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Library jargon you will come across in your research:
abstract
The abstract of an article is a brief summary of its contents. Abstracts can save you time by helping you identify the best articles on your topic.
bibliography
A bibliography is a list of the sources an author used when writing a book, article or essay. It is found at the end of written works. Bibliographies point to more sources about the topic.
boolean
George Boole was an English mathematician who helped establish the modern field of mathematics called symbolic logic. Boolean logic uses words called connectors.
The three main connectors are: AND, OR and NOT.
Databases use Boolean logic to locate only those items that match your search. |
George Boole
1815 - 1864 |
call numbers
Each book in the library has a unique call number. Call numbers are like addresses; they tell you where each book "lives" on the shelf.
citation
A citation identifies published information in order to locate that item again.
Citations of articles often include the author, title, magazine or journal name, page numbers and publication information. Citations of Web documents also include a URL and the day the information was accessed.
database
A database provides a way of organizing information so that you can easily find what you are looking for. Some types of databases are:
Print Databases
The index of a book is a print database. It allows you to go quickly to a topic in the book. A phone book is another type of print database.
Electronic or Online Databases
We usually think of searchable electronic indexes and catalogs when we refer to databases. The NEOS Libary Catalogue, Academic Search Premier, and CINAHL are examples of electronic databases. They let you quickly go to a topic in books or periodicals.
fields
Each record in a database is composed of individual pieces of information called fields. Fields include such information as the author, title, publisher, subject heading, etc. for that item. Each of these fields is a searchable access point to the information.
Find It
Find It  is a tool that helps you locate the full text of an article.
full text
The complete electronic text of an article is called the full text. Some databases, like Academic Search Premier and OmniFile, provide entire articles online.
In databases that offer full text, citations for articles may have these symbols next to them:
 HTML Full Text
 PDF Full Text
PDF full text usually includes the article plus any graphs, charts, pictures and text. HTML full text usually includes only the text of the article.
Internet
The Internet is a global network, connecting many smaller individual networks. The Internet is also a set of protocols that allow you to communicate with people, move files between computers, and find and share information.
interlibrary loan
Interlibrary loan is a system of sharing resources between libraries, including books, journal articles, and even non-print media. Red Deer College has a number of agreements in place in order to provide you with material as quickly as possible.
Speed of delivery is dependent on a number of things, including format (book vs. journal article), pricing, delivery method, and the agreements we have with the owning library. It is wise to place your request as early as possible since it may take from several days to several weeks for items to arrive.
library Barcode Number
Your Library Barcode Number is the 13-digit number directly above the barcode on your iCard.
Library of Congress Subject Headings
A system used by people when entering records into a database like the Library Catalogue to designate what each book or article is about. You can use the Library of Congress Subject Headings when searching the Library Catalogue, for example, to find records for all the books on the same subject.
NEOS PIN
Your NEOS PIN is a randomly assigned number that allows you to access your NEOS My Account and also allows you to access certain library tools, such as article databases, from off-campus.
To find out your NEOS PIN contact the Library's Information or Circulation Desks.
nesting
Nesting keeps concepts that are alike together and tells an electronic database to search for the terms in the parentheses first. Use parentheses to group concepts when you use two or more connectors.
alcohol AND (adolescents OR teenagers)
This search will retrieve records on alcohol and adolescents, as well as items on alcohol and teenagers.
periodicals
Publications which are issued at least twice a year, including journals, magazines, and newspapers, are called periodicals.
truncation
Truncation is like a wildcard. Added to the stem of a word, it will find that stem plus anything that comes after it.
The symbol used to truncate a word depends upon the index, database, or Web search engine you are using. For example, the $ (dollar sign) is used in the NEOS Library catalogue: psychol$ will return records on psychology, psychological, psychologist.
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is one part of the Internet.
It is a collection of information, including documents, articles, opinions, stories, art, sounds, and animations, that you can access with a Web browser.
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