Glossary of Library & Computing Terms

Abstract - A short summary (usually of a journal article) containing the main idea or content of a text work. Abstracts are included in many of the library's periodicals databases and Reference Indexes.

Audiovisual- Information in a form other than words printed on paper. Examples include films, slides, audio tapes, videocassettes, records, and computer software. To see what materials of this type that the library owns, you can search the CATTRAX Online Catalog.

Author - The original writer of or group responsible for a book or article. When searching the CATTRAX Online Catalog, it is important to know that authors may also be organizations, conferences, symposiums, or institutions.

Bound Periodical - Older issues of a periodical that have been sewn together between hard covers so that they look like a book. These magazines and journals are located on the Second Floor of the CWU Library, and have Library of Congress Call Numbers, just like the books on the Third and Fourth Floors.

Browser - Public-Access Client programs, such as Lynx, Netscape, or Internet Explorer, that read and display World Wide Web documents. Lynx is a character-based browser, while browsers such as Netscape and Internet Explorer return graphics, sound, and other non-textual data to the user.

Call Number - The unique number given to each book contained in the CWU Library. The library uses the Library of Congress Call Number System to classify and organize books on the shelves.

CATTRAX - The CATTRAX Online Catalog is a computer database that lists most books, serials, government documents, and non-print items owned by the CWU Library. You can search for items th at are listed in the online catalog by word, by subject, by title, by call number, and by other means.

CD-ROM - Compact Disk - Read-only Memory. The Library houses CD-ROMs in two areas - music CDs are available for listening in the Fourth Floor Music Library, and Government Documents on the Third Floor receives Federal Govern ment information on CDs.

Check out - To borrow books and other materials from the CWU Library. This is done at the Circulation Desk near the front entrance to the library. You will need your student identification card to do this.

Circulation Desk - The desk near the front entrance to the Library where you check out books, return books, renew books, and place holds on books.

Citation - A complete reference to a text that has been quoted or to some source that has been used in a paper or report. A book citation includes author, title, place of publication, publisher, and year. A periodical citation includes author, title of the article, title of the periodical, volume number, page numbers, and the date. For further information on citations, especially on citing resources found on the World-Wide Web, consult the Library guide, Internet-Based Guides to Citation Styles.

Client/Server - Refers to a form of distributed computing, chiefly relating to the Internet, where one program (the client) communicates with another program (the server) for the purpose of exchanging information. Here in th e CWU Library the main client currently used is Netscape. The Netscape software queries computers across the Internet and returns information to the user. Whereas many libraries use CD-ROM technology within the library building and locally mount databases of journal and magazine citations and text, the CWU Library emphasizes the delivery of information via client/server means.

Database - An organized collection of information in computerized format. Databases may consist of many types of information, including text, numerical data, or images. In the CWU Library, database most frequently ref ers to computerized indexes of books, magazines, journals, and newspapers. For a complete list of the electronic information databases available in the Library, see the Databases Page.

DNS (Domain Name System) - The Internet naming scheme which consists of a hierarchical sequence of names, from the most specific to the most general (left to right), separated by dots, for example nic.ddn.mil.

Download - To transfer the results of a database search from a computer on the Internet "down" to a computer's hard disk or to a floppy disk.

Due Date - The date stamped in the front or back of the book that tells you when the book must be returned to the library. If you need to use the book for a longer time, you may renew it if no one else has recalled it. If bo oks are returned late, you will have to pay a fine.

Field - In a database, a field is one category of information within a computerized record, such as the title, author, or subject fields in one book record in the Library's CATTRAX Online Cat alog. You can sometimes specify which fields to search when accessing a database.

Fine - A fee that is charged to persons who have overdue library materials.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) - A universal set of commands used to move files from one computer to another.

• To locate information from government sites on the Internet, visit the Library's Government Documents Internet Resources page.
• To search for government documents owned by the CWU Library, go to the Databases page and consult the Compass, GPO Monthly Catalog, and Marcive databases.
• For help with government document terms and phrases, check out this GLOSSARY of Terms used for U.S. Government Publications.

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Hold: A hold is a process you go through at the Circulation Desk if you want a book which has been checked out by someone else. When the book is returned, the library will send you a notice and keep the book at the Circulati on Desk for you for a limited period of time.

Interlibrary Loan - Services which provide CWU users with access to books, journals, and other materials that are not owned by the CWU Library. Interlibrary Loan means that we borrow books or other original material from other libraries and return this material to t he lending library after you have used it. If you need journal articles, the Interlibrary Loan Department will obtain a photocopy of these articles for you within a matter of days, and normally at no charge.

Internet - A worldwide network of computers that can be accessed via the university computer network. The Internet allows local computer users to find and use databases on computers of other academic institutions, research i nstitutes, private companies and government agencies.

IP Address - The numeric address of a computer connected to the Internet; also called Internet address.

Library of Congress Subject Headings - This list is contained in four large red books located on the Reference Desk. It contains the subject headings which are helpful to use when searching the online catalog. The majority of the Library's books listed in the CATTRAX Online Catalog contain these subject headings.

Link - A hypertext bridge between two documents on the World Wide Web. You connect to a new computer site by clicking on the link leading to it. Links are usually colored and underlined text.

