NIMITZ LIBRARY
A B C D E-F G H I J K L M N-O P Q R S T U-Z
| TERMS | DEFINITIONS |
|---|---|
| A | |
| Abstract | Summary of a publication; can be any length. |
| Acronym | Abbreviation from the words of a phrase or title; for example, CQ Weekly refers to Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report. Journal titles that start with an acronym are shelved before any words that start with the same letter. |
| Annotation | Brief summary of the content of a book or article. |
| B | |
| Bibliographic Citation | Information which identifies a book or article. It may include the author, title of the article, title of the periodical, volume, pages, and date. |
| Bibliographic Instruction | Presentation by a librarian on library research and resources. Usually requested by a faculty member in support of a class assignment or project. |
| Bibliography | List of sources on a specific topic or compiled by an author to acknowledge what he/she used in writing a book or article. |
| Book Review | An evaluation of a book, usually published in a periodical or newspaper. |
| Book Stacks | The shelves where the books are located, on all floors of the Library. |
| Boolean Logic | Use of the operators AND, OR, or NOT to combine search terms. |
| Bound Journal | Issues of a magazine gathered together and bound in a hard cover; shelved alphabetically by title on the second floor. |
| C | |
| Call Number | Alpha-numeric (letters and numbers) designation assigned to every book indicating its place on the Library shelves. Nimitz Library follows the Library of Congress Classification System. |
| CD-ROM Workstations | The 20 computer workstations behind the Reference Desk used for accessing the Library's CD-ROM products. |
| "Check Shelves" | Term used to indicate a library item is not checked out and should be available on the shelf. |
| Circulation Desk | Counter on the first floor from which you check out and return all library material. |
| Citation | Basic information needed to identify an item or article. |
| Course Reserves | Materials selected by professors for students to use. Located at the Circulation Desk. |
| Current Periodicals | Most recent issues of what we subscribe to. Current issues are shelved on the first floor and are often about 6 months or a year's worth of a title. |
| D | |
| Dissertation | Publication reporting original research that is a requirement for a Ph.D. degree. |
| Document Delivery | Service to provide users with access to articles located elsewhere. The Library pays to provide this service. |
| E, F (No entries) | |
| G | |
| Government Documents | Publications of any government agency on any topic. |
| H | |
| Hold | Placing a HOLD on a book already checked out means it will be kept for you when it is returned. |
| Holdings | Statement indicating what years or parts Nimitz Library has for a title. |
| I | |
| Index | Source which compiles citations to articles, newspapers, or books. There are general indexes and specialized indexes for each discipline. Indexes are in print and electronic formats. |
| Innopac | Nimitz Library's online catalog system. Innopac stands for Innovative Online Public Access Catalog. |
| Interlibrary Loan | The means of borrowing material not owned by Nimitz Library. |
| J | |
| Journal | Type of periodical which contains articles in a particular field. Journals are usually scholarly or professional sources. |
| K | |
| Keyword | Type of search in which the word is searched almost everywhere in the database. Keyword is the broadest kind of search and usually retrieves the most number of hits. |
| L | |
| Loan Period | Length of time library materials may be borrowed. |
| M | |
| Magazine | Type of periodical containing popular articles which are usually shorter and less authoritative than journal articles. |
| Microfiche | Filmed copy of a publication stored on a 4 x 6 flat sheet. There are reader/printers for viewing and copying microfiche. |
| Microfilm | Filmed copy of a publication stored on reels. There are reader/printers for viewing and copying microfilm. |
| Monograph | A scholarly book. |
| N, O (no entries) | |
| P | |
| Periodical | Publication published on a regular basis and intended to be continued indefinitely. Examples are newspapers, magazines, and journals. |
| Q (No entries) | |
| R | |
| Ready Reference | Reference books most frequently used, so shelved on the 2 bookcases nearest to the Reference Desk. |
| Record | Listing for any item in a database or electronic catalog. The record usually provides bibliographic and descriptive information about the publication or item. |
| Reference Desk | Main information desk on the first floor of the Library. |
| Reference Librarians | Professional librarians who staff the Reference Desk to provide assistance to all library patrons. |
| Reference Stacks | Book shelves on the first floor containing overview sources in all subjects. Reference books cannot be checked out. |
| Reference Tables | 10 large tables in the main reference area on the first floor containing various reference sources. |
| Research Guide | Handout prepared by a librarian on a specific subject. |
| S | |
| Search Strategy | Methodology or plan followed to find information on a subject or research topic. |
| Special Collections | Division of the Library on the third floor which contains any Library material that is not shelved in the open stack areas of the general collection. |
| Subject Headings | Assigned terminology to describe the subject of a book or journal article. Nimitz Library follows the Library of Congress Subject Headings. |
| Superintendent of Documents | Classification system used to arrange the government documents collection. Also called SuDocs numbers. |
| T | |
| Truncation | Using a designated symbol (like * or !) after the root stem of a word to retrieve variant endings of the word. For example, searching politic* picks up politics, political, politician, etc. |
| U, V, W, X, Y, Z (No entries) | |
Last updated: 29 September 2003
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| Nimitz
Library - USNA Comments and suggestions: Systems Librarian |