A

Abstract: A brief summary of a book, article, or other written publication.

Annotation: A brief description, evaluation or explanation of an article, book, database or other publication.

Annotated bibliography: A list of books, articles and/or other publications on a subject with brief summaries or evaluations of their content.

Anthology: A collection of short works, such as poems, short stories or essays, by more than one author. Example: The American cartoon album; an anthology of cartoon humor

Atlas:

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B

Bibliography: A list of books, articles and/ or other sources on a particular subject. Bibliographies may be found at the end of books or articles, or may be separate publications.

Biography: An account of a person's life, actions and impact. To find one in the catalog, enter the person's name as a subject search.

Boolean operators ("BOO-lee-un"): The terms AND, OR and NOT, sometimes called Logical Operators, used to define the relationships among the terms used when searching a database.

AND narrows a search. Both search terms have to be found somewhere in the record
OR broadens a search. Only one of the search terms needs to appear in the record, not both.
NOT narrows a search. A record is retrieved only when the first term is present and the second is not.

Bound periodicals: Several issues of a periodical which are put together with a hard cover like a hard-back book. Egan Library's bound periodicals are located behind the shelves of current magazines and journals.

Browser: A software program used to view and interact with Web pages. Netscape and Internet Explorer are the most commonly used.

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C

Call number: A unique combination of letters and numbers given to each item which is used to group materials by subject on the shelves. The Library of Congress System ("LC call number") is the predominant system used at UAS, but some materials use Dewey Decimal call numbers or other systems.

Catalog: A database used to find out what books, journal subscriptions, sound recordings and other materials are owned by a library or Libraries. It supplies library location, the call number and whether or not the item is checked out. It does not contain actual journal articles. To find journal articles, use an index.

Circulation: Lending library materials for use outside the building. Also the library unit that checks out and reshelves materials, maintains reserve materials and more. For their policies and services go to the Egan Library's Circulation home page.

Citation: The information which identifies a book or article. The citation for a book usually includes the author, title, place of publication, publisher and date. The citation for an article includes the author, title of the article, title of the periodical, volume, page(s) and date. Refer to a style manual for more detailed information on citations and how to format them.

Controlled Vocabulary: Standardized language developed by a particular database for computer searching. Examples include Descriptors and Library of Congress Subject Headings. Using controlled vocabulary brings together items of a similar subject under a single term, an example: Do you plant a flower in the ground, dirt, or soil? The Library of Congress Subject heading for this is "Soil". If you do a Subject search in the Library's catalog for Soil, you will get everything on that topic regardless of the terms that author uses. Compare with Natural language.

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D

Database: Generally, data or information that is entered into a computer program and organized by fields. The catalog is a database with separately-searchable fields for authors, titles, subject headings, etc. The Libraries subscribe to many databases that index journal articles and even provide full text articles. They are available in the middle of the IRIS homepage.

Dewey Decimal Call Numbers: A system of classifying books and other materials by subject using a numerical system so that like materials are shelved next to each other. The University Libraries used this system until the 1960s when it switched Library of Congress Call Numbers. Some University Libraries materials still have Dewey numbers and most government documents are classified by SuDocs numbers. To find where any of these call numbers are shelved in Love Library, consult the Love Library Call Number Locator. To find out what subject a call number stands for, go to Dewey Decimal Classification System.

Descriptors: A term used to describe a form of controlled vocabulary in some databases.

Dictionary: Areference book containing an alphabetical list of words with information about them.

Distance Education Services: Assistance and materials the library provides for students taking courses or earning degrees from off campus. For details about these services, go to our Support Instructions for Distance Education Students page.

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E

ebook (electronic book): A book that is published in computer-readable form and is usually available via the Internet. Often there are print and electronic versions of a book, but there are also some electronic-only titles. There are two main sources of electronic books available through the the Egan library. You can search the library catalog selecting "Electronic Book" from the format pulldown menu options, and then limit the results by author, title, subject, etc. Or you can search individual ebook collections from the library's Electronic Books page.

Electronic Journal: A journal that is published in computer-readable form and is usually available via the Internet. Often there are print and electronic versions of a journal, but there are also some electronic-only titles. Back to Top

F

FAQs: FAQs are Frequently Asked Questions. This is a commonly used page on web sites.

Full Text: The text, sometimes including the illustrations, of a publication in electronic format. The term is used to indicate which electronic article collections include the text, usually in html or pdf format, as well as the citations.

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G

GPO: Government Printing Office.

