Help & Ask a Librarian

Abstract – A brief summary of the content of a book, article, speech, report, or dissertation.

Access Point – A name, term, heading, or code in a bibliographic record by which library materials may be searched, identified, and retrieved.

Acquisitions – The process of selecting, ordering, and receiving materials for library or archival collections by purchase, exchange, or gift.

Almanac – An annual compendium of practical dates, facts, and statistics, current and/or retrospective, often arranged in tables to facilitate comparison.

Anthology – A collection of stories, plays, or poems, selected by an editor.

Archive – An organized collection of the documents and records of an institution, government, organization, or corporate body, or the personal papers of an individual, family, or group, preserved in a repository for their historical value.

Autobiography – An account of one's life written by oneself.

Bibliographic records / "Bib" records – The description of a specific document, consisting of the title, author, edition, type of publication, publisher, date and place of publication, physical description, series, notes, and standard numbers (ISBN, ISSN). An item's online catalog entry is a bibliographic record.

Bibliography – A list of references used in a book, article, or essay. Long bibliographies may be published separately in book form or online.

Boolean searching – Using special commands (operators) to tell a database system how words being searched relate to one another. The three basic Boolean operators are AND, OR, and NOT. AND will narrow a search, by returning only the results which contain each and every term entered. OR will broaden a search, by returning results which contain any combination of the terms entered. NOT will remove a specified term from a search.

Call Number – A unique location code that appears on the spine of a book or bound periodical and tells you where the book should be found on the shelves (e.g. Library of Congress Classification numbers, Dewey Decimal System numbers).

Catalog – A catalog contains all the bibliographic records—with detailed descriptions and location information—of the materials in a library collection.

Circulate – To loan materials to library users. Some items are non-circulating, meaning they can only be used inside the library, and not checked out.

Citation – A brief description of a text (book, article, report, web page, etc.) that has been quoted or used as a source. The exact arrangement and formatting of a citation is dictated by a style manual. The choice of style manual depends on the discipline or subject matter.

Classification – A method of arranging materials such as books or journals, often by topic. Piedmont University uses the Library of Congress (LC) Classification. The use of classification allows library users to browse shelves to find additional items on the same or related subjects.

Copyright – The legal right granted to an author, editor, composer, playwright, publisher, or distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work.

Course Reserves – Library materials which are set aside at the request of an instructor for a specific group of patrons and temporarily assigned a much shorter loan period. The purpose of reserves is to ensure that all students taking a course will be able to use the materials. Restrictions on the use of reserve materials may vary.

Database – A comprehensive collection of related data (articles or other materials) organized for convenient access, usually through a computer.

Descriptors – Subject terms, usually from a thesaurus, used in a database to describe the content of a book or article.

Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) – Melvil Dewey's system of classifying library material. The numeric system designates ten basic subject categories.

Discharging – "Checking in;" this is the term used in WorkFlows.

Dissertation – A formal and lengthy written discourse or treatise, required by universities in partial fulfillment of requirements for a Ph.D.

E-book – An electronic version of a book. In the Mayflower catalog, this refers specifically to online material available through EBSCOhost eBook Collection. Note: Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook are examples of e-book readers.

Edition – Some books are revised and republished. The new version may be called a "revised" or "second" edition. Later editions are numbered sequentially.

Editor – A person who selects, prepares, and compiles the works of other writers for publication.

Field – In an online form or bibliographic record, a field is the space designated for the insertion of specific information. Fields allow patrons to "filter" or "target" their catalog searches. For example, a Title search for "Gone with the Wind" searches only the Title field in a collection of bibliographic records.

Full-text – Refers to a database or other electronic resource which provides the entire text of the works it contains (e.g., journal articles), in addition to the citation and abstract of each work.

GALILEO (Georgia Library Learning Online) – A web-based virtual library providing access to a variety of electronic resources and databases indexing thousands of periodicals and scholarly journals.

Gazetteer – A dictionary or index of geographical names with locations.

Government Documents – A publication created by a government, including hearings, reports, treaties, periodicals, and statistics.

