Hermann Memorial Library/SUNY Sullivan County Community College
GLOSSARY of Internet and Library Terms
Abstract
A brief summary or description of the main
ideas of a book, article, or other document.
Access point
Searchable fields of a record in a database
used to retrieve information.
Access tool
Bibliography, catalog, database, or other
information source which leads you to
information on your topic. Examples: Sullivan
catalog, Academic Search Complete
database.
AND
The Boolean operator used to narrow a
search result.
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
provide concise summaries of each source.
Biography
An account of a person’s life written by
someone other than that person.
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 British
mathematician.
Call number
A combination of letters and numbers placed
on the spine of a book indicating where the
book is located 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
and computerized. (see OPAC)
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. Dew 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. (see Thesaurus)
Database
An organized collection of computer records
in a standardized format that can be stored
and accessed in a variety of ways.
E-journal
Journal published in electronic format
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 and/or electronic format, whereas a
musical recording or videotape is in an
audiovisual format.
Full-text
The entire text of an article which has been
entered or scanned into a database.
Home Page
The “cover” page of a website. It may include
tabs that point to the pages that comprise
the website.
Index
An alphabetical listing of the contents of a
book, periodical, or publication.
Internet
The global communication network that allows
almost all computers worldwide to connect and
exchange information.
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 searching.
Natural language
A search statement expressed in normal
language. Example: Why is the sky blue?
NOT
The Boolean operator NOT is used to exclude
words or phrases from a search. Bass NOT
fish finds information on the musical
instrument but excludes information on the
bass fish.
OPAC
Stands for Online Public Access Catalog. A
computerized catalog.
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
and so on.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the unethical and dishonest act
of using the ideas and wording of other
authors without giving them proper credit.
There is no legal penalty for this, unless it
also involves copyright infringement, but
academic penalties for a first offense may
include a failing grade for the assignment, a
failing grade for the course, or dismissal from
the program.
Primary source
A first-hand report by a writer, scientist,
artist, musician or observer. Examples
include a diary, an eyewitness account, an
autobiography, a scientific study, 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
item (book, article, DVD)
Review
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.
Examples: A book about Poe’s short stories
and writing in general.
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.
Synonym
A word or phrase that has the same or similar
meaning to another word. Example: shut,
close.
Thesaurus
A list of subject headings, or descriptors used
in a database, or catalog. (See controlled
vocabulary)
Truncation
In a search, the ability to enter the first part
of a keyword, insert a symbol (most common
an *) to retrieve all possible endings of that
word. For example: crim* retrieves crime,
criminals, criminology.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
The distinct address of a website
World Wide Web (WWW or W# or “The
Web”)
An area of the internet using multimedia and
hypertext links to communicate information
Adapted from a handout from Macdonald DeWitt Library, SUNY Ulster