GLOSSARY
ABSTRACT
A short written summary of an article.
AUDIOVISUALS
Materials such as slides, cassettes, filmstrips, films and
videotapes which convey information through sight and/or sound.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A list of publications (books, periodical articles, pamphlets,
audiovisuals, etc.) on a specific subject or by a specific author.
BOOLEAN LOGIC
A method of logic designed to show relationships between concepts
(ideas), by using the terms AND, OR and NOT to connect these concepts. For example,
“France and Agriculture”; “Teacher or Instructor”; “Saturn not
automobile”. Boolean logic is often used when “searching” (see SEARCH
below) on a computer database (see DATABASE below).
BOUND VOLUME
A collection of paper issues of magazines, usually for one year,
bound together in a book.
BROWSER
A computer program that allows you to read documents on the World
Wide Web (see WORLD WIDE WEB below). Netscape is an example of a browser.
BROWSING COLLECTION
A collection of books or other materials that are not arranged by
call numbers, but are found by examining the materials on the shelves.
CALL NUMBER
A group of letters and numbers in a code, assigned to each book
in a library, and used to locate the book on the shelves.
CATALOG
A listing of the materials in a library's collection.
Sometimes the catalog will also include audiovisual materials or periodical titles.
CURSOR
A visual marker (sometimes an arrow or a small flashing line)
which shows “where you are” on the computer screen; it shows the position on the
computer screen where you should enter (type) data.
CD-ROM
Compact Disc Read Only Memory. One 4.72 inch compact disc
holds the equivalent of 200,000 pages of printed text. “Read Only” means
that you cannot write on, or alter, the information on the disc.
CHECK OUT
The process of borrowing library materials.
CIRCULATION DESK
The area where books are checked out and returned and
wherereserve materials are kept in the NOVA libraries.
CITATION
A reference to an item (book, film, article, pamphlet, etc.
listed in a catalog, index or bibliography.
COMPACT DISC
See CD-ROM
COPYRIGHT
A method for protecting the creative works of authors, artists
and musicians. Copyrighted material may not be duplicated without permission of the
copyright holder.
CROSS REFERENCE
Directions given in publications such as catalogs, indexes and
encyclopedias which refer readers to additional information within that publication.
DATABASE
An organized file of information, composed of records
containing bibliographic, full text, numeric, or combinations of those that
is stored in electronic form, and can be accessed or “searched” from a computer
(see SEARCH below),such as an index or catalog or directory.
DEFAULT
An option that is assigned by the program or system when another
has not been assigned by the user.
DEWEY DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
A system for arranging books on the shelves of libraries,
commonly used in school and public libraries.
DOWNLOAD
To transfer information from one computer to another computer.
ENTRY
An item (book, article, pamphlet, audiovisual, etc.) that is
listed in a catalog or index.
FORMAT
The way in which information is arranged and presented. Formats
can be printed, on microfilm, on videotape, etc.
HOME PAGE
The introductory page of a “Web Page” (see WEB PAGE
below). Usually the Home Page offers links to other related information
available elsewhere on the Internet (see HYPERLINK below).
HYPERLINK
A link between files of related information (related files of
data) available on the World Wide Web. A link allows you to move from one file to
another.
HYPERTEXT
Electronic documents (files) presenting information in text,
graphic, and/or sound format. The various files of information can be accessed in
various sequences depending on your needs. Generally, you are presented with options
for accessing the available information, and can move between the various files by
clicking on “links” (see HYPERLINK above).
ICON
A small symbol or picture on the screen that represents a program
or device.
INDEX
A section located in the back of a book that lists the names,
places and subjects within the book and gives the page numbers where they can be found.
INDEX, PERIODICAL
See PERIODICAL INDEXES
INTERNET
An international cooperative system of computers; a network of
thousands of computer networks. Unlimited access to the Internet allows one to
search the World Wide Web (see definition below), or other computer networks (using
Gopher, for example; see GOPHER above), communicate with other people via electronic mail
(see E-MAIL), or transfer files from one computer to another (see FTP).
JOURNALS
Magazines that specialize in a specific subject area and tend to
be scholarly in nature.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
A system for arranging books on the shelves of libraries commonly
used at institutions of higher education.
LINK
See HYPERLINK
MICROFORM
A type of material produced when printed works (usually magazines
and newspapers) are photographed and the pictures reduced in size, requiring a
machine to read them and make full-size copies.
MICROFICHE
A microform produced as a card.
MICROFILM
A microform produced as a reel of film.
MOUSE
A device that allows you to move and click the cursor on a
computer screen in order to initiate different computer functions (see CURSOR above).
NETSCAPE
A popular Web Browser (see BROWSER above).
NON-PRINT
See AUDIOVISUALS
ONLINE
Being in direct communication with a computer.
ONLINE SEARCHING
Searching for information while connected to a computer where
information is stored.
OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog)
The catalog of Northern Virginia Community College campus
libraries is an OPAC or “online catalog”. The catalog is a database on a
central computer that can be searched from computers in each campus library.
OUT OF PRINT
A publication that is no longer available from the publisher.
PERIODICAL INDEXES
Lists of articles from magazines, newspapers and journals that
are arranged alphabetically by subject.
PERIODICALS
Publications such as magazines, newspapers and journals that are
published at regular intervals, usually daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly.
PULL-DOWN MENU
A menu that, when pointed to by keyboard or mouse, drops down to
show the available options.
RECORD
The complete set of information for an item in a database.
For example, a “record” in a magazine index database would include such
information as: title of article, name of magazine, date the issue was published,
page number(s), and possibly an abstract or summary of the article.
REFERENCE BOOKS
Books such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, indexes, almanacs, and
handbooks that are kept in a special section of the library and cannot be checked out.
RETROSPECTIVE
Events of the past. As an example, almanacs contain both
current and retrospective (historical) information.
SEARCH
The process of locating information or an item or items on a
computer database. Searching may involve typing (entering) terms such as names,
topics, concepts, and possibly combining two or more of these using Boolean Logic (see
Boolean Logic above).
SEARCH ENGINE
A computer program that can search through large amounts of text
or other data. On the World Wide Web there are several popular search engines
available for your use, including Yahoo, Webcrawler, Lycos, and Alta Vista.
"SEE"
A term used in catalogs, indexes and encyclopedias to direct
readers from a subject heading that is not used to one that is used.
"SEE ALSO"
A term used in catalogs, indexes and encyclopedias to direct
readers to additional related subject headings.
STACKS
Shelves in libraries where books and other materials are kept.
OPEN STACKS
Shelves where users have open access to the materials. NOVA
libraries have open stacks.
CLOSED STACKS
Shelves to which users do not have access; materials are
requested by users and brought to them by library staff. The Library of Congress has
closed stacks.
SUBJECT HEADINGS
Terms (words or phrases) used in library catalogs and indexes to
describe a specific subject.
URL (UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR)
A group of characters (letters, numbers, symbols) that identifies
a particular file available on the World Wide Web, and allows you to locate the file if
you wish to view it. The URL, then, is a file’s Web “address”.
The URL for Northern Virginia Community College’s Home Page on the Internet is:
HTTP://www.nvcc.edu
WORKSTATION
Any terminal or computer in a local area network that is not a
server.
WORLD WIDE WEB
A network of information files that is a ‘subset” of
the Internet. The World Wide Web includes files of text, graphics, sound and moving
images. It is also referred to as the WEB, or WWW.