College Experience: Intro to College (COL 100, 101, 136, and EDU 105): Glossary

          Your librarians are available at http://www.jeffco.edu/library or 636-797-3000, ext. 3160, 3161 or 3556.

A

Abstract - a summary of a document, article or speech.

Archway - Jefferson College Library’s online catalog that allows you to search our collection of over 70,000 books, ebook, DVDs, and other items.

Academic Search Complete - one example of an online database, contains scholarly articles.

B

Book Record - page in the online catalog that gives details about one particular book.

Bibliography - a list of sources; also referred to as a Works Cited or References page and usually a required part of a research paper.  Bibliographies are used to list the citations (see definition below) of books, journal articles, and web sites used in research.

Britannica Online – an encyclopedia that is a good alternative to Wikipedia, this one example of a reference resource.

C

Call Number – a unique combination of letters and numbers that is assigned to each item in the library. It acts like an address on the shelf for the item and shelves items on the same subject together.

Catalog - a list of materials which describes and organizes the resources of a collection or library. Archway is Jefferson College's online catalog.

Citation - the basic information needed to find specific materials. For a book this information includes author, title, place of publication, publisher, and date published. For an article, the citation usually includes author, title, name of journal, magazine or newspaper, date, volume, and pages.

Credibility - A source that is unbiased and backed up with evidence. Articles from scholarly journals are examined by experts in the field before they are published.

D

Database - a collection of articles from magazines, journals and newspapers. Academic Search Complete is one example. V# required for off-campus access.

Domain - part of a website’s address. The domain tells about the organization:  .gov, .edu. etc.

E

eBook - a digitized book that you can read online. eBooks are available any time both on and off campus through Archway, the book catalog on the Library website.

F

Full-text - a full text article contains the full text of the entire article. This can be available as a either an HTML and/or PDF file.

J

Journal - a periodical (see definition below) which is usually considered more scholarly than a popular magazine. Journal articles are usually peer-reviewed and contain footnotes and/or bibliographical references.

H

HTML - a computer language, Hypertext Markup Language. This is used to create documents that you can read on the Internet. In databases, HTML documents look like webpages. They are usually text-only and exclude information like page numbers, photos, charts, etc.

K

Keyword Search - a broad search using words related to the topic or question asked in the research process (see definition below) to search the Internet or a database. A keyword search returns all records that contain the keyword(s).

L

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LC Subject) – method used to organize materials, such as books, into specific categories based on the topic(s) covered in the book. Use LC Subject Headings to narrow your search results and find additional sources.

M

Magazine - a periodical (see definition below) publication usually considered to be of more general or popular interest than a journal. Usually written by journalists rather than experts in a subject.

Media - Published materials for mass communication such as websites, newspapers and news articles, television, and videos.

MOBIUS - a group of mostly academic Missouri libraries that share resources and the name of their shared online catalog. Through MOBIUS, you have access to over 22 million books.

P

PDF - Portable Document Format, a type of online document that is displayed in its original format, with layout, photos, charts, etc. One way to read PDF files is through Adobe Acrobat.

Peer-review - A process by which scholars critique the work of other scholars and ensure only quality articles get published.

Periodical - a magazine, journal, newspaper, or other publication which is published at regular intervals.

R

Reference Resources - Sources of general factual information, such as dictionaries and encyclopedias. They can be a more credible alternative to Wikipedia.

Research Process - Research starts with a question. It involves locating, gathering, and analyzing the information needed to support this question. The process is not always linear or immediately successful. In fact, good research is revised and steps are changed as knowledge about the subject develops.

S

Subject Search - a narrow search using specialized subject terms or subject headings.  A subject search returns specific results that pertain to particular topics. Subject searches may be performed in article databases or the book catalog.

U

URL - Uniform Resource Locator. This is a unique Internet address for a web page or web site, such as http://www.jeffco.edu.

Important Note: For Off-Campus Access to our online databases please login with your name and student number, plus JC at the end. Example V000134567JC