- Abstract
- A statement summarizing the important points in a text.
Abstracts in article databases are useful for evaluating
the article. In scholarly journals, an abstract usually
appears at the beginning of an article. Also called a summary.
-
- American Standard Code for Information Interchange
(ASCII)
- The code numbers used by computers to represent all the
upper and lower-case Latin letters, numbers, punctuation,
etc. A plain text document with no other formatting is also
called an ASCII file
-
- Archives
- A collection of documents and records of historical interest.
-
- Article database
- A catalog of references to articles that were originally
published in other sources such as magazines, journals and
newspapers. Some article databases only give citations and
others are full-text. Also called a periodical index.
-
- Article reference
- An article reference gives the information needed to find
a full-text copy. It identifies the author and title and
tells where and when it was published. Also called a citation,
a bibliographic citation or a source.
-
- Asynchronous
- Recipient need not be at his/her computer in order to
receive the message you send.
- Bibliography
- A list of references used by an author or relating to
a given subject.
-
- Bookmark file
- In Netscape, a collection of URLs that the user saved
because of frequent use or to make them easy to find again.
In Internet Explorer, these are called Favorites.
-
- Boolean logic
- Mathematician George Boole (1815-1864) discovered a way
of reducing logic to simple algebra. Boole's system is useful
as a way to define sets for search statements.
-
- Boolean operator
- Boolean Operators define the relationship between words
in a search statement. The principal Boolean operators are:
AND (intersection) OR (union) and NOT (difference)
-
- Browser
- Software which displays files on the Internet. Browsers
send requests in HTTP to a WWW server. Another word for
browser is client.
- Call number
- A library code number that identifies a work, gives its
subject classification, and indicates its location on the
shelf. Most research libraries and academic libraries use
Library of Congress call numbers. Example: PN111 W7 2000
is the call number for "Writer's Yearbook 2000"
-
- Case sensitive
- In case sensitive applications, Capital letters (upper
case) retrieve only upper case. When in doubt, type everything
in lower case.
-
- Catalog
- A list of all the items in a specific collection
-
- Citation
- When you quote from a source, the citation identifies
specifically where the quote was found.
-
- Client
- The software that allows users to access data served by
a host computer on the Internet.
-
- Client-server model
- The model used for many popular Internet software tools.
The client sends a request to the server and receives and
displays the information.
-
- Controlled vocabulary
- An established list of terms (sometimes called a thesaurus)
from which an indexer or cataloger uses to assign subject
headings, subject terms or descriptors.
-
- Database
- A collection of structured information stored on a computer.
-
- Descriptor
- A controlled vocabulary or thesaurus term used as a subject
heading to describe the content of a reference.
- Email or Electronic mail
- A system for sending and receiving messages on the Internet.
-
- Electronic journal
- A copy of a print journal with full-text articles that
may be read off the Web, or sometimes, a journal that is
published only on the Web and never on paper.
-
- Electronic reserve
- Course readings offered to students by faculty through
the library Web site
- Emoticon
- Punctuation used to express emotion in email messages.
Example :-) means the writer is smiling or intending the
message to be humorous.
- Favorites
- In Internet Explorer, a collection of URLs that the user
saved because of frequent use or to make them easy to find
again. In Netscape these are called Bookmarks.
-
- Full text
- The complete text of an article or book
-
- Graphic Interchange Format (GIF)
- A graphic file type used on Web pages.
-
- Helper applications
- Also called plug-ins. Extra software required to run some
multimedia applications on the Internet (such as Adobe Acrobat
Reader, QuickTime, etc.)
-
- Home page
- The starting point for a particular resource on World
Wide Web.
-
- HTML tags
- The codes that tell a browser how to display a document
written using hypertext marrkup language.
-
- Hyperlink or Hypertext link
- A method to provide access to other information from within
a hypertext document. The referenced item may be another
section within the current document, or another document
stored anywhere on the WWW.
-
- Hypertext
- The basis of the WWW--a document with hyperlinks. The
user can click on highlighted words and connect to a new
location.
-
- HyperText Markup Language (HTML)
- The standard coding language used to create all Web documents
(Web pages).
-
- HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
- The standard protocol used by World Wide Web to serve
information.
-
- Interlibrary loan
- A library service that allows you to borrow a copy of
material owned by some other library.
-
- Internet
- The collection of inter-connected computer networks that
communicate with each other using the TCP/IP protocols
-
- Internet protocols
- The rules the Internet relies on in order to function.
- Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG of .JPG)
- A graphic file type used on Web pages.
-
- Keyword
- A significant word used in a search statement to find
matching items in a database. Also called a search term.
