Research and Documentation Online

a b c d f h i j k l m o p r s t u w

abstract: A summary of an article. An abstract usually appears at the beginning of a scholarly or technical article. Databases and indexes often contain abstracts that can help you decide whether an article is relevant for your purposes.
annotated bibliography: A list of sources that gives the publication information and a short description — or annotation — for each source. In some bibliographies the annotation merely describes the content and scope of the source; in others the annotation also evaluates the source’s quality and usefulness.
anthology: A collection of writings compiled into a book.

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bibliography: (1) A list of sources, usually appearing at the end of a research paper, an article, a book, or a chapter in a book. The list documents evidence used in the work and points out sources that might be useful for further research. Each entry provides publication information for each source so that an interested reader can track down the source. (2) A list of recommended readings on a given topic, usually sorted into subcategories.
Boolean operators: The words and, or, and not used in databases or search engines to relate the contents of two or more sets of data in different ways. When search terms are combined with and, the search results contain only those items that include all the terms. When or is used, the results include items that contain any one of the terms. Not is used to exclude items containing a term.

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call number: The letter and number combination that indicates where a book is kept on a library’s shelves. Call numbers are assigned using a system that locates books on the same subject next to one another for easy browsing. Most academic libraries use the Library of Congress (LC) system; public libraries typically use the Dewey decimal system.
catalog: A database containing information about the materials owned by a library and their location. Most catalogs are online, though a library may have all or part of its catalog on cards. Catalogs usually can be searched by author, title, subject heading, or keyword; search results provide a basic description of the item (book, journal title, video, or other) and a call number.
citation: A reference to a book, article, Web page, or other source that provides enough information to allow a reader to retrieve the source. Citations in a paper must be given in a standard format (such as MLA, APA, Chicago, or CSE), depending on the discipline in which the paper is written.
citation management software: Computer programs that store bibliographic references and notes in a personal database and that can automatically format bibliographies, reference pages, or lists of works cited in the appropriate style (MLA, APA, Chicago, CSE).
citation trail: The network of citations formed when a reference work refers to sources that in turn refer to additional sources. The process used by researchers to track down additional sources on a topic is sometimes referred to as following the path of a “citation trail” or “citation network.”
cite: (1) As a verb, to provide a reference to a source. (2) As a noun, a shortened form of citation. (Note: This term is frequently misused when referring to Web sites.)
corporate author: An organization, an agency, an institution, or a corporation identified as an author of a work.

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database: A collection of data organized for retrieval. In libraries, databases usually contain references to sources retrievable by a variety of means. Databases may contain bibliographic citations, descriptive abstracts, full-text documents, or a combination.
descriptors: Terms assigned by compilers of a database to describe the subject content of a document. Descriptors are chosen so that all of the work on a particular topic can be found with a single word or phrase, even though there may be many different ways of expressing the same idea. For example, the PsycINFO database uses academic achievement as a descriptor to help researchers locate texts on the subject of scholastic achievement or grade-point average. See also subject heading.
discipline: An academic field of study such as history, psychology, or biology. Often books and articles published by members of a discipline and intended for other scholars are called the literature of the discipline — referring not to literary expression but to research publications in the field.

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field: (1) An area of study within an academic discipline. (2) A particular area in a database in which the same type of information is regularly recorded. One field in an article database may contain the titles of articles, for example, while another field may contain the names of journals the articles are in. Some search engines allow a user to limit a search to one or more specific fields.
full text: A complete document contained in a database or on a Web site. (Note: Illustrations and diagrams may be omitted from a full-text document.) Some databases search full-text documents; others search only the citation or abstract. In some cases researchers can set their own preferences.

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hits: (1) The list of results called up by a search of a database, a Web site, or the Internet. (2) The number of times a Web site has been visited. Web site owners track hits as a measure of the popularity of a site.
holdings: The exact items a library owns. The term most typically refers to the specific issues of a magazine or journal in a library. This information is often listed in a library’s catalog as a holdings statement.

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index: (1) In a book, the alphabetical listing of topics and the pages on which information about them can be found. The index is located at the back of the book. (2) A publication that lists articles or other publications by topic. (3) An alphabetical listing of elements that can be found in a database.

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journal: A type of periodical usually sold by subscription and containing articles written for specialized or scholarly audiences.

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keyword: A word used to search a library database, a Web site, or the Internet. Keyword searches locate results by matching the search word to an item in the medium being searched. Keyword searches often search very broadly through many database fields. However, researchers who perform a keyword search using terms that are different from those used in the database may not retrieve all of the information in the database related to their topic. For example, a search using the keyword third world will find items containing that term but may not include related items using the term developing countries. See also descriptors.

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library catalog: See catalog.
licensed database: See subscription database.
literature review: A survey of published research on a particular topic. The purpose of a literature review (sometimes called a review article) is to select the most important publications on the topic, sort them into categories, and comment on them so that a researcher can gain a quick overview of the state of the art in that area. Published articles often include a literature review section to place their research in the context of other work in the field.

