PALOMAR
COLLEGE LIBRARY/Information PowerUseful Terms or Library Lingo or Information Glossary
1. Abstract - A brief summary that gives the essential points of the contents of a book, pamphlet, article, etc.
2. Access - Ability to get to information
3. Annotation - A sentence or two describing, explaining, or evaluating an item in a bibliography
4. Bibliography - An organized list of books or other material providing author, title, publishing information, etc.
5. Browser - A software program that allows you to navigate the Internet and view Web documents, examples: Netscape, Internet Explorer
6. Call Number - A unique set of letters, numbers, or symbols assigned to books and other materials designed to specify location by subject
7. Catalog - A catalog is a collection of bibliographic records for the materials a library owns. It may be in card or computer format
8. C D ROMS - Compact Disc Read Only Memory introduced in 1985. Information on one CD ROM may equal about 300,000 pages of print information
9. Circulation - The checking in and checking out of items from the library collection
10. Citation - The listing of a work in a bibliography, footnote, or index. A citation has enough bibliographic information to enable someone to easily locate the same work
11. Classification - The system used to organize a collection of materials. The two major classification systems used in libraries are Library of Congress and Dewey Decimal
12. Copyright Date - The year in which the author's application to the Library of Congress for copyright is granted
13. Database - A file of records which may contain any variety of information.
The information is arranged by fields. Two common bibliographic databases used at Palomar are InfoTrac and Proquest
14. Domain Name - The official name of a computer connected to the Internet. Domain names include a host name and are followed by a domain category, i.e. .com for commercial enterprises, or .gov for government, .edu for educational institutions, or .org for non-profit organizations
15. Electronic Journal - (e-journals) Journals which are available only in electronic form. They may be on a variety of topics just as print journals are
16. HTML - HyperText Markup Language is used to format documents delivered by Web servers. It uses a set of tags that allows the creation and formatting of Web pages and screens
18. Holdings - The material held by a library
17. Hyperlinks - Words or images usually highlighted in a Web document that contain links to another document on the Web
18. OPAC (PAC) - On-line Public Access Catalog. Electronic catalog which contains bibliographic records for the materials in the library's collection
19. Periodical - A publication such as a newspaper, magazine, or journal that is intended to appear in successive numbers or parts at regular intervals for an indefinite period of time
20. Pseudonym - An author assumes another name to conceal or obscure his or her true identity
21. Reserve Hold - Material that has already been checked out may be placed on reserve hold for the next patron desiring that material. The patron requesting the material will be informed when it is next available
23. Serial - A regularly issued publication including periodicals, annual reports, yearbooks, etc.
24. URL - Uniform Resource Locator. A standard method to describe the address of a particular document on the Internet
25. WWW - World Wide Web. A global hypermedia-based system on the Internet that allows
you to easily access all types of documents, images, sounds, and videos. Before the World Wide Web, only plain text documents were available on the Internet, and you had to know computer programming in order to locate the information
CHECK IT OUT--120 PAGES OF LIBRARY LINGO FROM WCSU This link will take you out of the guide. You must click the back arrow in order to return.
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