Abstract

Is a summary of the main focus of an article or a book. It is typically a paragraph or two at the beginning of the article. Some databases provide only abstracts of articles.

Access

To gain use/entry of an electronic bibliographic database. The ability to locate specific information in a database.

Access Points

Specific fields in an electronic record useful for the retrieval of information. (e.g. the author field contains the author’s name) These fields may be searched to locate books, articles and other works. Other examples are the article title, journal title and subject field.

Bibliography

A list of articles, books and other materials used by an author to write an article or a book. Is a list of citations or cited works.

Bound Periodicals

Several issues of a journal or magazine that are bound together between hard covers so that they resemble a book.

Call Number

A unique group of numbers and letters placed on the spine of a book to indicate its location in the library stacks (e.g. Dewey Decimal or Library of Congress).

CD-ROM

Is the abbreviation for Compact Disk-Read Only Memory. The disc has data/information which can be read by a computer.

Citation

The written statement about a source of information (e.g. article, book, web site) of which you will need to locate it. A citation usually includes the author, the title of the article, the title of the book or journal, page number, number of pages, volume, issue and the date of publication.

Copyright

The exclusive right to the publication, production, or sale of the rights to a literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work granted by law for a specific period of time.

Database

A database is a large collection of information that is organized for searching and retrieval. We are discussing electronic bibliographic databases in this orientation.

Full Image

Is an article or document that has both text and images/graphics.

Full Text

An article or document that is read

Interlibrary Loan

An exchange of materials between libraries for a brief period. A service providing access to materials not owned by a local library.

Internet

A global network of networks.

Journal/Periodical

Any newspaper or periodical, as one dealing in scientific or professional matters. A scholarly magazine or publication published at a regular interval. Materials published at regular intervals, as weekly, monthly, etc.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

LCSH is the standard subject heading list for thousands of libraries as well as for a multitude of printed indexes. LCSH is the most comprehensive list of subject headings in print in the world.

MeSH

The Medical Subject Headings comprise NLM's controlled vocabulary used for indexing articles, for cataloging books and additional holdings.

Microforms

Any form of photographically reduced document or print etc., as microfilm or microfiche.

NLM

National Library of Medicine, United States

Reserves

Books, articles and other materials placed on hold by professors for use by their students.

Subject Headings

A subject heading is the theme or indexed term to describe the information in an article or a book. The term, phrase or concept describing the main focus of an article or book used in a database.

Thesaurus

A categorized index of terms for use in information retrieval. A list of specialized terms to search a specific database.