English Glossary of Library Terms
| Library Term | Definition |
| Abstract | Summary of a book or article. |
|
Almanac |
An annual calendar containing important dates and statistical information such as astronomical data. (from The Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11 edition revised.) |
| Article | A piece published in a magazine, journal, or newspaper. |
| Bibliographic Record | The set of data that describe a book in the catalog of a library. It contains information such as author, title, date of publication, subject, and call number. |
| Bibliography | A list of sources referred to in a particular work. A list of the books of a specific author or on a specific subject. (From The Concise Oxford English Dictionary) |
| Biography | Work that narrates the life of a person. |
| Book Stacks | General section of books. In many libraries this term is used to distinguish the circulating book collection from the Reference section. |
| Call Number | Series of letters and/or numbers assigned to a book to classify it in the context of a larger collection according to the subject it discusses. It is determined depending on the classification system employed by the library (i.e. LC or Dewey), and it is the main tool used to locate an item in the stacks. |
| Check-out | The transaction performed to borrow a book from the library. You check out a book at the Circulation Desk using your library card, or in the case of ACC Libraries, using your current ACC student card. |
| Circulation Desk | Library Desk or station where you check-out and return books. That is also where you pay the fines for overdue materials. |
| Citation | Data describing a book, an article, an audiovisual item, or any other information entity. It includes things like Title, Author, Publisher, Year of publication, etc. Its main purpose is to offer enough information about the item, as to enable the reader to find it and retrieve it. There are many citation styles. The most common are APA (American Psychological Association) and MLA (Modern Language Association). To learn about these styles go to: http://library.austincc.edu/help/MLA/ http://library.austincc.edu/help/APA/ |
| Database | Electronic list of records that can be searched and manipulated through an interface. The ACC Libraries have around 150 databases with articles from magazines, journals, newspapers, and in some cases reference materials and e-books. To access our database go to: http://library.austincc.edu/eresources/SubGen.htm |
| Dewey Decimal System | System of classification used by public libraries to organize books and other library materials, (It was created by Melvil Dewey). Tip: It always starts with numbers. To learn more about the Dewey system see: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/subject.htm |
| Dictionary | Book that contains the definition and pronunciation of the words in a language, or that translates words from one language to another. Often it offers the conjugation of the most commonly used verbs. |
| Due-date | Date in which the loan of a book expires. |
| Encyclopedia | Work of one or more volumes that contains basic and concise information on a certain topic. They can be found on paper and electronic format. |
| Government Documents | Publication sponsored and published by the government of a given country. |
| Index | 1- List of works on a given topic used to find research material. These types of indexes exist on paper and electronic format. 2- An alphabetical list found at the end of a book, containing key terms and their pagination throughout the book. |
| Journal | Serial publication that contains articles written experts on the subject. The material published is generally research or analysis. The language is technical and it is meant for audience of professionals or academics. Journals exist on paper and electronic format. |
| Keyword | Term used to perform a search in a library catalog, database, or Internet browser. |
| Library Catalog | List of all the materials contained in a library (books, magazines, DVD's, etc.). Decades ago, library catalogs still existed on paper. Today the great majority exists on electronic format and can be searched and manipulated on-line. |
| Library of Congress System (LC) | System of classification used by academic libraries to organize books and other library materials. (It was created by the Library of Congress). Tip: It always starts with letters. To learn more about the LC system see: http://library.austincc.edu/help/classif/LibClasSys_guide.pdf |
| Magazine | Serial publication that contains articles written by its editorial staff (not by experts). Its purpose is to inform and/or to entertain and it is written in non-technical language for the general public. Magazines exist on paper and electronic format. |
| Monograph | Book or publication of one volume, about a single subject. |
| Newspaper | A printed publication, typically issued daily or weekly, containing news, articles, and advertisements. (from The Concise Oxford English Dictionary) |
| PDF (Portable Document Format) | Digital image format that presents documents identical to the original. |
| Peer Reviewed or Refereed | This term is applied to journals that publish material previously evaluated by a board of experts in that field. |
| Periodical or Serial | Any publication published periodically (once a day, once a month, etc.) Newspapers, magazines, journals, and gazettes fall into this category. |
| Plagiarism | The act of using the ideas of another person and presenting them as your own without giving credit to the original author. Plagiarism is considered academic misconduct and can be grounds for expulsion in higher education institutions. For more information about plagiarism see: http://library.austincc.edu/help/documen/ |
| Quote or Quotation | Excerpt from another source to prove or support what you say. Quotation marks must be used and credit must be given to the original author. |
| Reference Desk | Library desk where the reference librarian answers questions about research and helps patrons find information. |
| Reference Materials | Works that contain basic and concise information about one or many topics (definitions, basic overviews, quick facts, etc.) They are typically used briefly to extract a small piece of information (as opposed to being read from cover to cover) therefore, they do not circulate. Encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs, bibliographies and indexes fall under this category. |
| Reserve, on | Materials on reserve are those that have been set aside (usually by an instructor) for the use of a special group of patrons. At ACC libraries, materials on reserve are found at the Circulation Desk. |
| Review | Brief article that describes the quality and characteristics of a book or product. |
| Thesaurus | Dictionary that groups words by identical or similar meaning. |
| URL | Series of letters and/or numbers that identify a website or webpage. For example: the URL for ACC Library Services is http://library.austincc.edu/ |
|
Website |
Electronic document that can be read in a computer connected to the world wide web. |
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