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International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)

dhayward — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:37:04 CDT

An independent international nongovernmental association of library associations, libraries and related institutions, sponsors, and individuals, IFLA was founded in 1927 by 15 countries as the International Library and Bibliographical Committee to promote global cooperation, communication, and research in library science and librarianship. With association and institutional members in over 130 countries, IFLA has a democratic structure in which a general assembly of members (the Council) is the highest governing organ. The organization maintains a Secretariat headed by a Secretary-General in The Hague and sponsors an annual conference, the World Library and Information Congress, in a different member country each year. Click here to connect to the IFLA homepage.

From ODLIS, Online Dictionary for Libary and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz
http://lu.com/odlis/about.cfm

American Library Association

dhayward — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:35:20 CDT

The leading professional association of public and academic libraries and librarians in the United States, the ALA was founded in Philadelphia in October 1876 by a group of library leaders (90 men and 13 women) that included Melvil Dewey. An "association of associations," the ALA is organized in divisions, each with its own officers, budget, and programs, and is closely tied to over 50 state and regional chapters. The Association also sponsors round tables on specific issues and topics and is affiliated with other independent library-related organizations. Its imprint is ALA Editions. The most widely read periodicals published by the ALA are the professional journal American Libraries and the review publication Booklist. The ALA is a member of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). Click here to see a complete list of periodicals published by the various branches of the ALA. Click here to connect to the ALA homepage.

See also: ALA Allied Professional Association, Association des Bibliothécaires Français, Australian Library and Information Association, Canadian Library Association, Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, and Deutscher Bibliogtheksverband e.V.

ALA divisions:

American Association of School Librarians (AASL)
Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS)
Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)
Association for Library Trustees and Advocates (ALTA)
Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL)
Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA)
Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA)
Library and Information Technology Association (LITA)
Public Library Association (PLA)
Reference and User Services Association (RUSA)
Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)

From ODLIS, Online Dictionary for Libary and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz
http://lu.com/odlis/about.cfm

professional organizations

dhayward — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:33:11 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

thesaurus

dhayward — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:31:48 CDT

A book of synonyms and near-synonyms in a written language, usually arranged conceptually, although dictionary arrangement is not uncommon. The first thesaurus of the English language, published in 1852, was compiled by Peter Mark Roget. For an online thesaurus of the English language, see Merriam-Webster OnLine.Also refers to an alphabetically arranged lexicon of terms comprising the specialized vocabulary of an academic discipline or field of study, showing the logical and semantic relations among terms, particularly a list of subject headings or descriptors used as preferred terms in indexing the literature of the field. In information retrieval, a thesaurus can be used to locate broader terms and related terms if the user wishes to expand retrieval, or narrower terms to make a search statement more specific. A well-designed thesaurus also enables the indexer to maintain consistency in the assignment of indexing terms to documents. Plural: thesauri. See also: controlled vocabulary, lead-in vocabulary, and metathesaurus.

Examples:
Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT)
GeoRef Thesaurus
Legislative Indexing Terms: The CRS Thesaurus
Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors
Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms
Thesaurus of Sociological Indexing Terms

For other examples of online subject thesauri, see the: Archaeological Objects Thesaurus, Astronomy Thesaurus, Biocomplexity Thesaurus, British Museum Materials Thesaurus, The Cook's Thesaurus, NAL Agricultural Thesaurus, Thesaurus for Graphic Materials, and Thesaurus of Musical Instruments. To learn more about thesauri, see Wikipedia.

From ODLIS, Online Dictionary of Library and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz
http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_c.cfm

index

dhayward — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:29:01 CDT

An alphabetically arranged list of headings consisting of the personal names, places, and subjects treated in a written work, with page numbers to refer the reader to the point in the text at which information pertaining to the heading is found. In single-volume works of reference and nonfiction, any indexes appear at the end of the back matter. In a multivolume work, they are found at the end of the last volume. In very large multivolume reference works, the last volume may be devoted entirely to indexes. Works of fiction are rarely indexed. The publisher of a periodical may provide an index to each volume at the end of the last issue of the publication year. For best results, indexing should be done by a professional indexer. Alternate plural: indices. See also: American Society of Indexers.

