usually numbered, of a
journal volume, (e.g., Veterinary
Surgery, v.32, Issue 1, Jan/Feb. 2003)
ITaP – acronym for Information Technology
at Purdue. Unit managing student
computing labs on campus (SEE also Computing Lab)
Item record (SEE Bibliographic record)
J-
Journal – publication issued in successive
parts, usually at regular intervals, and dealing with a broad discipline or
topic, (e.g., American Heart Journal.)
Peer-reviewed journal
– one whose
articles must be approved before publication by other experts in a field; for
example, American Heart Journal.
Professional journal – one that is published by and for a
specific profession or discipline; for example, Journal of Aerospace Engineering.
Scholarly journal – one that is written by and for a
discipline or study; sometimes used interchangeably with peer-reviewed; an
example is Journal of Medical Ethics.
Journal collections – in the VM Library, journal titles
are in three collections: bound journals, current journal issues, and a small
collection of current journal issues on Reserves
K–
Keyword(s) – significant word(s) used in a
search of multiple fields in a record.
For example, to find the title of a book on small animal surgery,
keywords could be small, animal, and surgery.
Keyword searching - a search performed in a database
or catalog to look for important words in a number of fields
at one time.
L-
Library of Congress Subject Headings
(LCSH) - a subject
word or phrase under which all material dealing with the same theme is entered
in the catalog.
Librarian - an information specialist who has a
graduate degree in information science and is responsible for the operation of
a library, including the selection, processing, and organization of materials
and the delivery of user instruction
Library materials – refers to any educational or
informational resources owned by the library – generally books, journals, and
media.
Limits (SEE search limits)
Literature search – a search of indexes or databases to
find citations on a specific topic for a given a time period; (e.g., a search
on Addison’s in dogs during the last 5 years).
Loan period – the period of time a particular
book or journal can be charged to a patron.
M–
Magazine - a periodical publication usually
considered of more general or popular interest than a journal, (e.g., Cat Fancy or Dog Watch.). (SEE also Serial
or Journal)
Manual – a type of book containing concise
or abridged information, sometimes in an outline form, (e.g., BSAVA Manual of Small Animal Dermatology.)
Materials (SEE Library materials)
Media – in libraries, non-print materials including audio or video tapes, CD-ROMS,
computer discs, etc.
MegaSearch – a feature under Resources &
Databases on the Purdue Libraries’ home page that allows you to search across a
group of databases simultaneously.
Menu - a computer screen display where the
user is offered a number of options from which to choose.
Monograph - a book about a single subject or
single aspect of a subject, (e.g., Applied
Animal Reproduction or Clinical
Immunology of the Dog & Cat.)
N –
Nesting – a term describing the way a search
is structured when using multiple Boolean operators, (e.g., in the keyword
search - (dog or cat or pet) and
insurance – the computer will first search the terms within the
parentheses, then AND the results with the term insurance.
O-
Online catalog – a database containing records for
each piece of library material owned by a given library. Purdue University Libraries’ online catalog
is THOR.
Online database – a searchable, digitized collection
of information.
Online renewal – a feature allowing you to renew the
books you have charged to you. Click on
Your Library Account & select the titles to renew under Charged Items.
Open Reserves – a small collection of highly-used
books that need to be accessible to a large number of students. These materials have restricted circulation
policies.
Oversized: a book or bound volume shelved in
a special location for larger books; located at the end of the Core Collection
in the VM Library.
P-
Patron – a traditional term for a library user;
the Purdue Libraries term is generally ‘user’.
Patron record – a record of contact information
for Libraries’ users.
Patron type – a user’s University classification
– faculty, staff, grad student, undergraduate student.
Periodical –a title that is published over a period
of time in issues. Popular magazines may be called periodicals. Similar
to journal or serial.
Plagiarism – using the work of someone else as
your own, without referencing or citing them as a source.
Problem
Based Learning - An approach using PROBLEM SOLVING techniques where learners
are set specific challenges through realistic or unstructured problems.
Similar to ENQUIRY LEARNING, but with a particular goal or challenge
which needs to be resolved.
Problem
Solving - A general term which covers a diversity of problem types
which make a range of demands on thinking. Some problems have unique
solutions and can be tackled with predominantly convergent critical thinking,
but many others are open-ended and demand both creative and critical
thinking for their solution.
