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A | B | C
| D | E | F | G | H
| I | J | K | L | M
| N | O | P | Q | R | S
| T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
A
Abstract A summary of a publication (book,
article, dissertation) that is included with citation information. It
may help you identify the best articles on your topic.
Adjacency Words that are next to each other
will be searched in the exact order (e.g., “eating disorders”
will be searched as a phrase).
Article (also referred to as "paper")
A contribution written by one or more persons and published in a journal,
magazine, newspaper, or encyclopedia.
Author A person, group, or corporate body responsible
for all or some of the content of published material.
Availability Whether or not the material is
checked out.
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B
Bibliography A citation list of sources used
in writing books, articles, or essays.
Boolean Operators (or Connectors) Connecting
words that determine the logic by which two or more terms are searched
in a database, e.g. and, or, not.
Browser Graphical interface that accesses and
displays information on the World Wide Web. Examples are Netscape or Internet
Explorer.
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C
Call Number A unique alphanumeric code assigned
to each item in the library.
Catalog A retrieval tool that provides a user
with access to individual items held within a collection, usually in electric
form.
Citation Gives credit to the original source
of information being used and provides details for finding this source,
e.g. citations of articles contain the author name, title, title of the
source (journal, magazine, book), date, volume, and page numbers.
Controlled Vocabulary Preferred terms or phrases
that are designated for use in a catalog, database, or other retrieval
tool to be used for all the various phrases and words used to describe
a concept. May also be called "descriptors" or "subject
headings", and be listed in a "thesaurus".
Copyright Legal rights that an author has over
his/her work for a set period of time.
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D
Database An organized collection of records
containing data for a specific purpose that can be searched and retrieved,
e.g. STARS is a database of the SBU Libraries' holdings, and PsycInfo
is a database of articles and books published in the psychology literature.
Descriptor A word, phrase, or alphanumeric
character used to identify an item in an information storage and retrieval
system. See also Controlled Vocabulary.
Domain The last element of an internet address
(URL) that indicates the sponsor of a webpage, e.g. edu, org, gov.
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E
E-book An electronic version of a book that
is found and read on the Web.
E-journal An electronic version of a journal
that is found and read on the Web.
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F
Field Records in databases are organized into
fields, e.g. author field, title field, source field. When you search
by author, the computer is looking in the author field of each record.
Format Type of pyblication, e.g. book, journal,
DVD, score.
Full-text The entire text of a published article
is made available on-screen.
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H
Holdings The exact issues of magazines, journals,
and newspapers the Libraries own or have access to; this is different
from Publication Dates.
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I
Index An alphabetical or numerical list describing
the items in a collection and where they may be found,e.g. the index at
the back of a book, a library catalog or an article index such as Infotrac;
most indexes in libraries are now in electronic form and more commonly
called databases.
Internet Connection A computer that is connected
to other computers (the internet) via modem (examples: telephone, cable,
DSL).
Invisible Web The portion of the Web that is
hidden from search engines, which require a subscription or password to
access. The SBU Libraries' databases are an example of the invisible Web.
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J
Journal Publication that is issued at least
twice a year and contains articles written by many different authors.
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K
Keyword Words or phrases that are searchable
in any field of a record.
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M
Magazine A periodical that contains short
articles on topics of popular interest and current events, often unsigned.
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N
Natural Language Some search engines or databases
allow searching with Natural Language questions instead of search statements
constructed by formal rules; e.g. “what is the effect of advertising
on children’s eating habits?” (natural language) versus “advertising
and eating habit* and children” (formal search statement).
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P
Periodical A publication that is issued at
least twice a year. These include journals, magazines, and newspapers.
Plagiarism Presenting the words or ideas of
someone else as your own without proper acknowledgement of the source.
Popular Journal/Magazine A source that publishes
short articles that cover a wide range of topics. These sources are usually
filled with photographs and advertisements, and authors are often not
named.
Protocol A standard procedure for regulating
data transmission between computers, e.g.: FTP-move files; HTTP-access
web pages; Telnet-log on to other computers.
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R
Record A complete description of one document
in a database or catalog.
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S
Scholarly Journal These sources are geared
towards scholars with long, in-depth articles based on research.
Scope What's covered in a database: subject
areas, dates, types of sources, etc.
Stacks The general circulating collection.
Subject Headings Standardized terms or phrases
that are assigned to a publication and used to describe the contents of
that publication; same as Controlled Vocabulary.
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T
Title The name of a book, article, or other
written work.
Truncation A search technique used that allows
for searching of variant spellings and word endings through the use of
specific symbols (may be different for different databases).
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W
World Wide Web One part of the Internet, a
collection of documents posted by individuals and organizations that may
be accessed and displayed with a Web Browser.
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