Glossary of Library Terms

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | V | W

A

Abstract-An objective summary of the main idea or content of a work such as an article, book, or dissertation.

Academic Journal-See Journal

Alerting Service-A database that will automatically send you an email whenever a particular journal or book has been published, or whenever a new article covering a particular subject, or by a particular author, appears in the literature. In those cases where the library subscribes to an electronic version of the journal, you can frequently access the article immediately on your computer using the supplied URL. ScienceDirect is an example of a database that offers an alerting service.

Annotation-A critical or subjective evaluation of a work.

Archives-A special collection or collections that house the records of organizations, governments, universities, etc. An archive can also contain collections of the personal papers of an individual or family, photographs, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, etc. Archives usually house materials of an historic nature. The College of St. Catherine Archives are located in the St. Paul campus library on the lower level.

Article-An essay or composition on a subject, usually appearing in a magazine or journal. An article may also be referred to as a paper.

Audio-Visual Materials-Materials that convey information mainly via sound and image. A-V materials may include videocassettes, films, videodiscs, audiocassettes, DVDs, slides, filmstrips, kits, and interactive media (CD-ROMs).

Authentication-The process of identifying an individual through a computer connection, usually based on a username and password or an IP address, in order to provide access to a resource. See also: Validation

Author-The writer of a book, paper, or article. The author may be one person, several people, or a "corporate body" such as a government agency, professional association, or a company.

B

Bibliographic Citation-See Citation

Bibliography-A list of reference materials such as books and articles used for research. Bibliographies refer to a list of references at the end of an article as well as a collection of information resources on a specific topic published together as a book. See Also: Style Guides

Book Return or Book Drop-A place to return books borrowed from the library. Book returns on the St. Paul campus are located in the CDC atrium (to the right of the library doors), inside the library near the circulation desk, and outside in the back of the library by the loading dock. On the Minneapolis campus, the book return is near the entrance gate of the library. It is not accessible when the library is closed.

Boolean Operators or Boolean Logic-Boolean operators are used to combine search terms to construct more complex searches in a database. Using the boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT can help expand or narrow a search.

Bound Periodical or Bound Volume-Created when individual issues of a periodical title, for example all issues for one year, are gathered together and covered to form a book-like unit or volume.

Brief Display-CLICnet search results that include title, author, library location, and publication date. Brief Display will also indicate the format of the item, such as videorecording, sound recording, microform, etc. See also: CLICnet

Browser-Software used to view web pages. Frequently used browsers include Internet Explorer (IE) and Netscape.

C

Call Number-A combination of letters and numbers that is given to each item held in the library. The letters and numbers assigned to the work describe its subject matter and serve as its address on the shelf. Call numbers for items located in the CSC libraries can be found in CLICnet. See Also: Library of Congress Classification, Dewey Decimal Classification System

Campus Network Account-Available from Computing Services, your account username and password allow you to access email and log on to computers on campus. If you are a student, an account is created for you automatically. For information about your computer account, log into the Student Kiosk on the Office of the Registrar web page and click the Computer Acct Info link. See Also: LotusNotes Account

Card Catalog-A card file listing books, journal titles, and other library materials, arranged alphabetically by author, title, and subject. The CSC library no longer has a card catalog; to find items in the library, use CLICnet, the online catalog, instead. See Also: CLICnet, Online Catalog

Catalog-A catalog is a compilation of records describing the contents of a particular collection or group of collections. For example, CLICnet is a catalog that has records for most of the items held by the CSC libraries, as well as items held by the other CLIC institutions. A catalog can also be a list of items published by a certain body. The GPO Monthly Catalog contains records of reports, studies, fact sheets, maps, handbooks, conference proceedings, etc. issued by all U.S. federal government agencies and the U.S. Congress.

Check out-The process of borrowing materials from the library. A user must present his or her own valid CSC ID card or Special Privilege Card to a staff person at the circulation desk along with the materials to be checked out. See Also: Circulation Desk

Circulating Materials-Items that are available for loan from the CSC libraries.

Circulation Desk-The circulation desk is the place to check out, return, or renew books. The staff can also help you locate items that you cannot find.

Citation-A brief reference to an article, book, or other type of material. Citations usually include the following information-author, title, source, place and date of publication. When you look at a bibliography or search an index, you retrieve citations. Often citations retrieved from an index will include additional information such as journal title and page number. This information makes it easier to locate the actual article being cited.