Proceedings – the published record of a conference,
(e.g., the Proceedings of the American Association of Equine Practitioners);
proceedings are generally published by a corporate author, (i.e.,
the group or association who sponsored the conference).
Purdue Career Account – the name given to your computing/e-mail
account while you are a student, staff or faculty member at the University. Your career account includes 500 megabytes (MB) of server storage
space. This space can be used to store files and display web pages on the
World Wide Web.
Purdue University Libraries homepage (http://www.lib.purdue.edu/) – click here
to search the catalog and other online resources.
Purdue University ID card – the official ID card issued by
the University with your picture; it also serves as your Purdue libraries
card.
Q-
Q & A Ask Librarians – a digital (online) reference
service by Purdue Libraries; offers a choice of Chat, Enhanced Chat or E-mail
interaction with a librarian. Click the
icon ion the upper right side of the libraries homepage. http://www.lib.purdue.edu/help/qp/index.html
R-
Recall - procedure by which a patron can
request that a book currently charged to another patron be returned to the
library so he/she can charge it. Click Request this book in the top toolbar of
the book’s item record in the online catalog.
Record (SEE Bibliographic record)
Reference collection - Group of books in the Library that
are referred to frequently, (e.g., encyclopedias, dictionaries, indexes,
directories, and bibliographies). These
materials cannot be charged because they need to be available for all users.
Reference Desk - Service desk where users can go
for assistance in using the library. In
the VM Library, it is combined with the Circulation Desk.
References (SEE citations or reference
lists).
Renew - To extend the amount of time
materials can be borrowed. Renewals can be done electronically on THOR or by
telephoning the individual Purdue library where you charged the book. (SEE also
Online renewal).
Reserves collection – in the VM Library, these are high-use,
course-related library books and 30 unbound veterinary journal issues with a
restricted loan period. Ask for these at
the Circulation Desk.
Resource – a general term describing any
source of information, including print, or digital, (e.g., a book, CD-ROM,
journal, web site, etc).
S-
Search – the process of entering carefully
chosen terms into a database in order to locate additional information on a
given subject.
Search limits- parameters used to narrow the number
search results. Some limits are date,
language, type of material (book, journal or media) and location of the item.
Search strategy – the most efficient and effective
manner of searching for the results you want using the information you already
have.
"SEE" reference - directions in an index or catalog to
look under another term for a definition.
"SEE also" reference – directions to look under a related
term.
Serial – a library term for periodicals such
as magazines, newspapers, journals, and annuals.
Series – a group of publications on a related
theme or topic and released over a period of time, e.g., Current topics in microbiology and immunology.
Source – (1) a general term for library
material that provides information; (2) the field in a citation containing the title,
volume/issue number & year of the journal in which an article was
published.
Stacks - areas where books are shelved in a
library.
Status – information showing in the online
catalog about whether a book is available, lost, missing, in transit, etc.
Storage - Purdue Libraries’ unit in the lower
level of the Undergraduate Library where infrequently used library materials
are kept. Materials in Storage may be
charged.
Style manual – guidelines for the format of written
work; usually set by a given discipline.
An example is the American Medical
Association Manual of
Style : a guide for authors and editors.
Subject headings – terms or phrases assigned to books
or articles to describes their subjects. THOR displays standardized subject headings known
as LC (Library of Congress) SUBJECT HEADINGS to describe each book or media
title in the catalog. (SEE also Controlled
vocabulary)
T-
Thesaurus – an alphabetical list of preferred
terms for searching a particular database.
Searching with preferred terms as key-words results in more results. (SEE
also Controlled vocabulary.)
THOR – acronym for The Online Resource; the name of the Purdue Libraries’ online
catalog.
Truncation – a method of expanding the results
of an online search by searching the root of several words. Searching on “comput?” will result in hits on
computer, computer, computing, for example.
U-
URL (Uniform Resources Locator) – the
string of characters that identifies a particular web site or file on the Internet and
serves as its “address”.
User instruction – library term for teaching library
users how to find the information they need by using resources effectively.
|
V- Virtual library (SEE Digital
library) Virtual reference (SEE Digital
reference) Volume - a unit in a set or series; a single
bibliographic unit like a book; a bound periodical containing several issues |
|
W-
WebCT (or WebCT Vista) - course management software currently
used at Purdue; access is usually restricted to students registered in a course.
Compiled by
Betty Brown, Professional Librarian, Purdue Veterinary Medical Library
May, 2004