Also refers to an open-end finding guide to the literature of an academic field or discipline (example: Philosopher's Index), to works of a specific literary form (Biography Index) or published in a specific format (Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature), or to the analyzed contents of a serial publication (New York Times Index). Indexes of this kind are usually issued in monthly or quarterly paperback supplements, cumulated annually. Citations are usually listed by author and subject in separate sections, or in a single alphabetical sequence under a system of authorized headings collectively known as controlled vocabulary, developed over time by the indexing service. Indexing can be either pre-coordinate or post-coordinate. Compare with abstracting service and catalog. See also: author index, classified index, cross-index, geographic index, meta-index, name index, periodical index, subject index, and title index.

From ODLIS, Online Dictionary of Library and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz
http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_c.cfm

abstracting and indexing (A&I)

dhayward — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:28:08 CDT

A category of database that provides bibliographic citations and abstracts of the literature of a discipline or subject area, as distinct from a retrieval service that provides information sources in full-text.

See also: bibliographic database, embedded database, metadatabase, and niche database.

From ODLIS, Online Dictionary for Libary and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz
http://lu.com/odlis/about.cfm

recall

dhayward — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:26:09 CDT

In information retrieval, a measure of the effectiveness of a search, expressed as the ratio of the number of relevant records or documents retrieved in response to the query to the total number of relevant records or documents in the database; for example, in a database containing 100 records relevant to the topic "book history," a search retrieving 50 records, 25 of which are relevant to the topic, would have 25 percent recall (25/100). One of the main difficulties in using recall as a measure of search effectiveness is that it can be nearly impossible to determine the total number of relevant records in all but very small databases. Compare with precision. See also: fallout.

From ODLIS, Online Dictionary of Library and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz
http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_c.cfm

precision

dhayward — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:24:25 CDT

In information retrieval, a measure of search effectiveness, expressed as the ratio of relevant records or documents retrieved from a database to the total number retrieved in response to the query; for example, in a database containing 100 records relevent to the topic "book history," a search retrieving 50 records, 25 of which are relevant to the topic, would have 50 percent precision (25/50). Synonymous with relevance ratio. Compare with recall. See also: fallout.

From ODLIS, Online Dictionary of Library and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz
http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_c.cfm

searching terminology

dhayward — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:22:05 CDT

This section contains entries for terms relevant to conducting searches.

encyclopedia

dhayward — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:20:39 CDT

A book or numbered set of books containing authoritative summary information about a variety of topics in the form of short essays, usually arranged alphabetically by headword or classified in some manner. An entry may be signed or unsigned, with or without illustration or a list of references for further reading. Headwords and text are usually revised periodically for publication in a new edition. In a multivolume encyclopedia, any indexes are usually located at the end of the last volume. Encyclopedias may be general (example: Encyclopedia Americana) or specialized, usually by subject (Encyclopedia of Bad Taste) or discipline (Encyclopedia of Social Work). In electronic publishing, encyclopedias were one of the first formats to include multimedia and interactive elements (example: Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia Online). The modern encyclopedia began with the 21-volume Encyclopédie edited by Denis Diderot and Jean d'Alembert, an expression of the rationalism of the 18th-century Enlightenment (Cornell University Library). Also spelled encyclopaedia. Synonymous with cyclopedia. Compare with dictionary.

From ODLIS, Online Dictionary for Libary and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz
http://lu.com/odlis/about.cfm

