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Glossary or Library Dictionary

Abstract
An abstract is a brief summary or overview. Some printed indexes and most research databases provide abstracts of the articles. This is important, because when you find an abstract, you can read a little about the article and decide if it will help you answer your research question. However, an abstract does not substitute for reading the entire article.. Sometimes abstracts will be only a sentence or two; sometimes you will find more extensive abstracts.

Accuracy
Accuracy is important when evaluating web sites. Is the information on the web site accurate? Is it correct and factual? One method to test accuracy is to find the content from another source such a journal or newspaper article.

Authority

Authority is important when evaluating web sites. Is the author or creator credible? Are they knowledgeable in the topic they are writing about? Can you verify their credentials? Do they have experience with the topics they are writing about?

Bibliography (also called works cited page, references)
A list, often with descriptive or critical notes, of writings relating to a particular subject, author, or time period.

Biography
A book or information about an individual's life.

Book Review
A critical evaluation of a book usually published in a popular magazine or newspaper.

Boolean Operators and Logic
Boolean operators are AND, OR, NOT. Using boolean operators to build your searches will get more precise and relevant results. Use nesting when building a search strategy. Boolean operators are based on Boolean logic, created by British mathematician, George Boole (1815-1864).

Using AND narrows your search by retrieving only documents that have all of your search terms. Use to connect two or three different concepts.
Example: Internet AND privacy
Example: Composites AND aircraft

Using OR expands your search by retrieving documents that have either of your search terms. Use to connect two or three similar concepts or synonyms or spellings.
Example: Internet OR World Wide Web
Example: University OR College
Example: sulfur OR sulphur

Using NOT limits your search by returning only your first search term. It works well when there are multiple meanings of the same word or name.
Example: Saturn NOT car
Example: Java NOT Indonesia

Nesting is used when combing your search terms in one search box. It is similar to nesting mathematical statements in algebra, so the calculations are done in the proper order.
Example: (hybrid OR electric) AND (Toyota OR Honda)
Example: (vegetables OR produce) AND (process* OR packaging)

Call number (more information)
The address of an item in the library. When you find an item in the COAST library catalog, write down the call number. Go to the correct floor and use the signs on the bookshelf ends to find the correct range of call numbers. Look at the call numbers on the spines or front cover of the items to find your item. The items in the library are organized by subject, so items on the same topic are next to each other.

Chronology
A list or account of events arranged in the order of their occurrence.

Citation
The basic information needed to find an information source such as a book or journal article. Generally citations contain the author's name, title, date, pages, publisher and more.

Classifications

COAST
CSULB library catalog. Search COAST to find books, e-books, reference books, journals, governement documents, DVD's, videos, CD's, cassette tapes, and other items the library has access or a subscription to.

Copyright (more information)
The exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, and sell a literary, musical, or artistic work.

Currency

Database (Indexed)

Dictionary
A book that lists and explains the words in a language.

Dissertation/Thesis

Dissertation Abstracts

Editorial (newspaper articles)
An article where the author strongly expresses an opinion based solely on his/her thoughts and experiences, with little or no research. Editorial pieces are not usually considered scholarly.

Empirical research

Encyclopedia
A book or set of books that provide brief summaries on all branches of knowledge. The summaries are usually arranged alphabetically. Can be in print or electronic.

Endnote

Footnote

Field Searching

Full text
Full text refers to the complete text of an article. It can be available electronically or in print or sometimes both. If it is availablel electronically, all you need to do is print the article, save it on a computer disk, or email it to yourself!

Not all of the research databases provide full-text articles and in some disciplines there are very few full text research databases available. Whether or not a journal article is available electronically does not indicate quality. If an article is available electronically is a complex combination of cost, publisher, availability and many more factors. Search for the best citations then think about getting the full text either in print or electronically.

When accessing full text articles you may have the choice between PDF or HTML documents. Both contain the same text of the article.
A PDF is a picture of the print copy of the article. You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to access the article. This format works well when you are printing the article or want to see graphs or images in the article. PDFs include the page numbers, so are easier to cite in your bibliography or cited works page. Also graphs and images are included.

An HTML document has been formatted for the computer. You do not need special software to read the article. This format works well when you are reading the article online. The article may contains links to other parts of the document. Graphs or images may not be accessible.

Gateways/pathfinders?

Government document
Papers, proceedings, and other publications that are published by either the federal, state, or local government.

HTML (see full text)

Index

Intellectual property

Interdisciplinary databases

Internet (also World Wide Web)

Illiad, Interlibrary Loan
Illiad is your way of requesting materials (books, journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings, thesis or dissertations) that CSULB does not own for FREE. Use our online form to request materials. You will also use Illiad to access the materials once they arrive if they are in electronic format. You will receive most of your requested materials in about 5 to 10 days.

Librarians

Library anxiety

Library catalog

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Link+

Linked full text (see full text)

Literary Criticism or Literature Review Article
An article expressing a specific opinion on a literary work (such as Hamlet, or A Tale of Two Cities).

Monograph (?)
Your regular, average book, usually providing historical information or a broad overview on a single subject or on some aspect of a subject. A monograph is only published once.

Nesting

Originality

Outline

PDF (see full text)

Peer reviewed (also called refereed or scholarly)
Articles in a scholarly journals that have been subjected to a rigorous approval and editing process by other scholars in that discipline.

A scholarly or peer reviewed article has gone through the editorial process. The editorial process consists of a panel of experts (usually 3) reading through the article and concluding research was been done correctly and the information is accurate. Scholarly articles usually are longer than 5 pages, have no advertisements, and have bibliographies at the end. To find out if a journal is peer reviewed you can check their website for information about the editorial process or check a reference book such as Ulrich's Periodical Directory near the reference desk.

Primary research v. Secondary Research

Refereed Articles (see Peer-reviewed)

Reference Books or Reference Section

Reference Desk

Refute

Research Appointment (Would you like to schedule an appointment?)
You can request a research appointment with your subject librarian. This is designed from students have begun their research but are having trouble finding resources or have questions.

Research Article
An article on a specific topic that is published in a journal. As journals are published periodically, research articles are more timely than books and usually much shorter in length.

Research Guides, CSULB Library (Where can I find the Research Guides?)
Research guides have been created by librarians. We have a resarch guide for most departments on campus and many other useful topics. Research guides have web sites on your topics that have been evaluated by librarians. Many research guides also have additional resources.

Research question

Reserves (How can I access the reserve items?)
If your professor put an item like a book or a journal article on reserve it means it is available for limited checkout from the Lower Level of the Library. The Library also has electronic reserves or e-reserves that you can access from on or off campus. Your professor should give you a password to access your class reserve items.

Review article

Scholarly Journal (see also Peer-reviewed)
The main purpose of a scholarly journal is to report on original research or experimentation in order to make that information available to other scholars. Scholarly journals often contain many graphs and charts, but few exciting pictures. Articles in scholarly journals are written by researchers in the field. Scholarly journal articles ALWAYS cite sources in the form of footnotes or bibliographies. Many scholarly journals are published by professional organizations. Popular and/or news magazines are NOT considered scholarly journals. See also the definition for "Peer Reviewed Articles."

Search Engine

SFX
SFX (Special Effects) is technology that allows you to find full text article more easily. Simply click on the SFX button to find out if CSULB has electronic access to the full text or the print copy of the article.

Note: If a database does not have an SFX button you can manually search using COAST, journals.