Like any specialized profession, librarians have a very particular language. We don’t mean to confuse you. Hopefully this list will help you translate librarianese into plain English.
Abstract: Fancy word for summary. Most articles will have a short summary that appears at the beginning. It summarizes what the article is about. Sometimes, you will not be able to see the entire article, you will only see the abstract.
Bibliography: A bibliography is a list that identifies the sources of information used and consulted. It is made up of a list of citations (see below). In an annotated bibliography, the citation is followed by a brief description or summary of the source.
Call Number: A call number is a series of letters and numbers to help identify and locate a book. Most academic libraries use the Library of Congress system. Most public libraries and school libraries use the Dewey Decimal system.
Catalog: The library catalog is the library search engine. We use it to find out if we own a book or other items.
Circulation Desk: The circulation desk is where you go to check out books.
Citation: A citation identifies all of the critical information of a source. For example, it includes the title, author, place of publication, date of publication. There are many different ways to format citations. Citations are usually listed at the end of an article or research paper in a bibliography or works cited list. Citations are important because they help readers know where you got your information and help you avoid plagiarism.
Course Reserves: Materials that are placed on hold by professors at the Circulation Desk.
Database: A database offers electronic access to abstracts and full-text of articles. Like the library catalog, the different databases help us identify if we have access to a particular article. We have around 100 databases.
Full-text: The complete article online as opposed to just the abstract. It may be a .pdf or an html. If you only see an abstract and are having trouble locating the full-text, ask a librarian.
Record: The detailed information listed in the library catalog of a particular item at the library.
Index: A list found at the back of a book that lists the topics that are covered in the book.
Information Literacy: Not to be confused with computer literacy. The ability to be able to critically identify information needs, know how and where to find needed information, be able to assess the quality of information, and properly integrate it into one’s own research.
Interlibrary Loan (ILL): This is oftentimes a free service that you can use to request items from other libraries if NU Library does not own it.
Journal: A journal is an academic publication that contains articles. It usually comes out monthly or quarterly. Can also be called a periodical or serial.
Peer-Reviewed Article: Most academic articles undergo the peer-review process, which is the evaluation of work or performance by experts in the same field in order to maintain or enhance the quality of information. Not to be confused with editing or copy-editing.
Periodical: A publication (magazine or journal) that comes out on a regular basis such as weekly, monthly, or quarterly (…periodically… )
Primary Source: This is an original source of information that was produced at the time of an event. It is an artifact, like an interview, a sound recording, a diary, a photograph.
Scholarly Article: A scholarly article or book generally is based on original research or experimentation. It is written by a researcher or expert in the field who is often affiliated with a college or university. Most scholarly writing includes footnotes and/or a bibliography and may include graphs or charts as illustrations.
Stacks: Fancy word for bookshelves.
Subject Headings: Think of these as #hashtags. The Library of Congress (LC), our national library, has created a list of the subject terms that are used in most library catalog records in the United States. Subject headings are words or phrases that are established to represent a subject covered in library resources and are referred to as a “controlled vocabulary.” You can search by subject heading in the library catalog, Books + which is more specific than a keyword search. It is not always intuitive. For example, a keyword search of “world war two” will bring back very different results that a subject search for “ World War, 1939-1945”, the official LC subject heading.
Volume: After many issues of a journal or magazine have been published, we bind them together according to year. This bound collection of issues is called a volume.