dictionary

dhayward — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:18:45 CDT

A single-volume or multivolume reference work containing brief explanatory entries for terms and topics related to a specific subject or field of inquiry, usually arranged alphabetically (example: Dictionary of Neuropsychology). The entries in a dictionary are usually shorter than those contained in an encyclopedia on the same subject, but the word "dictionary" is often used in the titles of works that should more appropriately be called encyclopedias (example: Dictionary of the Middle Ages in 13 volumes). See also: biographical dictionary.A language dictionary lists the words of a language in alphabetical order, giving orthography, syllabication, pronunciation, etymology, definition, and standard usage. Some dictionaries also include synonyms, antonyms, and brief biographical and gazetteer information. In an unabridged dictionary, an attempt is made to be comprehensive in the number of terms included (example: Webster's Third New International Dictionary). An abridged dictionary provides a more limited selection of words and usually less information in each entry (Webster's New College Dictionary). In a visual dictionary, each term is illustrated. See also: desk dictionary and pocket dictionary.
Dictionaries are known to have developed from Latin glossaries as early as the 13th century. Dictionaries of the English language, limited to difficult words, were first compiled in the 17th century. Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language, published in 1755, was the first to match in scope those produced by the academies of Continental Europe. The most famous contemporary example is the Oxford English Dictionary (1989), conceived in Britain in 1857 by the Philological Society. Some English language dictionaries are limited to a specialized vocabulary (example: Dictionary of American Slang). In libraries, at least one large printed dictionary is usually displayed open on a dictionary stand. Smaller portable editions are shelved in the reference section. Abbreviated dict. Compare with concordance and thesaurus. See also: lexicography, polyglot dictionary, and rhyming dictionary.
The ODLIS Web site is an example of an electronic dictionary. OneLook is a metadictionary that indexes English words and phrases in over 900 online dictionaries, including Merriam-Webster OnLine, with translation into other languages. Click here to connect to the Google list of online dictionaries.

From ODLIS, Online Dictionary for Libary and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz
http://lu.com/odlis/about.cfm

research tools

dhayward — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:14:38 CDT

In this section you will find definitions of types or categories of research tools.

databases

dhayward — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:09:43 CDT

A large, regularly updated file of digitized information (bibliographic records, abstracts, full-text documents, directory entries, images, statistics, etc.) related to a specific subject or field, consisting of records of uniform format organized for ease and speed of search and retrieval and managed with the aid of database management system (DBMS) software. Content is created by the database producer (for example, the American Psychological Association), which usually publishes a print version (Psychological Abstracts) and leases the content to one or more database vendors (EBSCO, OCLC, etc.) that provide electronic access to the data after it has been converted to machine-readable form (PsycINFO), usually on CD-ROM or online via the Internet, using proprietary search software.

Most databases used in libraries are catalogs, periodical indexes, abstracting services, and full-text reference resources leased annually under licensing agreements that limit access to registered borrowers and library staff. Abbreviated db. Compare with data bank.

See also: bibliographic database, embedded database, metadatabase, and niche database.

From ODLIS, Online Dictionary for Libary and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz
http://lu.com/odlis/about.cfm

union catalogs

dhayward — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:08:43 CDT

A list of the holdings of all the libraries in a library system, or of all or a portion of the collections of a group of independent libraries, indicating by name and/or location symbol which libraries own at least one copy of each item. When the main purpose of a union catalog is to indicate location, the bibliographic description provided in each entry may be reduced to a minimum, but when it also serves other purposes, description is more complete. The arrangement of a union catalog is normally alphabetical by author or title. IFLA maintains a Directory of National Union Catalogues.

See also: National Union Catalog, National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections, virtual union catalog, and WorldCat.

From ODLIS, Online Dictionary for Libary and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz
http://lu.com/odlis/about.cfm

catalogs

dhayward — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:07:38 CDT

The dropping of characters and the addition of a symbol at the end, beginning, or within a word in a keywords search to retrieve variant forms. Truncation is particularly useful in retrieving the singular and plural forms of a word in the same search.

Example: *librar* to retrieve records containing "interlibrary," "intralibrary," "librarian," "librariana," "librarianship," "libraries," "library," etc.

In most online catalogs and bibliographic databases, the end truncation symbol is the * (asterisk), but since the truncation symbol is not standardized, other symbols may be used (?, $, #, +). In some search software, the user may add a number after the symbol to specify how many characters the symbol may represent (example: facet?1 to retrieve "facets" but not "faceted" or "facetiae").

As a general rule, it is unwise to truncate fewer than four characters (example: art* retrieves "artist," "artistic," "artistry," and "artwork" but also "artichoke," "artillery," etc.). Some databases are designed to truncate automatically. Searchers are advised to read carefully any help screens before truncating in an unfamiliar database. Synonymous with character masking.