- Library catalog
- A list of everything owned by a library
-
- Library of Congress
- http://lcweb.loc.gov/ The Library of Congress, founded
April 24, 1800, serves the research needs of the U.S. Congress
and offers centralized cataloging data for libraries.
-
- Library of Congress classification system
- A system for assigning call numbers to items in a library
in order to identify unique items and group materials by
subject.
-
- Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)
- A thesaurus of controlled vocabulary terms used to assign
subject headings in library catalogs and some other databases.
-
- Licensed databases
- A library may purchase access to a database through a
licensing agreement.
-
- Listserv
- A program that distributes email sent to the listserv
address to all of the members who are currently signed onto
the list.
-
- Mailing list
- Group discussions available via email on a wide range
of topics. Some lists are moderated; others are free-wheeling.
Various types of software facilitate mailing lists such
as Majordomo, Listproc, Listserv, etc.
- Multimedia
- Combination of text, graphics, video and/or sound
- Netiquette
- The use of common courtesy and polite behavior while using
the net.
-
- Newsgroup or Usenet news
- Newsgroups are forums for discussion or debate on a wide
variety of topics via email.
-
- Peer reviewed
- In peer reviewed journals, articles are evaluated by at
least one subject expert before they are accepted for publication.
-
- Periodical
- A publication that comes out at regular intervals, such
as daily, weekly or monthly.
-
- Periodical index
- A guide used to find articles that were published in periodicals.
-
- Popular press
- Newspapers, magazines and television shows intended for
general readers.
-
- Phrase searching
- Search statements that allow searching for words in a
certain order.
- Plain text
- A text document with no other formatting such as from
a word processor or HTML editor. A plain text document is
also called an ASCII file
-
- Plug-in
- Also called helper applications. Extra software required
to run some multimedia applications on the Internet (such
as Adobe Acrobat Reader, QuickTime, etc.)
-
- Portable Document Format (PDF)
- A way to put a copy of a document on the Web. To view
PDF files, you need a PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader.
-
- Primary source
- An article written by a someone with first-hand knowledge
of events or discoveries.
-
- Protocol
- A set of rules which enable communication between different
kinds of computers.
-
- Proxy server
- A computer application that, among other things, allows
students to access library databases from a personal Internet
account.
- Record
- The listing for an item in a database. A record in a library
catalog or article database may also be called a citation
or a reference.
-
- Reference service
- A library service that offers research help in person,
by phone , and sometimes by email.
-
- Reference tool
- A source that provides easy access to specific authoritative
information.
-
- Remote access
- Access to library services and information from outside
the physical library building.
-
- Remote access service
- A service that offers technical support and help for remote
access to library resources.
-
- Reserve
- Materials selected by an instructor to support class research
and study. When course support materials are made available
on the Web, it is called electronic reserve.
-
- Scholarly journal
- A periodical that publishes research papers of interest
to scholars. Most articles in a scholarly journal are written
by college and university faculty
-
- Search box
- The box in a search engine where you type the search statement.
-
- Search engine
- A software tool that displays information related to specified
keywords. Nerd definition: an algorithm for selecting items
from a structured database.
-
- Search terms
- The combination of keywords and controlled vocabulary
words used to form a search statement.
-
- Search statement
- keywords, Boolean operators, subject headings descriptors
and or phrases entered in a search engine to find relevant
matches.
-
- Secondary source
- Writing based entirely on information found in other published
sources.
-
- Server
- A computer (located anywhere in the world) which sends
requested information to a client.
-
- Special collection
- A collection of materials that are old and rare, important
for local interest or that support a very specific field
of research.
-
- Subject heading
- A word added to a citation to describe the subject of
the source.
-
- Synonym
- A word that means the same thing as another word.
-
- Text editor
- A software tool for typing plain text documents. Windows
Notepad and Macintosh Simpletext are examples of text editors.
-
- Thesaurus
- Controlled vocabulary with a list of synonyms
-
- Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
(TCP/IP)
- Standard computer protocols are a set of rules which enable
communication between different kinds of computers.
-
- Truncation
- A symbol that substitutes for letters at the end of words
in a search statement.
- Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
- URLs are the addresses used to access Internet resources.
-
- Username
- The unique name assigned to the user of an Internet account.
- Verso
- The back side of the page in a book.
- Web page
- A file or document on World Wide Web.
-
- Web site
- Web pages that are published and may be viewed on on the
World Wide Web. A type or format of publication
-
- Wildcard
- A symbol that stands for one or more unspecified character
-
- World Wide Web (WWW, W3 or The Web)
- A distributed system of delivering linked documents over
the Internet.
-
- World Wide Web servers
- Computer programs which use HTTP to serve information
over the Internet.
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