Listservs - Electronic discussion of technical and nontechnical issues conducted by electronic mail. Participants subscribe via a central service, and lists often have a moderator who manages the information flow and content . Electronic discussion lists, which you can subscribe to, read, and respond to using E-mail. There are thousands of Internet listservs, covering close to all scholarly and popular topics.

Loan Period - The amount of time library materials may be borrowed. The time may vary depending on two things: 1)the type of material to be borrowed; 2) the borrower's status (student, faculty, staff).

Media Circulation - The media collection includes films, slides, videotapes, video laserdiscs, DVDs, and CD-ROMs. Check at the First Floor Media Circulation Desk for fur ther information.

Microfilm - a roll of film that stores periodicals or other documents. The majority of these are housed in the Government Documents Department on the Library's Third Floor.

Microforms - A term to describe reduced images in a format other than the printed page. Microforms include microfilm, microfiche, and microcards, and require special reader machines in order to be used. The microforms collec tions are available in the Government Documents Department on the Library's Third Floor.

Microfiche - A 4 x 6 inch sheet of film that stores information in a reduced form. The majority of these are housed in the Government Documents Department on the Library' s Third Floor.

Monograph - A publication which usually appears one time only. A book is a "monograph;" a periodical is not.

Music Library - Located on the Fourth Floor of the Main Library, the Music Library serves as the functional music library for the Music Department and the campus at-large. The Mus ic Library's collections are housed in two rooms; Room 401, which contains the Listening Area for patrons, along with the Music Education Room and the Listening Classroom, and Room 402, which houses the music scores, the bound music periodicals, and the m usic reference books.

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Online Catalog - The online catalog is a computer database that lists most books, serials, and non-print items owned by the CWU Library. You can search for items that are listed in the online catalog by word and name, by sub ject, by title, by call number, and by other means. The Library's online catalog is called CATTRAX.

Overdue - If you return a book to the Libraries after the date stamped inside the book the book is overdue, and you will have to pay a fine.

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Recall Notice - A recall notice, sent to you by the Library, changes the due date of a book which you have borrowed. Everyone may check out most books for at least three weeks. After that date, the Library can request that y ou return the book, whether you are finished with it or not, so that someone else who requested the book may use it. This procedure helps to share library materials among all users.

Record - A single item in a database, composed of a number of fields of information (author, title, subject, etc.). Each time you do a search in the Library's CATTRAX Online Catalog, for example, each of the items that appear on the screen are records.

Reference Desk - The service desk to go to on the First Floor of the CWU Library for help with your research. Reference librarians will give you directions, answer your questions, and show you how to find and use library materials. The desk is located in the center of the main library area, near the public computers on the First Floor. The reference books include encyclopedias, dictionaries, indexes, handbooks, manuals, directories, and statistics books. Reference books cannot be checked out of the library.

Remote Access - The ability to access a computer from outside of the building in which it is housed. Remote access requires communications hardware, software, and actual physical links, although this can be as simple as common carrier (telephone) lines or as complex as Telnet login to another computer across the Internet. The CWU Library provides remote access to numerous subscription databases via the Library Databases page. If you are attempting to connect via remote access to search one of these databases, you need to configure your browser to use the Library's proxy server.

Renew - To renew is to extend the loan period of a book.

Reserve - Some professors ask that books and articles be placed on reserve (shelved in a separate place) so that they can be used by all of the students in a class. Anyone can ask to use reserve material if it is not presently being used. The Reserve Desk is located beside the Circulation Desk on the First Floor.

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Secondary Materials - Secondary sources are derived from primary materials and include analysis, interpretation, and commentary by the authors. Types include books, journals, encyclopedias, other reference books, and non-boo k materials.

Serial - A term that describes the whole range of publications which are issued in successive parts with no predictable end in sight. Periodicals, magazines, journals, newspapers, annual reports, series, some conference proc eedings, and annual reviews are all examples of serials.

PLEASE NOTE:

Books with Library of Congress Call Numbers beginning with the letters A - K are shelved on the Third Floor; those with the letters L - Z are shelved on the Fourth Floor.

Storage - Certain materials placed in storage within the building becasue of their age or infrequent use. These materials are available on overnight retrieval when requested.

Subject Heading - A uniform word or group of words used to describe the subject of library materials. Most colleges and universities, including CWU, use the Library of Congress Subject Headings, a five volume set of red book s which list all of the uniform subject headings. These volumes are located at the Reference Desk. The CATTRAX Online Catalog lists the subject headings assigned to each book in the library. You will increase your chan ces of finding relevant items if you use these subject headings. If you have problems using the subject headings for your research project, try the keyword approach or ask a Reference Librarian for assistance.

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TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) - Combined set of protocols that performs the transfer of data between two computers. TCP monitors and ensures correct transfer of data. IP receives the data from TCP, breaks it up into packets, and ships it off to a network within the Internet. TCP/IP is also used as a name for a protocol suite that incorporates these functions and others.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator) - URL's are addresses on the World Wide Web, usually noted in a box near the top of browser software. Typically URL addresses begin with "http://", although they can also begin with o ther types of Internet-related protocols such as "ftp" or "gopher." The CWU Library URL is "http://www.lib.cwu.edu."

Questions or comments? Write to us at library@www.lib.cwu.edu

This page last modified: Apr 21 2003