See also: wildcard.

From ODLIS, Online Dictionary for Libary and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz
http://lu.com/odlis/about.cfm

federated search

rmirza — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 11:53:58 CDT

A search for information using software designed to query multiple networked information resources via a single interface. The metasearch engines developed in the second half of the 1990s were capable of searching only publicly accessible Web sites. However, the new generation of federated search engines available in the 21st century are designed to search local and remote library catalogs, abstracting and indexing databases, full-text aggregator databases, and digital repositories using standardized protocols, such as Z39.50. Some federated search systems provide deduping and rank results by relevance or allow sorting by other criteria. The current lack of a uniform authentication standard means that some databases are not accessible to federated search services. Click here to learn more about federated searching, courtesy of the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) of the American Library Association (ALA), and here to learn more about the limitations of federated searching, courtesy of Information Today, Inc. See also "Federated Searching: Friend or Foe?" by William Baer in the October, 2004, issue of C&RL News.

From ODLIS, Online Dictionary for Libary and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz
http://lu.com/odlis/about.cfm

classification systems

rmirza — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 09:33:34 CDT

A list of classes arranged according to a set of pre-established principles for the purpose of organizing items in a collection, or entries in an index, bibliography, or catalog, into groups based on their similarities and differences, to facilitate access and retrieval. In the United States, most library collections are classified by subject. Classification systems can be enumerative or hierarchical, broad or close. In the United States, most public libraries use Dewey Decimal Classification, but academic and research libraries prefer Library of Congress Classification. See also: Classification Society of North America, Colon Classification, and notation.

From ODLIS, Online Dictionary for Libary and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz
http://lu.com/odlis/about.cfm

stop word

rmirza — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 06:22:37 CDT

A frequently used word--usually an article, conjunction, or preposition with little semantic content--ignored when a keywords search is executed because it adds little value to the search statement and is not helpful for retrieval (examples: a, an, as, at, by, for, from, of, on, the, to). Some systems have a predetermined list of stopwords, which may be given in the help screen(s). In some systems, a stopword may be context-dependent, for example, the word "education" in a bibliographic database providing access to materials on education but not in a database indexing articles published in newspapers or general interest periodicals. Also spelled stop word.

From ODLIS, Online Dictionary for Libary and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz
http://lu.com/odlis/about.cfm

Home

rmirza — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 06:14:16 CDT

Welcome to the SEGSI wiki. The main use of this page will be to acquaint SI students with common library terminology that they may come across in the SEGSI workshops, SI classes at SI,internships,student group activities, etc. We intend to build this tool up over time, as students are exposed to new terms. For a quick but complete online tool forterms related to libraries and librarianship, I suggest you first consult the ODLIS, the Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science at: http://lu.com/odlis/about.cfm

For a more in-depth understanding of a concept, next consult the Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, available on print and online through Mirlyn. For more, contact Donna, the SEGSI staff or the library reference staff.

Library of Congress Classifications

rmirza — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 06:12:34 CDT

A system of classifying books and other library materials developed and maintained over the last 200 years by the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. In LCC, human knowledge is divided into 20 broad categories indicated by single letters of the roman alphabet, with major subdivisions indicated by a second letter, and narrower subdivisions by decimal numbers and further alphabetic notation.
Example:
LC call number: PE 3727.N4 M34 1994 In the example given above (assigned to the book Juba to Jive: A Dictionary of African-American Slang edited by Clarence Major), P represents the main class "Language and literature," PE the class "English language," 3727 the subclass "English slang," and N4 African Americans as a special group. M34 is the Cutter number for the editor's surname and 1994 is the year of publication. In the United States, most research libraries and academic libraries use LCC, while most school libraries and public libraries use Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC). Click here to see an outline of LC Classification and here for the LC Classification Weekly Lists.

From ODLIS, Online Dictionary for Libary and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz
http://lu.com/odlis/about.cfm

Click here to browse the main classes of the Library of Congress Classification