Library Glossary  

Abstract A short summary of a book or an article.

Archive A collection of records of enduring historical value.

Article An essay or report which appears in a periodical, newspaper, encyclopedia, or another source.

Atlas A collection of current or historical maps which covers the world, a section of the world, or space. May include other information such as populations, distances, or economic data.

Audiovisuals Non-print media such as slides, videodiscs, audiodiscs, films, etc., and the equipment they are used on.

Author The person who wrote a book or a magazine or newspaper article. An author can also be a company, a government agency, or a group of people.

Barcode A label with many closely-spaced vertical stripes which can be read by a computer. Barcodes on library materials are used to check materials out to you.

Bibliographic Citation The information you need to locate a magazine article or book. It may include author, title, volume, pages, and date of publication. You may be required to include this information in a list of references in your papers.

Bibliography A list of books or articles by one author or on one topic.

Biography Information about an individual. May vary in length from several brief sentences to a complete book.

Book Return Books may be returned to the slot at the circulation desk, the chute near the library entrance, or to one of the large metal return boxes located in the Memorial Union and elsewhere on campus. Books may also be returned to the departmental libraries.

Boolean Operator Logical operators combine two or more specified sets using AND, OR, or NOT to specify relationships between search terms.

Borrow Library materials are loaned to students. This is the same as check out.

Bound Periodical Often several issues of a periodical are assembled with covers to protect the issues and keep them together.

Branch Libraries Libraries that contain materials of specific interest to particular fields. They may be used by anyone and are located in other buildings on both the main and downtown campuses.