Like all disciplines, information management has terminology that might be new to you. It also has familiar terms that might have unfamiliar meanings. This glossary will help you grasp the vocabulary of information management. Access to some of these resources is restricted is restricted to those who are on campus, registered with the University Libraries.
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A B C D E F G H I J K L M NO P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Abstract-Holdings -- Index-PubMed In-Process Citations -- Reference Collection-World Wide Web |
Abstract (1) - a non-evaluative summary of a work (article, chapter, book, etc.); see also structured abstract; compare with an annotation.
Abstract (2) - an index that includes abstracts for the indexed items, for example, Biological Abstracts.
Accession number - a unique number assigned to a record in a particular resource; in the health sciences community, one of the most well-known accession numbers is the PubMed ID (PMID).
Annotation - an evaluative summary of a work; compare with an abstract.
Alerts – searches that are run in a database and results emailed automatically; commonly used by researches to see what’s new in their research area. Databases that have an alerts feature include PubMed and the EBSCO databases.
Authentication – the process of making sure that a person is allowed to access a resource before allowing them access; this is required for remote access to licensed resources and usually involves entering one’s name and ID number/barcode
Bibliographic citation - see citation
Bibliographic citation manager - a software package consisting of a database designed to handle bibliographic citations; usually these packages include features to import citations from online catalogs and databases and to link with a word processor to cite and format references; some commonly used bibliographic citation managers include ProCite, EndNote, and Reference Manager. [Instructional Materials]
Bibliography - a free-standing list of references that have something in common, usually a subject or author. It may be annotated. It is usually not associated with a paper or article, although bibliographies and reference lists are commonly confused. Contrast with a reference list.
Biological Abstracts - a resource that indexes the life sciences literature, focusing on the life sciences and pre-clinical medicine, with about a 33% journal-title overlap with MEDLINE. [Instructional Materials -- Connect]
Blog – short for web log, a web site used to point readers to interesting and useful web sites, and often allow readers to comment on the posts. A blog may focus on a particular topic or area; personal blogs may be more like an online diary. The Mulford Health Science Library has a blog [Connect] that is used for announcements and new or cool resources.
Boolean operators - also called "logical operators" or just "operators", these are system commands that allow search sets or search terms to be combined to create narrower or broader results. There is one commonly used operator (AND) and two less commonly used one (OR and NOT):
For information on using Boolean operators in a particular online system, consult Reference Assistance or online help.
Browser - software that provides graphical access to the World Wide Web; the most commonly used browsers are Netscape, Internet Explorer, and Firefox.
CINAHL - the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature is the most commonly used resource used to access the nursing and allied health literature; indexes journal article, books, book chapters, dissertations, research instruments, and more. [Instructional Materials -- Connect]
Citation - an abbreviated representation of a source; contains enough information for someone to obtain an copy of the source, such as author(s), title, source, publisher, year of publication, page numbers, etc. There are many citation formats for citation consistency; details about citation format can be found in the appropriate style manual.
Cite - to make reference to a work; not to be confused with sight or site; see also citation.
Cited references - the references cited by a given work. Science Citation Index and its sister citation indexes are used to search cited references. Other databases, such as CINAHL and PsycINFO include cited references as well.
Clipboard – how records are stored in PubMed
Collection - a grouping of library resources, often organized by use, physical location, or resource type. Common collections include reference, reserve, and special collections.
Database - an online tool used to identify articles (or book chapters, dissertations, etc.) on a topic, written by a particular author, in a particular journal, etc.; an electronic version of print index or abstract
Digital object identifier (doi) - a unique, persistent, managed, international public identifier that is assigned by a publisher when an article is accepted for publication; because this identifier is persistent, it will not change like URLs sometimes do, making it easier to link to online articles.
Electronic reserves - a collection of often-used online resources such as textbooks, slides, and articles put in this collection by faculty members or the library. Hardcopies of items may be on reserve.
Evidence-based practice - commonly called "evidence-based medicine" or "evidence-based health care," this is the practice of using evidence from the research literature to complement professional education, clinical expertise, and patient preferences when making clinical decisions.
Firefox - see browser
– how records are stored.Holdings – items that a library or group of libraries owns (such as books and print journals) and those resources to which it has access (like online books or online journals); “journal holdings” refers to the time period of a journal title that a library has
Contact Mulford Reference Assistance at (419) 383-4218 or MulfordReference@utoledo.edu.
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