Library Lingo
Here are a few confusing words that get thrown around a lot in libraries. If a word in the definition you are reading is italicized, that means you can also find it defined on this page.
If you have a suggestion for a word that you find confusing, please contact us.
Abstract - A summary of the results found in a paper or a general overview of its content
Academic - Term referring to information that reaches or exceeds a standard of excellence in research and education
Access Services - The Angus L. Macdonald Library department that manages Circulation, Course Reserves, Document Delivery, shelving and the Music/AV/Microform Room
Articles - Essays or papers written by an expert or a non-expert published in a magazine or journal
Barcode - The 14-digit number beginning with 2199300 at the bottom of your library card (sometimes used as a login username)
Basement classroom - The classroom in the library where many hands-on library instruction sessions are held (see map)
Bibliography - Collection of citations that a writer refers to in his or her work
Call number - When you search the library's catalogue for books or other materials, you will find that item's call number in the record. The call number for most books and journals is a series of letters and numbers (e.g. TP 640 B43) typed on a sticker on the spine. This will match the call number from the catalogue.
Catalogue - An online list of all of the library's books, CDs, DVDs, government documents, journals, and more (also includes materials from other libraries)
Circulation -
- Refers to the desk where you check out items (see map) - also called Circulation Desk or Circ
- Also refers to the actual act of borrowing and returning books and other materials
Citation -
- Formatted reference to another's work, often listed within the text of the document, in a footnote, or in a bibliography
- Citation styles include MLA, APA, Chicago, and more
Collections - Refers to all of the items (electronic and non-electronic) that are kept by the library for public use, including:
- Books
- Government Documents
- CDs, DVDs, and microform
- Journals
- Theses
- Archival records
- And much more!
Course Reserves -
- Refers to the collection of articles, books, and other materials placed on hold by faculty for students
- Reserve materials may be borrowed for a brief, defined amount of time and can be found at the Circulation Desk (see map)
- Also refers to the Course Reserves Desk where reserve materials are held
Databases - See Electronic resources
Dissertation - See Thesis
Dissertation abstract - See Abstract and Dissertation
Document Delivery -
- Angus L. Macdonald Library department that receives and processes document delivery requests
- Process whereby you can request and obtain materials that are not owned by this library
eBooks - Books available, full text, electronically
Electronic resources - Tool used for searching for articles, journals, data and statistics, news, books, and more e.g. ProQuest or Google Scholar
Extended Library Services - Angus L. Macdonald Library department that provides support to StFX's distance and continuing education students
Full text - Available completely online as opposed to an abstract or bibliography
Indexes - Tool that collects and lists collections of material, such as journal articles (does not always provide full text access)
Journal - Collection of research that is released a certain number of times per year, usually on a specific area of research, e.g. American Journal of Sociology. Also known as periodical, and serial
Liaison librarian - The librarian who offers specialized services to your department (e.g. Anthropology or Business) - Find yours by clicking on your department title on the Subject Research Guide page
LiveHelp - Chat service where you can ask a librarian for help with your research (librarians from StFX and other Nova Scotia libraries like Dalhousie University and Cape Breton University participate in this service)
Materials - See Collections
PDF - Stands for Portable Document Format, which is a file type created by Adobe that is easy to print and email
Peer review - Process by which information is evaluated by a group of peers or experts and must meet a certain academic or professional standard in order to achieve publication
Periodical - See Journal
Plagiarism -The use of someone else's words, ideas, or creative works without a proper citation. This misrepresentation of another's work as your own is an act of academic dishonesty, and as such is subject to academic discipline.
Primary source - An original work - this can include literature, photography, letters, a newspaper article written by someone who experienced an event firsthand, etc
Record - Information about an item in our catalogue, including bibliographic information, call number, location, and status
Reference -
- Refers to the desk where you can get help with your research questions, from the simple to the complex, e.g. Please see the librarian at the reference desk for help (see map)
- Also refers to the act of offering this type of research assistance, e.g. The librarian offers reference at 9am
- Also refers to a special collection of books and other materials that are ideal for answering reference questions, e.g. The dictionaries and encyclopedias are in the reference collection
Reserve - See Course reserves
Resources - See Collections
Scholarly - See Academic
Secondary source - Criticism or assessment, usually based on the study or research of a primary source
Serial - See Journal
Source -
- Refers to the original place you found the information, e.g. The main source of my argument was a book by E. Shepherd
- Some databases also use this term to mean journal
Specialized collection - Collection of specialized materials including the Fr. Brewer Celtic Collection, Archives, Gael Stream, the Music/AV/Microform Collection, and more
Subject research guide - A guide to your subject (e.g. English, Math, etc) that highlights top article databases, books, news sites, data and statistics resources, and more -- created by your liaison librarian, these are a perfect place to start your research
Thesis (pl. theses) - Advanced research paper created by honours and graduate students
