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Background Information – General information about a topic. Encyclopedias, such as Britannica Online, and subject encyclopedias, such as the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, are good sources of background information.
Bibliography - The list of works cited by an author at the end of an article, paper, book, or other research-based writing. There are also specialized subject bibliographies, published separately as books.
Call number - The letters and numbers assigned to a book to give it a unique location in the library. The two major call number systems are know as LC (Library of Congress) and the Dewey Decimal System. The Elmhurst College Library uses Dewey numbers, e.g. 378.12 C733.
Catalog – An organized list of the resources a library owns. See online catalog.
CD-ROM - Compact Disc Read Only Memory - A digitally mastered disc that holds information, usually a database.
Citation - The information given in an index, catalog, or bibliography about a particular information source. The citation may include the article title, periodical title, book title, place of publication, publisher, volume, pages, and date. Refer to a style manual to learn how to create citations for your own bibliographies.
Examples:
Book: Freedman, Richard R. What Do Unions Do? New York: Basic, 1984.Article: Prince, Dinah. “Marriage in the ‘80s.” New York 1 June 1987: 30-38.
Database - A database
organizes information electronically so that the information can be retrieved
efficiently. In libraries, databases often refer to electronic indexes
such as Periodical Abstracts. See also index.
Discipline – An academic discipline is a field of study. Examples: philosophy, biology, nursing, economics, chemistry.
E-mail – Electronic mail. A system of electronic communication on the Internet.
Encyclopedia - A compendium of information. Like dictionaries, these can be general (Britannica Online) or specialized (Encyclopedia of Homosexuality).
HTTP – Hypertext transfer protocol. This is a set of rules for exchanging files on the World Wide Web. See also World Wide Web.
Humanities – Academic disciplines concerned with human concepts and creations as opposed to natural phenomena. Examples: philosophy, art, literature.
Index – An index is an ordered list. Books often contain indexes in the back, ordered alphabetically by subject and other important words. Another kind of index is a periodical index that locates articles in periodicals by subject or author. Examples of periodical indexes: ATLA Religion Index, CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health), and Periodical Abstracts. See also database.
Interdisciplinary – An area of study that involves two or more of the traditional academic disciplines. Examples include business ethics, educational psychology, and bioethics.
Interface – The means by which people connect to, view, and interact with electronic information. Good interfaces make the information as easily accessible as possible.
Interlibrary Loan – The borrowing system for materials between libraries around the world.
Internet – An interconnection of thousands of separate computer networks worldwide. Internet resources include e-mail, mailing lists, instant messaging, online chat and conferencing, audio and interactive video, and the World Wide Web. See also web browser and World Wide Web.
Journal - A periodical that is scholarly or academic in content and purpose. Examples: Journal of African History or American Psychologist. Compare with magazine. See also peer review.
Link – On the World Wide Web, a link—also called a hyperlink—connects users with other files when the user clicks on the linked word or picture.
Magazine - A general-interest periodical that has a broad, wide audience. EXAMPLE: Time or Glamour. Compare with journal.
Microform - Refers to microfiche (rectangular) and microfilm (roll) formats whereby print text is transferred onto film for preservation. Usually, older issues of periodicals are transferred to microform.
Modem – A device that allows one computer to connect to another via telephone or cable lines.
Online catalog - The database that lists the books and other items available in a given library or library district. This is the electronic equivalent of the card catalog. Illinet Online is the Elmhurst College library’s online catalog.
Peer Review – The process by which many scholarly journals determine the value of an article submitted for publication. Fellow researchers read the article and decide whether it merits publication in the journal to which it was submitted. See also journal.
Periodical - A generic term for anything published periodically, including magazines, journals, and newspapers.
Reference Librarian – Librarian who teaches, assists, and advises library users on research and information retrieval.
Research – The inquiry and investigation into a subject. Research may include using many different kinds of electronic and print resources, asking the reference librarian for guidance, conducting interviews, and making use of bibliographies created by other authors.
Reserve - Where materials are placed to be used by all students in a class. Any type of material that a professor deems appropriate may be put on reserve. In the Elmhurst College Library, reserve materials are located at the Circulation & Checkout desk.
Sciences – The branches of learning focusing on natural phenomena. Examples: physics, biology, chemistry, astronomy.
Search Engine – A program that receives a search request from a user and returns a list of World Wide Web pages that fit the search criteria. Examples include AltaVista, Excite, and Hotbot. Meta Search Engines, such as Dogpile and Metacrawler, use multiple search engines simultaneously.
Social Sciences – Academic disciplines concerned with human societies and with interpersonal relationships between members of societies. Examples include psychology, sociology, anthropology, and political science.
Style manual - A book that tells the reader how to format a paper, with regard to bibliographies, in-text references, pagination, etc. Ask your instructor which style manual you are to use. The most commonly used style manuals are the following, available at the Reference and Information Services desk in the Elmhurst College Library:
Web Browser –A software program used to access various kinds of Internet resources. Popular web browsers include Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. See also Internet.
Web Site – A set of linked web pages representing a single person or organization.
World Wide Web – All of the documents on the Internet that are accessed using hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). See also HTTP.
Anne
Jordan-Baker
Assistant Librarian
Elmhurst College
7/20/2000