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magazine: A type of periodical containing articles that are usually written for general and popular audiences. Magazines are sold on newsstands or by subscription and earn a part of their revenue through advertising.
microform: A process that reproduces texts in greatly reduced size on plastic film called microfilm. Flat sheets of microfilm are called microfiche. Both forms must be read on special machines that magnify the text.

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online catalog: See catalog.
OPAC (online public access catalog): See catalog.

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peer review: A process during which a group of experts examine a document to determine whether it is worthy of publication. Journals and other publications use a peer review process — usually arranged so that reviewers do not know who the author of the document is — to filter articles for quality and relevance. See also refereed publication.
periodical: A publication issued at regular intervals. Periodicals may be magazines, journals, newspapers, or newsletters.
periodical index: A list of all the articles that have been published in a magazine, journal, newspaper, or newsletter or in a set of periodicals. Many periodical indexes are available as online databases, though many online versions are limited to articles published in the last ten or twenty years. Print indexes often include all years of a periodical’s publication.
plagiarism: The unattributed use of a source of information that is not considered common knowledge. Forms of plagiarism are failure to cite quotations and borrowed ideas, failure to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks, failure to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words, and submission of someone else’s work as your own.
primary source: An original source, such as a speech, diary, novel, legislative bill, laboratory study, field research report, or eyewitness account. While not necessarily more reliable than a secondary source, a primary source has the advantage of being closely related to the information it conveys and as such is often considered essential for research, particularly in history.
professional journal: A journal containing scholarly articles addressed to a particular professional audience such as doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, or accountants. Professional journals differ from trade publications, which usually do not include in-depth research articles. See also scholarly journal and trade publications.

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record: Each item included in a database. Records contain the information about the books, articles, or other sources that users can search for in a database.
refereed publication: A publication for which every submission is screened through a peer review process. Refereed publications are considered authoritative because unbiased experts have reviewed the material in advance of publication to determine its quality. See also peer review.
reference: (1) A source used in research and mentioned by a researcher in a paper or an article. (2) In libraries, a part of the library’s collection that includes encyclopedias, handbooks, directories, and other publications that are useful for finding overviews of information and facts. (Note: Reference may also indicate a desk or counter where librarians provide assistance to researchers.)
review article: See literature review.

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scholarly journal: A journal that is primarily addressed to scholars, often focusing on a particular discipline. Scholarly journals tend to be refereed publications and for some purposes may be considered more authoritative than magazines. Scholarly journals tend to have articles that are substantial in length, use specialized language, contain footnotes or endnotes, and are written by academic researchers rather than by journalists. See also refereed publication and magazine.
search engine: (1) A program that allows users to search for material on the Internet or on a Web site. (2) The search function of a database.
secondary source: A source that comments on, analyzes, or otherwise relies on primary sources. An article in a newspaper that reports on a scientific discovery or a book that analyzes a writer’s work is a secondary source.
serial: A term used in libraries to encompass all publications that appear in a series: magazines, journals, newspapers, and books that are published regularly (such as annual reviews).
subject heading: A word or phrase assigned to an item in a database to describe the item’s content. This content information can help a researcher evaluate whether a book or an article is worth further examination. Subject headings also suggest alternative terms or phrases to use in a search. Most academic library catalogs use the Library of Congress Subject Headings to describe the subjects of books in the catalog. Other databases create their own list, or thesaurus, of accepted descriptive terms. In some databases, subject headings are called descriptors. See descriptors.
subscription database: A database that can be accessed only by paying a fee. Most of the online materials that libraries provide free to their patrons are paid for by the library through a subscription. Often the material provided in a subscription database is more selective and quality controlled than sources that are freely available on the Web. Because these databases are often provided through a license agreement, they are sometimes referred to as licensed databases.

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thesaurus: A list of the subject headings or descriptors that are used in a particular catalog or database to describe the subject matter of each item. A thesaurus is useful to researchers because it identifies which term among a variety of available synonyms has been used by the database compilers to describe a topic. Some databases provide a searchable thesaurus that helps researchers choose the most effective search terms before they start searching.
trade publications: Periodical publications, such as magazines or newsletters, covering specialized news and information for members of a particular profession or industry. Unlike scholarly journals, trade publications do not include in-depth research articles.
truncation: A shortened version of a search term. In some search engines and databases, the root of a word plus a wild card symbol (such as an asterisk or a question mark) can be used to search all possible variations of the word. See also wild card.

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URL (uniform resource locator): An Internet address. Most URLs consist of a protocol type (such as http or telnet), a domain name (such as dianahacker.com), and an extension of letters and/or numbers to identify an exact resource or page within the domain.

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wild card: A symbol used to substitute any letter or combination of letters in a search word or phrase. A wild card may replace a single letter (as in wom*n, to search for women or woman in one search) or any number of letters (as in psycholog* to search for psychology, psychologist, and psychological). Typical wild card symbols are asterisks, question marks, and exclamation points. See also truncation.

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