H

Holdings: The book volumes, magazine issues and other units of research materials owned by the Libraries.

Holds: Placing a request for a book held locally but at a different library from where you will pick it up. A courier picks up items and drops them off at the requesting library at which time the user is contacted that the item is available and may come in to check the item out.

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I

ILL: Abbreviation for Interlibrary Loan. A way to borrow books and other materials that are not owned in local Capital City Libraries. Also the Libraries' department that provides this service as well as the document delivery between UAS Libraries service. For details, including how to place and receive requests online, see the Interlibrary Loan website

Index: (1) In a book, an alphabetical list of the topics or names, giving the numbers of the pages on which they appear; (2) A research tool that organizes subjects, names, titles, etc. to help you to locate information. A periodical index makes citations to articles accessible by subject, keywords, author and/or other information.

Internet: A global network connecting millions of computers. This includes but is not limited to the World Wide Web. It can be used for e-mail, ftp and other functions.

Invisible Web: Internet databases and other resources that search engines can not index. Some links to directories of Invisible Web resources are found on the Search Engine Page in the Specialty Search Engines section.

ISBN: International Standard Book Number. A unique 10 digit code assigned to the specific edition of a book before it is published. It is most commonly used when requesting a book through Interlibrary Loan.

ISSN: International Standard Serial Number. A unique 8 digit code assigned to a specific serial title. It is most commonly used when requesting a journal or magazine article through Interlibrary Loan.

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J

Journals: A publication which has scholarly information, usually written by professors, researchers, or experts in a subject area and not intended for the general public. See magazines.

Journal Search: A program that allows you to locate journals and magazines held by the Egan library either physically in the library or in one of our article databases. It shows the publication's location, availablility, as well as the years of coverage.

K

Keyword searching: A type of search that looks for words in multiple fields of a record, such as titles, contents notes, abstracts and subject headings.

L

Library of Congress call numbers: The combination of letters and numbers assigned to identify a work's subject content using the system devised for the Library of Congress. This groups works on the same subject together on the shelves.

Example:

"Q" is the subject class for Science
QH (Class "QH" is the subject subdivision for Natural History
95.7 number) "95.7" represents a specific aspect of the subject:
Geographical distribution. Biogeography.
Physiographic Divisions. Water. Aquatic biology.
Seashore biology
.O34 (Book no.) ".O34" is for O'Clair, Rita M., author
1998 (Date) "1998" is the date of publication

Library of Congress Subject Headings: A word or phrase which describes the overall subject content of a book or other work using the wording devised by the Library of Congress. Commonly called "LCSH." The Subject Search option in the Capital City Libraries catalog lets you limit your search to LCSH. Library of Congress Subject Headings are a type of controlled vocabulary.

Link: The Link is the second-floor area between Love North and Love South. It houses the Reference Desk, Reference Collection, IRIS research computers, Integrated Computer Area and office space for the Reference staff.

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M

Magazine: A periodical intended for the general public rather than for scholars, containing articles on various subjects by different authors, who are not necessarily experts on the subject they have written about. Magazine articles are considered a type of secondary source material because they tend to anyalyse or describe content from primary source materials.

Manuscript: A typewritten or handwritten version of an article, book, or other work, especially the author's own copy, prepared and submitted for publication in print.

Microfiche: ("MY-crow-fish")
Generally a 4x6 sheet of film on which a printed book, journal, or other publication has been reduced in size.

Microfilm: A roll of film on which a book, journal, newspaper, or other publication has been reduced in size.

Monograph: A book.

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N

Natural Language:

Non-circulating: Materials which can not be checked out of the Library, such periodicals, those in the Reference Collection and anything designated as "Library Use Only" in the catalog.

Newspaper: A publication, usually issued daily or weekly, containing current news, editorials, feature articles, and usually advertising.

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O

On Order: An item that has been ordered but not yet been received. You can place a hold on an item that is on order and you will be in line to check it out once it is processed.

Oversized: A book that is too large to be shelved in normal call number sequence on the shelves of the library and must be shelved in a special location for larger books. Watch for the word "Oversize" in the location area of the catalog record. Oversized books are kept on the lower ground level of the Egan library back against the far wall.

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P

PDF: Portable Document Format. An electronic document that must be read with the Adobe Reader plug-in.

Peer reviewed: Material that has been read by experts in the field to evaluate it's validity before publication.

Periodicals: The generic term for publications which are published on a regular basis, such as journals, magazines and newspapers.

Plug-in: Software that adds additional functionality to the original program. The new component simply plugs in to the existing program.

