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Evaluating Sources
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Citation Guide
Best Of References
Glossary
Research in the Real World
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Glossary
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A
| B | C | D
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| H | I | J
| K | L | M
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| Q | R | S
| T | U | V
| W | X | Y
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Abstract
– A summary of a journal or magazine article, book.
Use abstracts to determine of the content of the reading is relevant
to your topic.
Annotated bibliography
– A bibliography containing citation information, and
including commentary on each source.
Archives
– A collection of documents, media and other items,
usually having historic significance.
Article
– A self-contained reading on a subject, usually associated
with periodicals or journals, but also found in books and encyclopedias.
Periodical and journal articles may be more current than those
collected in books.
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Bibliography
– A listing of materials used (books, articles, media,
etc.) used in the research of a project, usually presented at
the end of the paper or book, and useful for finding additional
relevant materials on a topic. Also, a collection of recommended
reading on a particular subject.
Biography
– An account of a person's life, in whole or
in part.
Boolean
operators
– The use of and, or, and not in relation to search
terms, to define and refine the parameters of a search.
Bound periodicals
– Issues of periodicals that have been bound together
in chronological order.
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Call number
– The numbers/letters assigned to each item in a library
collection. Commonly used systems are Dewey Decimal and the Library
of Congress Classification Systems. TESC Library uses the Library
of Congress System.
Catalog
– The “index” of the items in a library
collection. Frequently kept electronically, but card catalogs
can still be found.
Circulation Desk
– The “front desk” of the library. This
is where you commonly check items out, return items, pick up reserved
items, etc. At TESC, this is also where you pick up items that
you request through SUMMIT or ILLiad
(Interlibrary Loan), or items on Closed Reserve (items placed
on reserve by faculty only for their program students), and is
separate from the Reference Desk.
Citation
– A reference made to a source used, whether that source
is print, image, or media, including Internet sources. Citations
should include the information someone would need to find the
source materials. There are different accepted formalized citation
styles, including MLA, APA, and Chicago. Instructors will generally
have a preference.
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Database
– An organized collection of information, searchable
by means of computer or similar device, using various parameters.
In the library, the term is occasionally used to describe the
electronic indexes and contents of the catalog.
Descriptor
– A subject heading assigned to a document by an indexer
of a database, to describe its subject matter.
Domain
– The suffix (ie: .gov, .org, .edu, .com, etc.) of
a web site address. This can give some indication of the origin
of the information contained on the site.
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F
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Field
– The category or categories that are examined when a search
engine searches a library database: author, title, subject, keyword,
etc.
Full text
– A journal or other article available in its entirety from
a database or online source. A
full text database
is a database that has full text articles available for download
(ie: Proquest). Other databases may have only citations or abstracts
available.
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Government documents
– Documents that are published by a government agency.
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Hold
(or Request) – A patron may place a request on an item
that is currently checked out. At TESC this may be done online
via the Library Catalog from anywhere a patron has web access.
I
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ILLiad
– Interlibrary Loan system used at TESC. Not the same
as SUMMIT.
Index
– A listing at the back of a book, containing alphabetically
organized subjects or topics and the pages on which they are found.
Pages with images may be indicated by italics or bolding. Also
a listing of items that may be found in a database, as in an abstract
index.
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Journal
– A scholarly or academic periodical, often published
by an organization or society, collecting the articles written
about a subject by and for researchers/academics in a field. Journals
specialize in specific fields of study. Some journals are described
as peer-reviewed.
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Keyword
– In a search of a database, the word or words (see
Boolean Operators) that describe the main
topic of a book or other item. Less precise than a subject search,
which uses specific subject headings.
L
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LCSH
Library of Congress Subject Headings. The specific subject
headings into which the Library of Congress Classification System
breaks down. When doing a keyword search, look at the LC subject
headings listed under an item heading to help you refine your
search.
Library Catalog
– (see Catalog)
Library
of Congress Classification System
– A system developed to organize books and other media by
subject. This is the system used by the TESC Library.
M
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Magazine
– A periodical intended for laymen and non-professionals.