Handbook – A reference resource that provides concise data and other information on a specific subject.

Hold – A library service by which a user may request to be notified as soon as a book that has been checked out becomes available. The book is then kept at the circulation desk and reserved for the patron for a limited period of time.

Holdings – All the materials (printed and otherwise) owned or offered by a library.

Index – a) An alphabetical list of topics, people, or titles, giving the location of where they are mentioned in a text … b) A list of items in a set or collection such as the books in a library, usually including details of where to find them … c) A periodical or book that lists published work alphabetically by subject, title, or author.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) – The process by which a library requests materials from or supplies materials to another library.

Intralibrary Loan – The process by which one Piedmont University Library requests materials from or supplies materials to another Piedmont University Library (these transactions take place between the Arrendale Library, the Athens Campus Library, and the Music Library).

ISBN (International Standard Book Number) – A unique 10-digit number that is given to every book or edition of a book before publication to identify the publisher, the title, the edition, and volume number.

ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) – A unique 8-digit number that identifies a specific periodical title.

Item – Any object included in the Library's collection. An item could be a book, a magazine, a video, a reference resource, an e-book, etc.

Journal – A periodically distributed publication devoted to a specific field or subfield of knowledge. Journals usually contain scholarly articles written by professors, researchers, or experts in a certain subject area. Articles usually contain an abstract and a bibliography showing cited resources.

Keyword – A significant word or phrase in the title, subject headings (descriptors), contents note, abstract, or text of a record in an online catalog or bibliographic database that can be used as a search term in a free-text search to retrieve all the records containing it.

Librarian – A professionally trained person responsible for the care of a library and its contents, including the selection, processing, and organization of materials and the delivery of information, instruction, and loan services to meet the needs of its users.

Library of Congress Classification (LCC) – A system of classifying books and other library materials developed and maintained over the last 200 years by the Library of Congress in Washington DC. In LCC, human knowledge is divided into 20 broad categories indicated by single letters of the roman alphabet, with major subdivisions indicated by a second letter, and narrower subdivisions by decimal numbers and further alphabetic notation. Piedmont University Libraries – like most academic libraries – use this classification system.

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) – A descriptive word or phrase selected by a subject specialist at the Library of Congress from the list of Library of Congress Subject Headings and assigned to a book or other item when first published to indicate its subject. Multiple subject heads are assigned when necessary.

Loan Period – The amount of time library materials may be borrowed. The loan period varies depending on the type of material to be borrowed and the status of the borrower.

Magazine – A periodical intended for the general public rather than for scholars (e.g., Newsweek, Time, Business Week).

Mayflower – Piedmont University Libraries' web-based catalog, containing bibliographic records for 90% of the Libraries' holdings. It is located on the web at: http://library.piedmont.edu.

Microfiche – A small card-shaped sheet of film designed for storing miniaturized text and/or microimages arranged sequentially in a two-dimensional grid. The textual content of microfiche can only be read with the aid of a microform-reader.

Microfilm – A continuous roll of photographic film used for storing miniaturized text and/or microimages in a linear array consisting of a single row or double row of frames that can be magnified and copied only with the aid of a microform reader.

Microform – A generic term for a highly reduced photographic copy of text and/or images, usually stored on a translucent medium (microfiche or microfilm).

Monograph – A relatively short book on a single subject, complete in one physical piece, usually written by a specialist in the field. Monographic treatment is detailed and scholarly but not extensive in scope. The term is also used in a more general sense to identify any nonperiodical publication complete in one volume.

Newspaper – A serial publication, usually printed on newsprint and issued daily or weekly, containing news, opinions, advertising, cartoons, and other items of current and often local interest to a general readership.

Non-circulating – Library materials that may not be checked out; they may only be used on-site in the library where they are housed.

Nonprint – Materials published in a format other than writing or print on paper, including audio recordings, video recordings, microform, and digital formats.

Online – Accessible via a computer network.

OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) – A database composed of bibliographic records describing the books and other materials owned by a library or library system, accessible via public terminals.

