| Abstract |
A brief summary outlining the main content of a journal article or other document. |
| Adobe Acrobat |
A computer program used for displaying PDF files. |
| Article |
A piece of writing on a specific topic, by one or more authors, that forms an independent part of a periodical publication such as a journal or serial, magazine, or newspaper. |
| Bibliography |
A list at the end of your assignment that includes works for background or further reading as well as those you have referred to in the text. |
| Bookmark |
A method of storing links to individual web pages or web locations on your computer. Bookmark is the term used by Netscape; Favorites is the
Internet Explorer term. |
| Boolean
Operators |
A means of combining searches to broaden or narrow search results. The operator and narrows a search; the operator or broadens a search. |
| Broaden |
To alter a search in order to retrieve more references. Using the Boolean Operator "or" broadens a search. |
| Browser |
Software used to view and interact with resources available on the World Wide Web. The most common browsers are Netscape and Internet Explorer. |
| Call
number |
A set of numeric and alphabetical symbols that identifies an item in a library collection and indicates its physical location (usually on a library shelf), eg.Clin RJ 50 .C87 1993 or
Ltn 610.73 B897t 1990 |
| Catalogue |
Lists material held (both print and electronic) at all branches of the University of Tasmania Library |
| Catalogue
record |
Details that identify a particular title, including bibliographic details, catalogue access points and physical location. |
| Central Library |
The Morris Miller Library. |
| Chapter |
A main division of a book, treatise or report, usually numbered and with its own heading. In some books, each chapter may be written by a different author or authors. |
| Citation |
Information identifying a publication. Details usually include author, title, date of publication, journal title (if applicable), volume and page numbers. Also sometimes called References. Citations also refer to the standard reference for a law report. |
| Commands |
The instructions embedded into a database or computer program that result in an operation being performed. For example, the options for "enter", "search" and "print" are computer commands. |
| CSA |
Cambridge Scientific Abstracts. A company publishing abstracts and indexes to research literature, including versions of the ERIC and Medline databases. |
| Database |
A database is an organised collection of information records that can be accessed electronically. In the Library this includes indexing and abstracting databases, citation databases or databases of fulltext journal articles. |
| Default |
A standard setting in a database or computer program, to which the program always returns after performing an operation. |
| Descriptors |
Also known as subject headings, these are used to describe the main content or topic of a publication. Subject headings are usually derived from
a controlled vocabulary of terms to which indexers must adhere to ensure consistency of content description. |
| Dewey Decimal Classification |
A system for classifying human knowledge into subject areas. It is based on a decimal numbering system which groups related subjects together. It
was established in the late nineteenth century by an American called Melvil Dewey. |
| E-Reserve (Electronic Reserve) |
Course Unit readings that are made available electronically through the Library catalogue. Usually available in PDF (Portable Document Format). |
| EndNote |
Database software designed for cataloguing your personal library of documents. EndNote allows you to store records retrieved from databases, to search these records, and to organise them into a bibliography using a standard citation style. |
| Electronic
journals (e-journals) |
Journals published in electronic format, often available on the Internet. |
| Email |
Messages that are sent electronically via computer networks |
| ERL |
Electronic Resources Library. The name given to the family of databases accessible through WebSPIRS. |
| Favorites |
A method of storing individual web pages or web locations on your computer. Bookmark is the term used by Netscape; Favorites is the Internet Explorer term. |
| Field |
Describes the elements making up a database record. Examples: Author name, Title, Abstract |
| Full-text |
A complete document held on a database. Graphics may or may not be included. |
| Harvard |
A style of referencing that uses the author/date system. |
| Hit List |
The list of items displayed on a computer screen, representing the matching items found as a result of a successful search in a database or Web search engine. This is also known as the "results list" or "search results". |
| Homepage |
The main web page for an organisation, person or interest group. It is usually the first, or welcoming, page of a Web site. |
| Html |
HyperText Markup Language (html), is a language in which web pages are written. |
| Hyperlink |
A highlighted word or image within a hypertext document which, when clicked, takes you to another place within that document or to another site altogether. |
| Hypertext |
The defining feature of the World Wide Web that allows users to move easily within a particular document or between web sites using hyperlinks. |
| Icon |
A computer graphic, usually a small picture, displayed on screen to represent a computer program or operation. For example, the trash can icon is used in Windows systems to represent the "delete item" operation. |
| Instruction Words |
Instruction words define your task. E.g. words such as analyse, compare, contrast, discuss |
| Inter Campus Loan (ICL) |
An item requested from another campus or branch of the University of Tasmania Library |
| Internet |
A network of computer networks which operates world-wide using a common set of communications protocols. |
| Issue |
A division of a periodical publication such as a journal, serial, magazine or newspaper, published and numbered sequentially. Periodical issues are usually published at regular time intervals and consolidated into annual volumes. |
| Journal |
A publication issued in successive parts, intended to be continued indefinitely. Typically, a periodical contains a collection of articles by different
authors, often in a particular subject area. Journals are also known as Periodicals and Serials. |
| Keyword |