CLICnet-The online catalog used by the CSC libraries. CLICnet will help you locate items held in our libraries, as well as those at the other CLIC institutions: Augsburg, Bethel, Bethel Seminary, Concordia, Hamline, Macalester, Northwestern, and the University of St. Thomas.

Copy Cards-One way of obtaining photocopies in the St. Paul campus libraries. Copy cards can be purchased from a dispenser located in the photocopy alcove off the Reference Room, or at the campus Post Office. The cards can be used on both public copiers in the library. The card costs $5.00 and provides the user with 50 copies. The dispenser accepts ones and five dollar bills. Change is not given.

Copy cards can not be purchased in the Minneapolis campus library, and cards purchased on the St. Paul campus will not work in Minneapolis campus library copiers.

Controlled Vocabulary-Authorized words and phrases used by a subject specialist when creating subject headings for an article, document, book, etc. for a specific index or catalog.

Course Reserves-Books, articles, course notes, and other materials made available at the circulation desk for students to use for a specific course. CLICnet can be searched by an instructor's last name or by course number to find course reserve material available for the current semester. See Also: Electronic Reserves

Cross-Reference-Directions that lead you from one subject or name to another in a catalog or index.

Current Issues/Periodicals/Journals-Recent journals or magazines. In the St. Paul campus library, "recent" means the current year and two previous years.

D

Database-A database is an organized collection of computer records. In libraries, one of the most common types of databases consists of records describing articles in periodicals otherwise known as a periodical index. The CLICnet catalog is also a database.

Default-A selection automatically used by a computer program in the absence of a choice made by a user.

Descriptors-Terms used in indexes, abstracts, or other databases/periodical indexes to describe the subjects of an article. See Also: Controlled Vocabulary, Subject Headings, Thesaurus

Dewey Decimal Classification System-A system for classifying knowledge and assigning call numbers to library materials. Call numbers based on this system begin with numbers and the complete call number may be a long string of numbers and letters. The CSC libraries do not use the Dewey Decimal system. See Also: Library of Congress Classification

Dissertation-Original research usually required for the successful completion of a Ph.D. See Also: Thesis

Due Date-The date when the book must be returned to the library. If the book is needed longer, a renewal may be requested. If books are returned late, you may be charged a fee.

E

Electronic Book or E-book-Books that are accessible in full text online through the World Wide Web. The CSC libraries provide access to a number of electronic books through NetLibrary; these books can be found using CLICnet.

Electronic Journal or E-journal-The computerized form of a serial publication usually distributed over the Internet. An electronic journal or e-journal may have a traditional paper counterpart or may have been previously published in a print format. The Periodical Cat lists many electronic journals.

Electronic Reserves or E-reserves-Course reserves that are available online, usually in pdf format. You can search CLICnet for E-reserves items as well as print course reserves items.

F

Field-A subdivision of a computer record. A collection of fields makes up a record. For example, records in a periodical index might include an author field, a title field, a publisher field, and a date field. What fields are called and the information in them can vary from database to database.

Field Searching-A search that looks for the occurrence of a term or terms in a specific field. Searching a specific field is more precise than searching all fields of the database. Performing a title or subject search in CLICnet is an example of field searching.

Full Display-CLICnet search results display that is available from Brief Display by clicking on the title of an individual item. The Full Display provides complete information for bibliographic citation and includes co-authors, editors, series titles, subjects, contents, notes, locations, call numbers, and status.

Full Text-A full text resource provides access to the complete text of an item. In a full text periodical index, both the bibliographic citations and the articles themselves will be available. Education Journals and Health Source are examples of full text resources.

G

Government Documents-Information provided by or for an international, national, state, county, city, or other governmental entity in any variety of formats, including book, pamphlet, periodical, map, microform, audiovisual, CD-ROM, or Internet.

H

Hold-You can also place a hold on an item that is not available from the CSC library but available at another CLIC library. The book will be sent to CSC for you to check out. To put a book on hold the requestor must submit a request through CLICnet.

If you place a hold on a book that is already checked out, it does not change the due date, but does prevent the current borrower from renewing the item.

Holdings-Volumes, copies, and/or issues owned by the library. The CLICnet Brief Display and Full Display format include holdings information--the abbreviation "CSC" indicates an item found at one of our libraries. The Periodical Cat provides information about journal holdings, both in print and online, available at the CSC libraries.

