- Abstract
-
A brief summary of a book or article.
- Almanac
-
A yearly publication often containing statistics and data of all kinds and
information on the events of the previous year.
- Archives
-
An organized collection of papers or records preserved for research and
reference.
- Atlas
-
A book of maps.
- Barcode
-
A row of thick and thin vertical bars, often with numbers, that can be read by
a computer. You use the barcode numbers on your SUNY card to card to access
certain databases.
- Bibliographic Record
-
A full description of a particular book or article. When you search Minerva,
you get a bibliographic record of a book.
- Bibliography
-
A list of works published by certain author correlated to a specific subject.
- Boolean Logic / Boolean Operators
-
A system of linking terms in computer searching with the Boolean Operators
AND, OR and NOT.
- Bound Periodical/Bound Volume
-
Several issues of a journal placed together between a hard cover.
- Browse
-
(In computer searching) To look through various items to make a selection, such
as a list of titles, authors, subjects, hypertext links, etc.
- Call Number
-
A code of letters and numbers that describes the subject of a book and assigns
it a location on the shelves.
- CD-ROM
-
Compact Disk-Read Only Memory. A disk that
stores large amounts of data. Many CD-ROMs at the library are indexes to
periodicals; while others contain government information.
- Check out / Check in
-
To borrow materials, such as books or videos, from the library / To return
materials to the library.
- Circulate/Noncirculating
-
Materials that can be borrowed form the library circulate. Books identified as
"reference" or "building only" are noncirculating and cannot be borrowed.
- Citation
-
A complete reference to a book or article that has all the information
necessary to identify it and find it. Book citations usually include the title, author, date, publisher and publisher location.
Journal citations usually include author, title, journal name, date, volume, issues and pages.
- Cite
-
To give a citation, or reference, to something. (Do Not confuse with :
Site.)
- Controlled Vocabulary
-
A list of standardized words or phrases used in a particular database for
computer searching. Descriptors and Library of Congress Subject Headings
are controlled vocabularies.
- Cumulate
-
To gather together. Printed indexes to journals are often published each month;
at the end of the year they may be cumulated - combined in one volume.
- Current Periodicals
-
Recent issues of magazines or journals. These are displayed in the center of
the Periodicals Room in the basement.
- Database
-
A collection of information in electronic form, organized for rapid computer
searching. In the library, frequently used research databases are available on
the Web or in CD-ROM format.
- Descriptor
-
In certain databases, a standardized term used to describe the subject of a
journal article.
- DIALOG/DataStar
-
Available by appointment only, these online services offer access to over 600
databases in many subjects. A specialist will help you search. Sign up and get
information at the Reference Desk.
- Document
-
An original or official paper or publication.
- Due Date
-
The date by which borrowed library materials must be returned.
- Field
-
A specific area in a database record that a computer can be made to search.
Author, title, and document type are examples of fields.
- Full Text
-
Entire, or nearly entire, articles in journals, newspapers, etc., that you can
access directly on the computer. Often graphics are not included.
- Government Publications
-
Documents published by the U.S. Government.
- Holdings
-
The volumes or years of a journal title a library owns. Although a journal may
have begun in 1896, the library's HOLDINGS begin with the year the
library first subscribed to the periodical.
- Homepage
-
The first page, which is usually a welcoming or organizing page, on a World
Wide Web site.
- Hyperlink or Hypertext Link
-
Words or images that a computer user can click on or select to be linked to
more information.
- Hypertext
-
The organizing principle of the World Wide Web that joins related concepts
together through links within and between documents.
- IMC
-
Interactive Media Center. Located in the basement, the IMC
has computers with CD-ROM units, videodisk players, VCRs, Internet access and
scanning capabilities.
- Index
-
-
An alphabetical list of topics and their page numbers found in the back of a
book.
-
An alphabetical list in electronic form of the authors, titles or topics that
appear in a particular database.
-
A reference book, web-based, CD-ROM or online service that refers you to books,
articles or other works.
