A Glossary to help in understanding library lingo:
Abstract
A brief, objective summary of the essential content of a book, article, speech, report, dissertation, or other work that presents the main points in the same order as the original but has no independent literary value. An abstract can be indicative, informative, critical, or written from a particular point of view.
Article
A selfcontained nonfiction composition on a fairly narrow topic or subject, written by one or more authors and published under a separate title in a collection or periodical. The length of a periodical article is often an indication of the type of publication, magazine articles are usually less than five pages long; articles published in scholarly journals, longer than five pages. Periodical articles are indexed, usually by author and subject, in periodical indexes and abstracting services, known as bibliographic databases when available electronically.
Bibliographic Citation
Information, which identifies a book or article. It may include the author, title of the article, title of the periodical, volume, pages, and date.
Bound Journal
Issues of a magazine gathered together and bound in a hard cover; shelved alphabetically by title.
Call Number
Alphanumeric (letters and numbers) designation assigned to every book indicating its place on the Library shelves. CFCC Library follows the Library of Congress Classification System and the Dewey Decimal Classification.
Check Shelves
Term used to indicate a library item is not checked out and should be available on the shelf.
Current Periodicals
Most recent issues of the magazine, newspapers, and journals.
Database
A regularly updated file of digitized information (bibliographic records, abstracts, fulltext documents, directory entries, images, statistics, etc.) related to a specific subject or field, consisting of records of uniform format organized for ease and speed of search and retrieval.
Domain Names
The address identifying a specific site on the Internet. In the United States, domain names usually consist of three parts separated by the period. The six basic top level domain codes are:
.com commercial enterprise
.edu educational institution
.gov government agency
.mil military installation
.net network .org nonprofit organization
eBook
In this context, an eBook is a web-based version of a print book. There are numerous advantages an eBook has over its print equivalent, such as:
* access from anywhere you have an Internet connection
* needing only a web browser to view an eBook
* multiple users being able to access the same title
* searching across all the eBooks you own
* limiting searches by subject category.
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Hold
Placing a HOLD on a book already checked out means it will be kept for you when it is returned so you may check it out.
Holdings
Statement indicating what years the library owns of a specific title.
Index
Source which compiles citations to articles, newspapers, or books. There are general indexes and specialized indexes for each discipline. Indexes are in print and electronic formats.
Interlibrary Loan
The means of borrowing material not owned by your library. You may request both books and articles from periodicals.
Journal
Type of periodical which contains articles in a particular field. Journals are usually scholarly or professional sources and contain longer and more authoritative articles. Compare with magazines.
Keyword
Type of search in which the word is searched almost everywhere in the database. Keyword is the broadest kind of search and usually retrieves the most number of hits.
Loan Period
Length of time library materials may be borrowed.
MLA Style
A format for typing research papers and citing sources in the humanities developed by the Modern Language Association of America and published in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, available in the reference section of most academic libraries.
Microfilm
Filmed copy of a publication stored on reels. There are reader/printers for viewing and copying microfilm.
Periodical
Publication published on a regular basis and intended to be continued indefinitely. Examples are newspapers, magazines, and journals.
Primary Source
A document or record containing firsthand information or original data on a topic. Primary sources include original manuscripts, periodical articles reporting original research or thought, diaries, memoirs, letters, journals, photographs, drawings, posters, film footage, sheet music, songs, interviews, government documents, public records, eyewitness accounts, newspaper clippings, etc.
Ready Reference
Reference books most frequently used, so shelved on the bookcase nearest to the Reference Desk.
Reference Stacks
Book shelves containing overview sources in all subjects. Reference books cannot be checked out.
Serials
A publication in any medium issued under the same title in a succession of discrete parts usually numbered (or dated) and appearing at regular or irregular intervals with no predetermined conclusion.
Truncation
Using a designated symbol (like * or !) after the root stem of a word to retrieve variant endings of the word. For example, searching politic* picks up politics, political, politician, etc.