Popular magazine: A periodical intended for the general public rather than for scholars, containing articles on various subjects by different authors, who are not necessarily experts on the subject they have written about. Magazine articles are considered a type of secondary source material because they tend to anyalyse or describe second-hand interpretations of primary source materials.

Primary Source: 1. Original research including descriptions of scientific experiments, statistics, or findings which have not been interpreted by another person. 2. Eyewitness accounts recording events in a fixed media such as letters, diaries, interviews or news footage. 3. Creative works such as visual art works, poetry or music. 4. artifacts such as stone points, pottery, furniture, and buildings. Secondary sources are second-hand interpretations of primary source documents such as poetry criticism or an article in Discover magazine that interprets a scientific study for the lay person.

Proxy server: A computer that verifies that an off-campus user seeking to access a restricted resource is a current UAS student, faculty or staff member. When prompted for a username and password, use your regular UAS username and password.

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Q

R

RefWorks: A program paid for by the university that allows users to create a personalized bibliographic database. After creating a personal account, you may import citations into RefWorks to save and manipulate in a variety of ways; this includes the ability to create bibliographies in multiple writing styles such as MLA or APA.

Refereed: Same as peer-reviewed.

Reference: A service provided by the Library to help people find the information they want. Can also be another term for a citation, particularly those in the bibliography at the end of a research paper.

Reference book: A book designed by the arrangement and treatment of its subject matter to be consulted for specific information or facts, rather than to be read consecutively. Reference books cannot be checked out of the library, but you are welcome to use them while in the building. Sometime older editions of reference books are available in the stacks.

Reference librarian: A library faculty member who will help you locate information, guide you in the research process and show you how to use the different library reference tools. To determine the reference librarian who handles your specific subject area, consult the Liaison Librarians/Subject Specialists by Subject page.

Remote access: This refers to the availability of many of the Library's electronic resources via the Internet. To access databases that are restricted to use by UAS students, faculty and staff, from off campus it is necessary to use the Library's proxy server by logging onto the network with your uas username and password. See the Instructions for remote access for additional directions on how to do this.

Renew: You can extend the amount of time you have an item on loan. To avoid fines, material must be renewed on or before the due date. Renewals can be done electronically. See the Self-Renewal page for directions on how to do this.

Reserves/Reserve Materials: Materials that instructors have arranged with the Circulation staff to make available for the students in a class to read. These may be borrowed from the Circulation Desk for shorts periods of time depending on the instructors wishes. You can check on reserves from the library's catalog.

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S

Search engines: Internet search engines are sites that maintain an index of other web sites obtained by "robots" or "spiders" (computer programs) that search the Internet. Some robots only index the main page of an web site while others index every page of every site they encounter. Even the largest search engines, such as Google and Altavista, cannot keep up with the explosive growth of the Internet, so it may be necessary to try several when looking for specific information.

Secondary Source: A work whose descriptions, analysis, summaries, or evaluations derive from, or are based on primary source material. Examples: poetry criticism, statistical analysis, book reviews, and most articles in popular magazines. Also refers to material other than primary sources used in the preparation of a written work.

Serial: A publication which is intended to continue indefinitely. This includes periodicals such as magazines, journals, newspapers and books such as almanacs and yearbooks which come out every year.

Series: A group of books, each with its own title but related to one another by the fact that each item bears a collective title applying to the group as a whole. The individual volumes may or may not be numbered.

Stacks: The term "stacks" generally refers to the areas in the library where the books are shelved. It can also mean the bookshelves on which library materials are arranged.

Style manual: A guide to how to prepare of formal papers and reports, such as term papers, theses or journal articles. These are available in printed books via the catalog (subject heading: authorship - style manuals) or online via the Web.

Subject heading: The specific word or phrase used to find a book or article on a specific topic in a catalog or periodical index.

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T

Technical Services:The department that catalogs new materials, labels new books, maintains the online catalog and provides cross-references.

Thesaurus: A work that lists terms, giving synonyms and/or antonyms for each. In database searching, it provides a standardized, controlled vocabulary for searching and organizing the database.

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URL: Uniform (or Universal) Resource Locator. A Web address. For example, the URL for this page is: http://www.uas.alaska.edu/library/subjects/definitions.html

Volume: A volume can be a series of issues of a periodical, often a year's worth. Some books are published in sets of several volumes.

World Wide Web: Also called "WWW" or just "the Web," it is a portion of the Internet that uses HTML or related kinds of mark-up languages and can include other types of files such as graphic, audio and video files.