HTML-Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is a programming language used in the creation of Web pages.

Hypertext-Method of linking textual documents to other related documents on the World Wide Web.

I

Imprint-In the publishing world, the term imprint usually means the name under which a publisher issues books. For example, you may come across a statement such as "Copernicus Books is an imprint of Springer-Verlag."

Index-An index is a guide to the contents of a file, document, or a group of documents. You may be familiar with indexes in the back of books that describe and point to the contents of that book.

There are also very large indexes, known as periodical indexes, that describe the contents of a selected group of journals and may include conference proceedings and book chapters. These indexes give you enough information to locate an article you may be interested in reading. This information may include the article title, author information, title of the journal, proceedings or book the article is found in, and the volume, issue, page numbers and date of publication for the journal, proceedings or book. Indexes are usually arranged by subject, author, or keyword. They can come in both paper and electronic form. Some online periodical indexes now include the full text of an article. See Also: Database, Periodical Index

Interlibrary Loan-Books, article photocopies, and other material not owned by College of St. Catherine libraries can be requested through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). ILL is available to CSC students, faculty, and staff. If you cannot find an item you are looking for in the library, you may want to check with a member of the library reference staff. Reference librarians can help you locate items that can be hard to find in our collections and can discuss the policies and timing of making an ILL request.

ISBN-International Standard Book Number. A unique 10- or 13-digit code assigned by the publisher to a specific edition of a book before it is published.

ISSN-International Standard Serial Number. A unique 8-digit code assigned by the publisher to the specific title of a serial.

J

Journal-A work that is published at a regular interval, under the same title, and is intended to appear indefinitely. Journals are often published by a society, association, or institution and contain articles about research carried out in a particular subject area. Journals are often intended for a scholarly audience. Journal articles usually undergo some kind of review before being accepted for publication. Journals may be described as:

• Refereed Journal-Journals that contain articles that have been reviewed by a panel before being accepted for publication.
• Peer Reviewed Journal-Journals that publish articles only after they have been examined by one or more experts in the field with which the article deals.
• Academic (Scholarly) Journal-Journals that are written for a specialized audience by experts in a subject area.
• Professional Journal-A journal published by a professional organization.
• Trade Journal-Publications that fall between the categories of magazines and journals. Their focus includes more product and business information. Articles are by staff or experts in the field for members of a specific business or organization.

A journal differs from a magazine. Magazines are also published at a regular interval, under the same title, but contain more popular news stories and articles written for a general audience (as opposed to a scholarly or technical audience). Bibliographies, a standard feature in journal articles, are not always included in magazine articles.

Journals may also be referred to as periodicals or serials. The terms periodical and serial are more generic terms and are often used to refer to journals, magazines, and newspapers. See Also: Electronic Journals, Magazine.

K

Keyword-The most significant words in a topic, book, article title, record, etc. Keywords are often used as search terms.

Keyword Searching-Searching which uses a few key, or important, words to retrieve books or articles on a topic. Depending on the database or periodical index being searched, keywords can be searched in a specific field, for example the author field or the title field.

L

Liaisons-Librarians who are responsible for the selection and development of information resources for their assigned subjects. Liaisons work closely with their respective departmental chairs and faculty and are available to confer individually with faculty and students concerning research needs, library instruction, existing library resources, new acquisitions, and other library matters.

Library Instruction-A service designed to provide information on how to use the library to conduct research and locate information more efficiently. Library instruction may also be referred to as Bibliographic Instruction.

Library of Congress Classification-A classification system developed by the Library of Congress (LC) that is used to organize the collection of many academic and research libraries. This alphanumeric system arranges materials by subject. Each subject or class is represented by a series of letters and numbers, which are used to create an LC call number. The College of St. Catherine Libraries uses LC Classification. An example of an LC call number is BF 201.4 .G47 2000 . This is the call number for the book "Feminist Reconstructions in Psychology" that can be found in the St. Paul campus library. See Also: Call Number, Dewey Decimal Classification System

Loan Period-The amount of time you may borrow a book or other item from the library. The time varies depending on the type of material borrowed and the status of the borrower.

