Introduction to Library Research

Glossary Of Library and Research Terms

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Note: The words that appear in bold in the text of the definitions are also explained in this glossary.

Refereed see Peer-reviewed

Reference book

A book that may not be taken out of the library. Reference books are used primarily to verify facts and supply background information. They are often produced by experts in a particular field and are not intended to be read from cover-to-cover. They usually have extensive indexes or an alphabetic or chronological arrangement that allows quick access to information.

Relevance

In database searching, the goal is to find information that specifically relates to a research topic. The more useful the information is, the more relevant it is. The less useful the information, the less relevant it is. If a search strategy is not yielding relevant results it needs to be reformulated using different search terms—a librarian can be very helpful with this!

Research

The goal of research is to contribute to the advancement of a field of knowledge by uncovering new facts or theories or to assess what the current body of knowledge is for the topic. This is accomplished by a thorough study and investigation of the subject area or by employing the techniques of hypothesis and experiment.

Reserve

In most colleges and universities, professors place books, articles, videos and other materials that relate to a class at a “reserve desk” for student use. These can usually be checked out for a few hours to a few days. In the BC Library, the reserve desk is at the circulation desk in the lobby.

Scholarly journal

The primary purpose of these periodicals is to publish articles that advance the scholarship of the field. The articles are usually written by experts and include the author’s credentials and a list of references citing the author’s research. In addition, these journals often have plain covers, very few, if any, illustrations or advertising, and continuous pagination from one issue to the next. The articles in many scholarly journals may be peer reviewed (another term for this is refereed) because they must be approved by the editor and one or more experts in the field prior to publication.

Scope

When evaluating a reference book, index, or other database it is important to determine what information is included--and excluded. What subjects are covered? What time period is covered? When was it last updated? What publications are included in it? How was it compiled? This information is often covered in the introductory material at the beginning of reference book.

Search codes

A standardized, two-letter abbreviation that can be used during advanced searching in online databases to limit a search to a particular category such as author (au), title (ti), journal (jn), subject (su), etc. In Gale Expanded Academic these are called index abbreviations. EBSCOhost calls them field codes. An advance search using these codes to look for an article by subject and author would look like this: SU Body Image and AU Yeager, Selene.

Search engine

A tool (software interface) for searching for information on the Internet using keywords. Each search engine is different. Each one has different defaults and limits and different requirements for constructing a keyword or Boolean search. It is important to use the help screens to learn how the search engine works in order to formulate more successful searches.

Search statement

When using a database for keyword searching, it is important to identify the key concepts or keywords that will focus the search and retrieve relevant information to your research topic. A search statement is composed of the search words used, the boolean operators used to connect the words, and any punctuation such as parentheses or truncation symbols. An example of a search statement would be: (child* or adolescen*) and (spanking or corporal punishment).

Search strategy

When doing research it is important to have a systematic plan for obtaining the necessary information. The first step is to develop a clear topic or thesis statement. The next step is to determine which search terms will retrieve the most relevant information. For databases that use controlled vocabulary, such as the library catalog, which uses Library of Congress Subject Headings, the researcher will need to identify the most important subject headings. For databases that use keyword and Boolean searches, the researcher will need to determine the search terms that will yield the most relevant results. The final step is determining which reference books, databases, web sites, etc. are appropriate and credible sources for research on the topic.

Secondary sources

Any research material or information that is not a primary source (i.e. an eyewitness or first-hand account) is a secondary source. Secondary sources are produced by using primary source materials and/or other secondary sources.

See reference See Cross reference

Server

The central computer on a network which provides data to the all the other terminals are directly connected to it, making it possible for the computers to share information. If the server is down, i.e. not working, then the network does not function.

Stacks

In libraries the long shelving units that are used to store books and other library materials are called stacks. In the college library, the shelving area where paper copies of magazines and journals are stored is called the periodical stacks.

Stop words

Many databases ignore commonly used articles and prepositions such as “a,” “the,” “for,” “that,” etc., in order to process keyword searches more quickly. Since stop words vary from database to database, connecting search terms with Boolean operators (and, or, not) rather than short articles and prepositions is a wise research practice.

Style Manual

A reference guide which gives the specific format requirements (i.e. footnotes, bibliography, etc.) for preparing a research paper, manuscript, annotated bibliography, or other scholarly publication. Different disciplines use different style manuals. Some of the most well known style manuals are: MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, and Chicago Manual of Style.

Subheadings

A secondary heading that serves to further narrow a subject in a controlled vocabulary system, such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings. Here is an example of a subject heading with subheadings: Capital punishment—Moral and ethical aspects. The main heading is “Capital punishment” and the subheading is “Moral and ethical aspects.”

Subject directory

On the Internet, this refers to a web site that has organized Internet sites by subject. The web sites have been selected by humans (not computers), so once they have been entered under a subject category they are likely to be very relevant to the topic. The quality of subject directories can vary, but many university, scholarly, and library directories have very high standards for selection and are good starting points for any research. Internet Public Library or ipl² (www.ipl.org) and INFOMINE (http://infomine.ucr.edu) are examples of subject directories.

Subject headings

The use of controlled vocabulary to direct the user to the specific words and phrases that will be used to list all materials on a particular topic in an index. Broad topics may be further broken into subheadings to make a topic more specific. Most libraries in the United States use Library of Congress Subject Headings as a guide.