Hessel Library Home Page

Library Catalogs/Books

Magazines, Newspapers, & Indexes

References & Texts

Databases by
Subject / Alphabetical

Selected Web Resources

Search Engines

Services & Policies

Research & Library Info

Library Contacts

Abstract

A brief summary, usually of an article, or book, or chapter in a book.

Annotation

A short description or comment about a book or article, usually telling what it is about, or evaluating it, or both.

Autobiography

A person's life story, as told or written by himself or herself.

Bibliography

A list of books, magazine articles, and other materials, usually on a particular topic or by a particular author.

Boolean Operators

Words that are used in electronic databases or catalogs to expand or limit the results of a search, including such words as "and," "or," and "not."

Biography

A story of a person's life.

Browser

(1) A software system, or "interface," that you use to move around with on the World Wide Web (see below); (2) Someone who is looking for things in a library.

Call Number

The combination of letters and numbers used to label each book and give it a unique "address" on a library shelf. Books are arranged on the shelf by call numbers, so that books on the same subject are shelved together. The William Hessel Library uses the Dewey Decimal Classification.

Catalog

A file of records arranged systematically, listing all the books, periodical titles, and other materials owned by a library. For each book and periodical title in the library, there is a record in the catalog under the book author's name, the book or periodical title, and any subject terms that describe the contents of the book or periodical. See "OPAC" (below).

CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory)

A compact disc on which an enormous amount of digitized, read-only data can be stored and searched.

Citation

The complete information needed to find a particular item. For books, it includes the author's name, title, publisher, and date of publication. For periodical articles, it includes the author and title of the article, plus the name of the magazine or journal, the volume, date, and page numbers of the issue in which the article appears.

Classification

A systematic way of arranging books and other materials according to subject.

Cross-Reference

A term used in catalogs, indexes, and thesauruses that leads you from one indexing term to another. Also known as "See", "See also", or "Used for" references.

Database

A collection of information, or records, stored in electronic form that can be searched by using a computer. Examples: Academic Search Elite database, Medline database.

Descriptor

Another term for "subject heading," usually used in the context of electronic databases.

Dewey Decimal Classification

A classification system, developed by Melville Dewey, which uses a division of numbers to designate the various classes of subjects.

Dictionary

Provides information about words: their meanings, derivations, spellings, pronunciations, syllabification, and usage.

Download

To copy information to a floppy computer disk, or to a computer's hard disk.

E-Mail (Electronic mail)

A computerized communication service.

Encyclopedia

Gives an overview of a topic, including definition, description, background, and bibliographical references. Remember that almost every encyclopedia has an "Index" (see below).

Field

In an electronic database, a part of a record that contains a particular type of data, such as a title, or descriptors, or an abstract. Each record in a database is made up of "fields," and you may limit your search of a database to a particular field or fields, to get more precise search results, or because you want only the information that is in the field(s) you specify.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

A universal set of commands used to move files from one computer to another.

Full-Text

The entire article from a magazine or journal available electronically via a computer.

Gopher

A software program that uses "layers" of menus to help you move quickly through the Internet.

Holdings

What a library owns.

HTML

Acronym for HyperTextMarkup Language; a computer language used to write hypertext; a software system that links topics on the screen to related information and graphics, which are typically accessed by a point-and-click method; a document presented on a computer in this way.

Hypermedia

Electronic documents containing a variety of data types, such as pictures and sound, in addition to text.

Icon

A small symbol, or picture, on a computer screen that represents a computer operation, or a file of data.

Index

As distinct from a "Periodical Index" (see below), this is an Alphabeticall listing of the detailed contents of a book. Nearly every encyclopedia has an index.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

Interlibrary lending and borrowing services that give you access to materials that are not owned by the library.

Internet

The international network of computers around the world which provides access to E-mail, gophers, the World Wide Web, remote logon, and FTP.

Journal

A periodical (magazine) which contains scholarly articles, such as reports of original research, published by a professional group or non-commercial publisher. Many journals contain many of the same features as "magazines" (see below), such as book reviews and letters to the editor, but they do not contain advertising for consumer products.

Keyword

The term or search terms entered in the search screen that will be searched in more than one field; for example, the selected keyword(s) could be found in the title, abstract, subject, or text fields of a document.

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)

A "controlled vocabulary" of subject terms, such as those used in the Hessel Library's Online Catalog. These terms are used by nearly all academic libraries, and many large public libraries.

Magazine

A periodical for general reading, quick information, or entertainment, frequently containing advertising for consumer products. Compare with "Journal" (above).

Menu

Many electronic databases have lists of choices and commands.