LotusNotes Account-Available from Computing Services. It allows you to log on to computers on campus and access email and documents through LotusNotes. See Also: Campus Network Account

M

Magazine-Commercial publications that appear at a regular interval, under the same title, and are intended for a general, popular audience. Magazine articles are usually short and generally do not contain footnotes or bibliographies. The terms magazine and journal are sometimes used interchangeably but they are not the same thing. Journals are usually intended for a more scholarly audience and journal articles are often reviewed by subject experts before being accepted for publication. See Also: Journal

Magazines may also be referred to as periodicals or serials. The terms periodical and serial are more generic terms and are often used to refer to journals, magazines, and newspapers. See Also: Periodical, Serial

Manuscripts-Documents or written compositions, such as letters or diaries, which have not been printed. Often, an author's written (or typed) original "copy" as distinguished from a printed or published version of the same material.

Media-Films, tapes, and other audio-visual materials that require the use of special listening or viewing equipment.

Microforms-A term used to describe documents which have been photographed or filmed. Microforms require you to use special reader machines. Common formats for microforms are microfilm and microfiche.

Monograph-A scholarly book on a single subject, class of subjects, or person. Within the library field, this term is often used for a non-serial publication.

N

Neighbor Card-See Special Privilege Card

Non-Circulating-An item not allowed to be checked out of the library. Reference materials and periodicals are non-circulating.

O

Off-Campus Access-The setup of an Internet browser, or use of passwords, to allow current CSC students, faculty, and staff to gain access from off campus to subscription based electronic resources such as online databases. See Also: Proxy Server

Online Catalog-An electronic or digitized version of a library's card catalog. The CSC libraries online catalog is called CLICnet.

Online Database-A searchable, electronic collection of either full text documents or citations and abstracts. See Also: Periodical Index

OPAC-Acronym for Online Public Access Catalog. See Online Catalog

Overdue-An item checked out from the library that has not been returned or renewed by its due date.

Oversize-Physically large items, such as atlases and art books, that are often shelved apart from the regular sized books.

P

Peer Reviewed Journal-See Journal

Periodical-The generic name for a publication issued on a regular basis (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly) like a magazine, journal or newspaper. See Also: Magazine, Journal

Periodical Cat-A combined list of periodicals which are available in the CSC libraries or to which the libraries have online, full-text access.

Periodical Index-A periodical index is a guide to the contents of periodicals. Some periodical indexes (such as EBSCO's Academic Search Premier) are general in coverage while others focus on a particular subject like education, history, or nursing. Periodical indexes can be arranged in numerous ways: by author, title of the article, or subject. You would use a periodical index to find articles about a certain topic or by a certain author. Periodical indexes may be in a print or an electronic format, such as over the web or on CD-ROM.

Popular Press-Publications reflecting the taste and interests of the general public.

Popular Source-Articles written to entertain and inform the general public.

Primary Source-Original manuscripts, records, or documents produced at the time an event occurred. Includes letters, diaries, memoirs, newspapers, personal papers, public documents, field research reports, etc. In the sciences, primary source also refers to original research published in scholarly journals. See Also: Secondary Source

Professional Journal-See Journal

Proxy Server-Many databases and electronic journals provided by the CSC Libraries are limited to computers in the CSC campus network. This is due to license requirements with the vendors that provide these databases and electronic journals. Connecting to these resources from off campus locations requires the use of the library's proxy server service. See Also: Authentication

What is a proxy server? A proxy server forwards requests between a web browser and the requested web site. When requests to resources licensed by the library go through the library proxy server, the request will appear to originate from a CSC campus location.

R

Rare Books-Books that are valued for the significance of their contents, their scarcity, their imprint or date of publication, their physical characteristics or condition, or their associations (signed or annotated by a famous author, for instance). Rare book collections at the CSC libraries are located in the Archives on the lower level of the St. Paul campus library.

Record-A record is what you retrieve when you search a database. It can be made up of various pieces of information that help identify, categorize, and locate an item. These pieces of information can be separated into fields. In a periodical index, which is a database of article citations, each citation is also called a record. In CLICnet, each reference retrieved for a particular item is also a record. See Also: Database, Field

Refereed Journal-See Journal

Reference Desk/Reference Collection-The reference desk is the place where reference librarians answer questions, give directions, and guide library users through their research.

Items in the reference collection are commonly used resources such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, etc., useful for finding introductory information and statistics on a topic. Librarians and library users use these print and electronic materials to help find answers to questions and to help in the research process. Items in the reference collection can not be checked out.

