| 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. |
| 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. |
| Author field
| The field in a record in a database where the author or authors are listed. |
| 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. |
| Boolean logic (Operators)
| The connectors AND, OR, NOT used to combine key words or subjects to narrow, broaden or limit a computer search. Named after George Boole, a 19th century mathematician. |
| Browser
| Software programs which provide access to files on the WWW. Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator are the two most common browsers. |
| Call number
| A combination of letters and numbers placed on the spine of a book to locate it in the library. |
| Catalog
| A 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. |
| Citation
| Information which 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 listing of words or terms which must be used as subject headings or descriptors in a particular database. |
| Cross reference
| A term used in catalogs, thesauri and indexes to lead you from one heading or entry to another. Usually prefaced by the words: See, See also (SA), Use, Use for (UF), Broader Term (BT) , Narrower Term (NT). |
| Database
| An organized collection of computer records in a standardized format that can be stored and accessed in a variety of ways. |
| Descriptors
| Words or phrases assigned to books and articles to index these items by topic. |
| E-journal
| Journal published in electronic format. |
| Email
| Electronic mail. It may consist of text and/or graphics. |
| Encryption
| A method of concealing information from interpretation or viewing by others. |
| Fields
| The individual areas of a database record. Examples include the title field, the subject field, the author field, etc. |
| Format
| The manner in which information is presented includes print, audiovisual, electronic or digital. A magazine can be in print format, 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. |
| Full-text
| The entire text of an article or book which has been entered or scanned into a database. |
| Home Page
| The "cover" page of a Web site. It may include an index to the contents of the pages that comprise a Web site. |
| 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. |
| Internet
| A global network of computer networks which links information through computers connected by cables and other links. |
| Journal
| Generally used to describe a scholarly magazine or periodical. |
| 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. |
| Microform
| Forms of reproduction in a size too small to be read without enlargement:
microfiche - transparent 4" x 6" sheet of film
microfilm - usually 35 mm roll film. |
| Natural Language
| A search statement expressed in normal language. Example: Why is the sky blue? What role did jazz play in Langston Hughes' 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). |
| NOT
| The Boolean operator NOT is used to exclude words or phrases from a search. Python NOT Monty finds information on the snake but excludes information on the group Monty Python. |
| OPAC
| Acronym for Online Public Access Catalog. A computerized catalog. Ulster's OPAC is called Catalist. |
| OR
| The OR operator broadens a search by including any of the terms. Examples: cinema OR film OR movie OR moving picture OR documentary. |
| Periodical/serial
| A magazine, newspaper, scholarly journal, or serial which is published on a regular schedule: daily, weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, etc. |
| Periodical Indexes and Abstracts
| Periodical indexes list articles by subject which have appeared in specified journals, magazines, or newspapers. They generally list author, title, name of periodical, volume, pages and date of publication. Indexes which include abstracts contain summaries of the articles. |
| Primary source
| A first-hand report by a writer, scientist, artist, musician or observer. Examples include a diary, an eyewitness account, an autobiography, a lab report, a painting, an original musical score or a court transcript. |
| Record
| Standardized components of a database composed of various fields describing the book or article. |
| Reviews
| An evaluation, interpretation or critique of the content and quality of books, movies, software, etc.; it often includes the author's/reviewer's opinion. |
| Search strategy
| A methodology for focusing your research on a particular topic. |
| Secondary source
| A document which interprets or analyzes a primary source. It is something written or reported about someone else's work. |
| Subject field
| The field in a database record in which the terms or subject headings describing the content of the item are located. |
| Subject headings
| Words or phrases assigned to books and articles to index these items by topic. Determining the correct headings (also called descriptors) for a specific database or catalog is important for effective research. See also Controlled Vocabulary and Thesaurus. |
| 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. |
| Truncation
| In a search, the ability to enter the first part of a keyword, insert a symbol and retrieve all possible endings of that word. Catalist and Infotrac use the asterisk (*), other databases may use other symbols ( ?), ( #), ($). |
| URL (Uniform Resource Locators)
| Uniform Resource Locators. The distinct address of a web site. |
| World-Wide Web (WWW or W3 or "The Web")
| An "area" of the Internet using multimedia and hypertext links to communicate information. |
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