- Internet
-
A worldwide network of computer networks that is rich in information. The
Internet includes electronic mail(e-mail), file transfer(FTP), remote login
(telnet) and World Wide Web.
- Journal
-
More scholarly than magazines, journals print articles on academic subjects and
are often by professional groups or institutions.
- Keyword Searching
-
A method of computer searching based on natural language rather than a controlled
vocabulary list. Important "key" words that might appear in titles,
abstracts, or in full-text articles are chosen for search terms.
- Library of Congress Subject
Headings
-
Official list of words and phrases used to describe what books and other items
are about. These expressions must be used for subject heading searches in
Minerva and other library catalogs that use the Library of Congress
classification system.
- Magazine
-
A publication with articles often intended for recreational reading. Magazines
are usually aimed at a more general audience than journals are.
- Microform / Microfilm / Microfiche
-
Microform is a general term for microfiche and microfilm. These are
photographic media used to journals, newspapers, etc., in miniture form.
Microfiche (or fiche) comes on sheets of film; microfilm comes on rolls. You
must use special machines to read, enlarge and photocopy microforms.
- Minerva The online catalog at the University at Albany.
- Network
-
A group of computers that share information.
- Online
-
Connected to a computer network.
- Online Catalog
-
Database on which you can check by author, title, and subject to see what the
library owns and where it is located. At the University at Albany the online
catalog is called Minerva.
- OPAC
-
Online Public Access Catalog.
- Overdue
-
Materials that have not been returned by their due date are considered overdue.
- Periodical
-
Any publication which appears at regular intervals and contains separate
articles. A general term applied to magazines and journals.
- Periodical Index
-
An index that refers you to articles in periodicals, including newspapers.
- Periodicals Room
-
A series of rooms in the basement where periodicals are shelved by call number.
- Primary Sources
-
A primary source is an original document containing firsthand
information about a topic. Examples include manuscripts or handwritten text.
- Ready Reference Area
-
The set of shelves near the Reference Desk where the most frequently used
reference books are kept.
- Recall
-
To ask that a book be returned before its due date. This can be done by going
to the Circulation Desk or through the library web page.
- Record
-
The basic unit of information in a database. Most of the library's databases
have bibliographic records. Records often include the title, author, journal
name, year, other publication information and an abstract of a journal article.
- Reference Books
-
Books in which you look up information. Some examples are dictionaries,
encyclopedias, and atlases. Since many people need to use them often, they do
not circulate.
- Remote Access
-
The ability to connect to a computer from a distant place. Students and faculty
have remote access to Minerva and other research databases.
- Renew
-
To extendthe due date on a book or other library material.
- Reserve
-
To set a book or article aside in the Media, Microforms, and Reserves Room so
that many students in a class can use it.
- Retrieve
-
(In computer searching) To get or access data.
- Search Statement / Search Query
-
The terms you type into the computer when conducting a search.
- Secondary Sources
-
A secondary source contains commentary on or discussion about a primary
source. The most important feature of secondary sources is that they offer an interpretation
of information gathered from primary sources.
- Site
-
A place on the Internet, such as a company's World Wide Web page. (Do Not
confuse with : Cite).
- Stacks
-
Library Shelves.
- Subject Heading
-
See : Library of Congress Subject Headings.
- Terminal
-
A computer station.
- Thesaurus
-
-
A book of synonyms and antonyms.
-
A book or electronic resource that accompanies a particular database or field
of study and lists the standardized, controlled vocabulary, such as
descriptors, that can be used for search terms.
- Truncation
-
In computer searching, the technique of using a symbol with a word stem to make
the computer retrieve various forms of the word. Example : In Minerva, the
keyword search violin* will retrieve violin, violins, and violinist.
- URL
-
Uniform Resource Locator. A World Wide Web address.
Example : http://library.albany.edu/
- World Wide Web / WWW
-
The part of the Internet based on hypertext. When you use the browsers Netscape
or Internet Explorer, you are viewing the WWW.
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