Reference Librarian-Reference librarians are specialists in the field of information retrieval. They have a Masters degree in library science, and may have other graduate degrees as well. Reference librarian provide research assistance and instruction in using library databases and other resources. See Also: Liaisons

Renewal-An extension of the loan period for checked out library materials. Most library materials may be renewed online through MyAccount on CLICnet or in person at the circulation desk. Some restricted materials must be renewed in person. Items may occasionally be renewed over the phone by calling the circulation desk.

Reserves-A selection of specific books, periodical articles and other materials which faculty have indicated students must read for a particular course. These materials circulate for a short period of time only. The libraries also have permanent reserve collections made up of materials that are constantly in high demand. You can search for reserve materials in CLICnet. Ask for reserve materials at the circulation desk. See also: Electronic Reserves

Reshelving Area-The area of the library where books and other library materials are sorted in preparation for return to library shelves.

S

Scholarly (Academic) Journal-See Journal

Secondary Source-Sources that are often based on primary sources. Secondary sources include reviews, criticism, editorials, and analysis. Journal articles that provide analysis, interpretation, or evaluation are secondary sources. See Also: Primary Source

See Also-A suggestion that additional information of possible relevance may be located under other entries. Example: Serial: See also Journal

Serial-Like the term periodical, serial is a general term for works published at a regular interval and expected to continue indefinitely. Journals, magazines, and newspapers are often referred to as serials. See Also: Magazine, Journal

Special Privilege Card-The Special Privilege Card allows individuals not currently a student or employee of the college to obtain borrowing privileges. Special Privilege Cards can be obtained at the circulation desk. There are several types of Special Privilege Cards available, please see the Circulation desk for details:

• Alumnae Card-Alumnae of the College of St. Catherine are eligible for a free Special Privilege Card with restricted borrowing privileges.
• Neighbors-Persons living in the Twin Cities metropolitan area are eligible for a Special Privilege Card with restricted borrowing privileges for an annual fee of $30.00. Processing requests for special privilege cards may take several business days.
• Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet-CSJs receive the same borrowing privileges as faculty and staff of the College.
  

Stacks-Stacks or stack area refer to the space in a library where the majority of library materials are shelved. Stacks contain many rows of shelving units and may cover multiple floors of a library.

Style Guides-Style guides or manuals provide guidelines for how to format the elements of research papers and bibliographic citations and footnotes. A number of style manuals have been published by professional organizations such as the Modern Language Association (MLA) or the American Psychological Association (APA). Most style guides now include instructions for citing electronic information such as email, e-journal articles, full text journal articles, World Wide Web pages, etc.

Subject Headings-Words or phrases assigned to books and articles which are used to index these items by topic. See Also: Controlled Descriptor, Thesaurus

T

Thesaurus-A list of all the subject headings or descriptors used in a particular database, catalog, or index.

Thesis/Research Paper-Original research often required for a Masters degree. A copy of each Masters thesis or research paper completed at the College of St. Catherine is given to the library. You can search for them on CLICnet. See Also: Dissertation

Trade Journal-See Journal

Truncation-A symbol put at the end or in the middle of a word to catch variant endings or spellings of that word when searching a database. If you are searching for information on computers, and you want to make sure you pick up any words with the word computer or computing or computerized, you would put a truncation symbol at the point in the word where various endings can begin to occur (e.g. comput*). Databases use various symbols to represent truncation such as *, ?, +, !, #. Some databases, like IDEAL, truncate automatically. Some databases allow for truncation symbols in the middle of the word to pick up variant spellings. For instance, entering behario?r would retrieve behavior and behaviour.

Consult available user's guides or a library staff member to determine if a resource permits truncation.

U

URL-Uniform Resource Locator, or web address.

V

Validation/IP Validation-Verification by a database vendor that a user is connecting through an Internet address that is authorized by the vendor or database supplier to use a database. See Also: Authentication, Proxy Server

Virtual Library-Usually refers to electronic information sources available within the library or remotely accessible.

Volume-A grouping of periodical issues in chronological order over a specified period of time. Periodicals are often assigned one volume number per year, but there can be more than one volume per year, especially if the periodical is published weekly.

W

Web Browser-See Browser

WorldCat-This database is an online catalog of the holdings of books, journals, and other materials held by thousands of libraries (most within the United States). CSC researchers can identify and locate materials in other libraries and collections using WorldCat, and order these materials by making an Interlibrary Loan request.

World Wide Web-A graphical client-server information system that uses the Internet to access computers containing millions of hypertext documents.