Microforms

Greatly-reduced photographic reproductions of printed material on film ("microfilm") or film cards ("microfiche"), that can be viewed and photocopied using a microform reader/printer.

Mouse

A small, hand-operated device attached to a computer that permits you to perform computer functions by moving around and clicking on the cursor on your computer screen.

Network

An electronic communication system made up of computers which are connected to each other. These connections allow one computer to "communicate" with another.

OPAC

An acronym for the term "Online Public Access Catalog." Most libraries have an OPAC or online catalog.

Online

A term used in searching computerized indexes to describe the direct interactive process of retrieving citations on a particular subject.

PDF

Acronym for Portable Document Format; a file format that provides an electronic image of text or text and graphics that looks like a printed document and can be viewed, printed, and electronically transmitted.

Peer reviewed (refereed) journal

Please note that journals ARE magazines. What makes a magazine a scholarly journal is that the articles have been reviewed or refereed by the authors' peers, i.e., an editorial board of specialists in the field of research who evaluate the content and methodology of the author(s) work and results. Editorial board information generally appears on the inside cover page or title page.

Periodical Index

An alphabetical listing of magazine or journal articles, usually arranged in print form, or searchable electronically, by subject, author, or title. Best-known print example: Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature.

Periodicals or Serials

Publications which are issued at regular intervals and generally intended to be continued indefinitely. Examples: newspapers, magazines, journals.

Plagiarize

To copy and take credit for someone else's work, instead of acknowledging in writing that someone else produced it. Plagiarism can be grounds for your dismissal from most colleges and universities.

Proximity Operators

Like "Boolean Operators" (see above), these are terms available to use in certain electronic databases that serve to give you better, more precise results when you search a database. Example includes "w/[number of words]" in Lexis/Nexis. Here is a sample search: doctor w/5 malpractice -- finds doctor within five or fewer words of malpractice, regardless of which word appears first.

Ready Reference

A small, separate Reference Book collection. Kept here are high-demand reference books that Reference Librarians tend to use much more frequently than they use most other books, often to help library users find "quick" answers to "quick" (or "long") questions. Typical "Ready Reference" books include the most up-to-date editions of almanacs and directories, and current encylcopedia sets. On the reference shelves, "Ready Reference" books are identified by a Dummy Book with a sticker indicating the actual book will be found in "Ready Reference."

Reference Books

Special books that do not circulate in order that they will always be available inside the Library for use in answering specific questions. Encyclopedias and dictionaries are two of the most well-known types of reference books.

Reference Librarian

At the academic level, usually a person with a Master's Degree in Library Science who assists library users in locating information and materials, and provides instruction in their use.

Remote Access

This term describes the connection of one computer to another computer, which is located in a different, "remote" place.

Renewal

The process by which you can extend the loan period for a book. At the Hessel Library, one can renew in person, by phone, or online on the Library's Online Computer.

Reserves

Books, articles, or other materials that an instructor has assigned for a class to read and therefore placed on reserve in the Library. Reserve materials are available on request for a limited loan period (2 hours, 1 day, etc.).

Search Statement or Strategy

Terms or phrases, which may contain "Boolean" and "Proximity" operators (see above), that you type onto a screen in order to search the contents of an electronic catalog or online database.

Search Engine

Computer software or program for the retrieval of data from a database or network, especially from the Internet. A service provided on the Internet that enables the user to search for items of interest. Some such services are free and attempt to capture information from the whole range of material available on the Internet. Others are subscription-based but in return provide access to specialist publications, full-text retrieval capabilities, or other added-value services.

Stacks

Areas of the library where its materials are located. In the stacks you will find rows of floor to ceiling shelves on which books, periodicals, and other materials are arranged systematically, either by subjects (books) or alphabetically by titles (periodicals).

Student Assistant

A student employee of the Library who is trained to perform a number of specific Library functions.

Terminal

A computer that is part of a system or network.

Thesaurus

An official list of all the subject headings or descriptors used to "control" the indexing terms used in a particular database, catalog, or index.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

This is what you call an address on the World Wide Web. The complete URL for the Hessel Library Homepage: http://www.lakemichigancollege.edu/lib/

User-friendly

A term used to describe a computer system which provides clear, onscreen instructions for the user, such as the Library's Online Catalog.

World Wide Web (WWW)

A vast network of scholarly and popular information, located on the Internet, that includes text, pictures, sound, and moving images. Also known as "the Web," or "WWW," or "W3." Rather than using a system of "layered" menus, as Gopher does, the Web uses "links." Use a mouse to point to a "link" to a URL (see above) on screen, click on the link, and a few seconds (or less) later you will be at a new source of information. Web "browsers" such as Internet Explorer are what you use to search for information on the Web.