Overdue – A circulating item checked out by a borrower and kept past its due date. Most libraries, including Piedmont University Libraries, charge fines for overdue materials.

Patron Record – A confidential record in a library circulation system containing data pertaining to a borrower account (full name, street address, telephone number, patron ID, patron type, items on loan, holds, unpaid fines, etc.).

Periodical – A publication distributed on a regular schedule (usually weekly or monthly). Popular periodicals are called magazines and scholarly periodicals are called journals. Newspapers are also periodicals.

Preservation – The process of maintaining library and archival materials in condition suitable for use, either in their original form or in some other, usually more durable, form.

Primary Source – A resource which provides first-hand information or original data on a topic, used in preparing a derivative work. Primary sources include original manuscripts, correspondence, diaries and other personal papers, photographs, interviews and transcripts, government documents, historical records, film footage, eyewitness accounts, newspaper clippings, etc.

Quick Reference/Ready Reference – A collection of frequently used reference materials such as dictionaries, telephone directories, almanacs, etc.

Rare Book – A valuable book which is so difficult to find that only a few copies are known to antiquarian booksellers. Most libraries keep their rare books in special collections to which access is restricted.

Recall – A request by a library to one of its borrowers to return a borrowed item before its due date.

Record – Each item or document in a database. A record can be a citation, a table, or a complete full text document.

Reference – 1) Any publication from which authoritative information may be obtained. 2) The area of the library where reference materials are located. At the Arrendale Library, most reference materials are located on the main floor, to the right as you enter the building. Reference materials at Piedmont University Libraries have red tape on the spine of the book. 3) Research assistance provided by librarians and library staff to patrons.

Reference Desk – The public service point in a library which is staffed by a professionally trained reference librarian who can provide answers to research questions, refer patrons to knowledgeable sources, and instruct patrons in the use of various informational resources.

Renew – To extend the loan period of library material. The material must be free of holds to be available for renewal.

Repository – The location, usually within a library or archive, where manuscripts, rare books, papers, photographs, government documents, and other records of historical interest are stored. Digital repositories are accessible electronically.

Secondary Source – Secondary sources are interpretations and commentary on primary sources. Secondary sources may include biographies, dissertations, journal articles, and indexes or bibliographies used to locate primary & secondary sources.

Serial – A publication in any medium issued in successive parts bearing numerical or chronological designations and intended to continue indefinitely.  Includes periodicals, newspapers, annuals, journals, numbered monographic series, etc.

Stacks – Areas of a library where books and periodicals are shelved.

Style Manual / Style Guide – A guide to a prescribed set of rules for typing research papers and theses, usually written for a specific academic discipline or group of related disciplines, covering the mechanics of writing (punctuation, capitalization, quotations, plagiarism, etc.), format (spacing, headings, tables and illustrations, etc.), and correct form of documentation (footnotes, endnotes, and bibliographies), usually including pertinent examples. Examples include MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), Chicago Manual of Style, and A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Kate Turabian.

Subtitle – A secondary portion of the title proper of a work, consisting of an explanatory or limiting phrase, often following a colon or semicolon.

SuDocs – An acronym for the Superintendent of Documents classification system. Publications of the US federal government are assigned a SuDocs call number.

Tertiary Source – A written work, such as a chapter in a textbook or entry in a reference book, based entirely on secondary sources, rather than on original research involving primary documents.

Thesaurus – 1) A book of synonyms and near-synonyms, usually listing antonyms as well; 2) An alphabetical list of terms and concepts representing the specialized vocabulary of a particular field. One example is Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms. Thesauri are used by librarians and others to conduct focused searches of online databases.

Truncation – The dropping of characters and the addition of a symbol at the end, beginning, or within a word in a keyword search to retrieve variant forms. Truncation is particularly useful in retrieving the singular and plural forms of a word in the same search. (Example: *librar* retrieves records containing "interlibrary," "intralibrary," "librarian," "librarianship," "libraries," "library," etc.)