These rarely contain footnotes or bibliography, and content may
be influenced by advertisers. May or may not be an appropriate
source, depending on circumstances.
Microfiche/Microfilm
– A format of storage frequently used for periodicals and
government documents. Both forms are reduced reproductions of
the original that are read with the appropriate machine. Microfiche
is flat sheets of film, microfilm is on rolls.
Monograph
– A book.
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O
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Peer-reviewed
– Usually said of journals. Peer-reviewed journals only
publish articles that have been approved by a panel of experts
in a field of study. Some research projects require that you only
use peer-reviewed sources.
Periodicals
– Magazines, newspapers, journals, newsletters, etc. Publications
released on a schedule at least twice a year. Also referred to
as “serials” because they are produced in series.
Plagiarism
– Failure to properly attribute/cite information, unless
that information can be considered “common knowledge.”
Primary source
– A source from the time of an event. The account of an
eyewitness, some newspaper articles, news footage, correspondence,
diaries, as well as artifacts from the time of the event are all
examples of primary sources. There are also “secondary
sources” and “tertiary sources”.
Q
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R
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Record
– The description of a single item in a library catalog.
Reference Desk
– The “gateway” to the Reference collection.
Reference items do not leave the library, and are meant to help
provide basic information. The reference librarians can help with
questions about locating materials, and generally help patrons
to use the library.
S
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Search engine
– A software program (Yahoo, Google, etc.) that endeavors
to facilitate navigation of the web by searching web pages and
other Internet resources either by keyword or by category, and
presenting the results. There are many search engines, and they
are quite different. Finding one that is most intuitive to you
requires experimentation.
Secondary source
– A source that endeavors to interpret or analyze, or otherwise
relies on, primary sources. Criticism, textbooks, some magazine
articles, and commentaries are examples of secondary sources.
See also primary and tertiary
sources.
Stacks
– The physical shelving areas in a library.
Subject headings
– This is a controlled vocabulary that is used to describe
the different subjects into which a library catalog is broken
down. In the Library of Congress Classification System, this aspect
is central to searching by subject heading. In other words, you
need to know exactly what phrases are used to describe the aspects
of the subject you are researching. The subject headings are listed
in the record of the item in the catalog.
Subscription database
– Some databases require a subcription to access. The library
pays for the subscription, so you have access from the library.
In some cases, you can access from home with a password.
SUMMIT
– At Evergreen, a method of searching a pool of regional
libraries for an item that is not available for check-out at our
library. Books requested through SUMMIT are transferred to our
library for the patron to check out, and are currently due back
3 weeks from check-out. Not the same as ILLiad.
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Tertiary sources
– A source that uses or collects secondary sources and primary
sources. Most web sites are tertiary sources, except for .gov.
See also “primary” and “secondary
sources”.
Trade journals
– Industry- or trade-based journals that fall somewhere
between magazines and academic journals in complexity of subject.
Truncation
– The use of a symbol or “wildcard,” usually
an asterisk (*) to add flexibility to a search word. Used with
keyword searching. Adding a wildcard to the end of a base word
can bring back that word with numerous different endings.
U
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URL (Uniform Resource Locater)
– A “web address.” The URL for the home page
of TESC's web site is http://www.evergreen.edu.
V
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W
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Web, The; the World Wide Web
– The Internet. An information system of servers and clients
through which users can access data on other computers on a global
scale.
Wildcard
– Wildcards are symbols that add flexibility to a keyword
search by extending the parameters of a search word. This can
help if you are not certain of spelling, or only know part of
a term, or want all available spellings of a word (British and
American English, for example). “*” stands for one-or-more
characters (useful for all suffixes or prefixes), “#”
stands for a single character, and “?” stands for
zero-to-nine characters.
X
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Y
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Z
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Sources:
Research
and Documentation Online
University
of South Dakota
University
of Newfoundland
Humboldt
State University
University
of Akron Libraries
Bakersfield
College
Stony
Brook University Library
Nova
Southeastern University
University
of Utah
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