The word or words that relate to a particular topic. Keywords or phrases are used to construct a search statement to find information. |
| Library of Congress Classification (LC) |
A system for classifying human knowledge into subject areas. Developed at the Library of Congress. |
| Limit |
To alter a search in order to retrieve fewer hits. The use of the Boolean operator "and" limits a search. This is also known as "narrowing" and "refining" a search. |
| Moys Classification |
A classification system designed specifically to deal with the subject area of Law. |
| Narrow |
To alter a search in order to retrieve fewer hits. The use of the Boolean Operator "and" narrows a search. This is also known as "limiting" or "refining" a search. |
| Network |
A group of computers, connected by a telecommunications link, that share information. |
| Ovid |
An organisation facilitating access to various databases, including Medline, Cinahl and Current Contents. |
| PDF |
Portable Document Format. An electronic document that must be read with the Adobe Acrobat computer program. |
| Peer review |
A process where an article is viewed by experts in the same field as the author prior to publication of the article. Generally a peer reviewed article is considered scholarly. |
| Periodical |
A publication issued in successive parts, intended to be continued indefinitely. Typically, a journal contains a collection of articles by different authors, often in a particular subject area. Periodicals are also known as Journals and Serials. |
| ProQuest |
A database of articles in journals titles. It provides access in many instances to the full-text of its articles. |
| Reading List |
A list of essential and recommended readings for an academic Unit. |
| Reciprocal
Borrowing |
A scheme which allows students to access materials at other University and TAFE libraries. |
| Record |
In library databases a record is made up of fields that describe the parts of a publication, eg. journal article, book, conference paper or web site. |
| Reference |
Information that identifies a particular publication. Details usually include author, title, date of publication, journal title (if applicable), volume and page numbers. References are sometimes called Citations. |
| Reference List |
A list at the end of your assignment which includes all the information necessary to identify and retrieve each work (journal articles, books etc.) you have referred to in the text. |
| Refine |
To alter a search in order to retrieve fewer hits. The use of the Boolean operator "and" refines a search. This is also known as "limiting" and "narrowing" a search. |
| Reserve Collection |
Course readings, which are in high demand and are available for short term loan (eg. 2 hour loans). Kept in areas separate from the main collection. |
| Results list |
The list of items displayed on a computer screen, representing the matching items found as a result of a successful search in a database or Web search engine. This is also known as the "hitlist" or "search results". |
| Search engines |
Computer programs which search for Web documents by keywords or phrases. |
| Search results |
The list of items displayed on a computer screen, representing the matching items found as a result of a successful search in a database or Web search engine. This is also known as the "hitlist" or " results list". |
| Serial |
A publication issued in successive parts, intended to be continued indefinitely. Typically, a serial contains a collection of articles by different authors, often in a particular subject area. Serials are also known as Journals and Periodicals. |
| Server |
A computer that delivers information and software to other computers linked by a network. |
| Silverplatter |
An organisation facilitating access to various databases, including ERIC and PsycINFO. |
| Spiders |
Computer programs used by search engines to roam the World Wide Web. They are used to update the collection of Web pages stored in search engines. |
| Subject directory |
Organised lists of Web pages, divided into hierarchically grouped subject areas as a result of human effort. They are also known as subject gateways. |
| Subject gateway |
Organised lists of Web pages, divided into hierarchically grouped subject areas as a result of human effort. They are also known as subject directories. |
| Subject guides |
Guides to the information resources in the major teaching areas. A useful staring point for researching a subject. They are available in both 'html' and print formats. |
| Subject heading |
A word or phrase from a controlled vocabulary which is used to describe the subject of a document. The most commonly used subject headings in libraries
are the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). |
| Telnet |
A standard Internet protocol for accessing remote systems. |
| Thesaurus |
A standardised list of terms that describe the records within a database. You can use the thesaurus to look up and search for synonyms, related terms, and preferred terms. |
| Topic analysis |
The process of analysing a topic, in order to identify the key concepts and key words upon which to build your search for information. |
| Truncation |
A method of shortening a search term to enable retrieval on variants of the same term, eg. using the search term "econom" in conjunction with an appropriate truncation symbol (such as *, ?, or $) will retrieve material containing the words "economy, economies, economic, economical". |
| URL |
The Uniform Resource Locator is the address of a resource available on the Internet. Example: the URL for the Library home page is: http://www.utas.edu.au/library/ |
| Web |
A network of servers linked together by a common protocol, allowing access to millions of hypertext resources. It is also known as WWW, W3 and the
World Wide Web. |
| Web of Knowledge |
An integrated database platform that allows you to access and search a number of ISI databases including Current Contents. |
| Web site |
The entire collection of Web pages for a specific organisation, person or interest group. The first of these pages is usually the Home page. |
| World Wide Web |
A network of servers linked together by a common protocol, allowing access to millions of hypertext resources. It is also known as WWW, W3 and the Web. |
| WWW |
A network of servers linked together by a common protocol, allowing access to millions of hypertext resources. It is also known as W3, the Web and
the World Wide Web. |