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abstract: A summary of an article. Abstracts often appear at the beginning of a scholarly
or technical article. Periodical indexes and other databases often contain abstracts that can help you decide whether an
article is relevant for your purposes.
AND: A Boolean Operator. AND is a word used to connect terms in a computer search. It narrows the search
to articles that contain only the selected terms. For example: college students AND stress. Also see Boolean
Operator, Or, Not.
Boolean operator: Words such as AND, OR, and NOT that are used to combine search terms to broaden or narrow the results of a search. Combining terms using operators is sometimes called Boolean searching.
bibliography: A listing of citations to books, periodical
articles, or other items used in research on a particular subject. Bibliographies usually appear at the end of a journal
article, book, or encyclopedia article. Bibliographies can also be a separate publication of resources available about a
specific topic. Also see List of Works Cited catalog: a list of all the holdings (books, periodicals, and other documents) available in a library; traditionally a file of cards arranged in drawers, catalogs today are typically computerized.
citation: Complete information about a specific item. It may be a reference to a text that has been quoted,
or to some source that has been used as an authority. A citation for a book includes author, title, place of publication,
publisher, and year. A citation for an article in a periodical includes author, title of the article, title of the periodical,
volume number, pages, and date. A single citation is sometimes called a reference. A group of citations gathered together
is usually called a bibliography or a List of Works Cited.
database: A collection of information organized and presented to serve
a specific purpose. (A telephone book is a common database.) A computerized database is an updated, organized file of machine
readable information that is rapidly searched and retrieved by computer. In the library, we frequently refer to computer-based
periodical indexes as databases, however, the library catalog is also an example of a database. Also see periodical
index Dewey Decimal Classification System: The dewey decimal system coordinates materials on the same subject and on related subjects to make items easier to find on the shelves by using a combination of letters and numbers. The Dewey system has ten main classes, which are listed below.
Each of the above classes each have ten divisions. These divisions are further divided--and then further divided. Each division becomes more specific. The more numbers in the call number, the more specific the subject. In this way, the Dewey classification system progresses from the general to the specific. Also see Library of Congress Classification System. directory: Directories are run by humans who review websites and categorize them within their directories. This leads to a more abridged set of sites which can good or bad depending on what you're searching for. To find awebsite using a directory, you can either browse by subject area or type a query into the search box. Examples of directories include Yahoo!, Librarian's Index to the Internet (LII), and the Internet Public Library (IPL).Also see search engine.
full text: When the whole article is online, or included right in the index or database.
You can just print out the article, instead of having to go find the magazine in the library and photocopy the article.
intelligent agents: Robots or software programs that have the ability to act autonomously on their user’s behalf, learn from experience, and collaborate with other agents to achieve a common goal. To a limited extent this already happens, but the as computing becomes more advanced, agents will continue to become more and more autonomous. Library of Congress Classification System: A classification system used by many college and university libraries. It organizes books and other materials into 21 branches of knowledge. Library of Congress (LC) call numbers always start with letters of the alphabet followed by a combination of numbers and letters.
List of Works Cited: In the MLA style of documentation, a list of all works cited
in the text; works cited include not only books and articles but also films, recordings, television programs, and other
nonprint sources. In other styles of documentation, it is sometimes called a bibliography. For
information about formatting your List of Works Cited, see the Library's Online MLA Guide.
metasearch engines: A search engine that collects results from other search engines and directories
and then presents a summary of that information as the results of a search.
Dogpile, , Metacrawler, and Mamma are examples of metasearch engines.
multidisciplinary database: A database that covers a wide range of academic topics. Academic Universe and EbscoHost's Academic Search Elite are examples of multidisciplinary databases. Also see database. nesting:A term used in Boolean searching to indicate the sequence in which operations are to be performed. Enclosing words in parentheses identifies a group or "nest." Groups can be within other groups. The operations will be performed from the innermost nest to the outmost, and then from left to right. Here is an example:
NOT: A Boolean operator that narrows a search by excluding terms. For example, saturn not car would retrieve information about the planet saturn, not the car. Use caution with NOT, you might inadvertently exclude relevant information. OR: A Boolean operator that broadens a search by incorporating synonyms or alternate terms. For example, doctors or nurses would retrieve everything that mentions doctors in addition to everything that mentions nurses.
periodical: A publication which appears at regular, or periodic, intervals
such as daily, monthly or annually. The term periodical includes journals, magazines, and newspapers.
periodical index: Used to help locate articles from magazines, journals and newspapers on a topic or subject. Until around 1980, most periodical indexes were printed. Print indexes were alphabetically organized by subject and would provide you with a list of articles on your subject. Today, most periodical indexes are available via computer and have many more and search and retrieval features available. Also see database. search engine: Search engines use computer programs called Robots to automatically go from page to page through the web, reading content, and adding it to their databases. To find websites using a search engine, type in a search query, and, in return you will receive a list of links to websites that include all or part of what you typed into the search box. Examples of search engines include Google, AskJeeves, HotBot, and Lycos. Also see directory. specialized database: A database that focuses on just one subject area. Hoover's, Westlaw Campus and EbscoHost's Business Source Premier are examples of specialized databases. Also see database.
subject heading:The specific word or phrase used to find a book or article on a specific topic in a
catalog or periodical index. Subject headings are usually broad categories. In a
database, indexers assign subject headings to articles so that they can be organized by topic.
thesaurus: Refers to both a book and a database feature. The book lists alternate terms with similar meanings. In a database, a thesaurus uses your search terms to lead you to other terms you may not have considered (related terms). While the book-type thesaurus presents you with a larger variety of words to choose from, the goal of a database thesaurus is to "funnel" your search into the unique, official language of the database "subject headings." For example, a database thesaurus might suggest that you use "automobiles" instead of the words car, cars, autos, vehicles, etc. [top] |