IMPORTANT TERMS TO UNDERSTAND
WHEN SEARCHING FOR PERIODICAL AND NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
Abstract- brief summary of a book or article. Some indexes give only an abstract, not full-text. Top
Bibliographic Record- a description of an item in the library that includes author, title, imprint, subject headings, and a physical description. Top
Boolean- a query strategy for searching electronic databases. Boolean searches allow you to combine two or more search terms using the operators "and," "or," "not," and sometimes "near." Boolean operators allow you to expand or restrict your search by specifying the relationship of terms being searched. Parentheses may be used to sequence operations and group words. Top
CD-ROM- cd-rom (compact disk-read only memory) technology allows large amounts of information to be accessed via computer. Different cd-rom indexes allow you to search for periodical articles, newspaper articles, company information, television news show transcripts, and other materials. Each database is unique. Some are full-text, and some are citations only. Top
Citation- a complete reference to a particular quote or to a source that has been used as an authority (see also bibliographic record). Top
Citation Database- a collection of citations to research materials such as periodical articles, newspaper articles, or other documents. Periodical Abstracts and NewsBank are examples of citation databases. Top
Database- a large collection of data, arranged into individual records, and organized especially for rapid search and retrieval by a computer. Some databases are full-text; some are citation and abstract only. Top
Full-Text Database- a CD-ROM or online database that includes complete articles or texts of documents. See also citation database. Top
Index- a reference tool used to identify citations to library materials. There are indexes to help you identify periodical articles, newspaper articles, essays, poems, plays, and short stories.
TopJournal - often referred to as scholarly journals or professional journals - are specialized periodicals that contain reports of current research, reviews of current research, articles of theoretical discussion, as well as reviews of new books related to a particular field or specialty. Many journals are issued quarterly, whereas many magazines are issued weekly or monthly. Journals are indexed in subject indexes like Art Index, ERIC, or Humanities Index. Top
Keyword- a method of searching electronic databases (like online library catalogs, CD-ROM databases, and Internet resources) for all occurrences of a word or phrase within the database. See also boolean. Top
Microfiche- a 4x6 sheet of film that holds several hundred miniaturized document pages. (See also microform). Top
Microfilm- a roll of continuous film that can hold several thousand miniaturized document pages. (See also microform). Top
Microform- a medium that contains microminiaturized images such as microfiche and microfilm. Microform images are created by cameras or by computer output on microform (COM). The documents must be magnified by special readers for human viewing. Microform is an economical way to store back issues of periodicals and newspapers. Top
Operators- words such as "and," "or," and "not" that are used to combine search terms to broaden or narrow your keyword search. See also boolean. Top
Periodical- a term, which refers to magazines, intended for a popular audience and journals intended for a scholarly, professional, or technical reader (see also serial). Top
Periodical Indexes and Abstracts- periodical indexes list articles, which have appeared in journals, magazines, or newspapers. They list author, title, and name of periodical, volume, pages, and date of publication. Abstracts are indexes that also contain summaries of the content of the article. Indexes and abstracts may be in print form or in an electronic database. Top
Readers’ Guide- a subject index to articles published in over 200 general periodicals, like Time, Newsweek, Fortune, and Redbook. Consult the Library's periodicals list notebook to see if the library owns the periodical titles you need. Each Library will have a listing of the titles it owns. Top
- when material is republished, that is, published in another source after its original publication, it is considered to be a reprint. The original source must be credited in the citation. SIRS is an example of a reprint source where the articles have been collected from various other sources. Top - a publication which is issued in successive parts at regular intervals and which is intended to continue indefinitely. This term includes publications such as annuals (i.e., World Almanac), periodicals, and newspapers, as well as transactions of associations and societies. See also periodical. Top - common words (like "a," "the," "of," "on," etc.) that many electronic systems are programmed to ignore. Top - typing a special symbol at the end of a word to retrieve all possible endings of that word (e.g., athl* retrieves athlete, athletes, athletics and athleticism. Some databases use *, ?, or $ as the truncation symbol. Top