Confused by library terminology? Here are some commonly used library words that are worth knowing:

ABSTRACT - A brief summary of a larger work. Usually just a paragraph or so that explains what the larger work, such as a novel or magazine article, is about.

AUDIOVISUAL - The general term for materials that can be seen or heard, instead of read, such as videos, records, tapes, or compact discs.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY - The life story of a person, actually written by that person him or herself.

BIBLIOGRAPHY - A list of books or other sources, in citation form, usually listing author, title, and publisher information. You are usually required to include a bibliography as part of a research paper, to list and give credit to the sources you used. There are many different styles for writing bibliographies and the library has numerous books that will show you proper formats for writing one.

BIOGRAPHY - The life story of a person, whether famous or not. Biographies are usually written by someone other than the person that thay are about, but if a person does write his own life story it is called an "autobiography".

CALL NUMBER - Books in the library are shelved according to the Dewey Decimal System, which uses numbers to group books by subject. The number assigned to a book is called the call number. Many books in the library don't actually have call numbers, such as fiction books, which are just arranged by the author's last name.

CD-ROM - A way of storing computer data on a compact disc (like the ones that have music on them). This method allows a very large amount of information to be stored in a very small space. The "ROM" stands for Read Only Memory, which means that you can't alter the information on the disc, you can only read it using a software program. Many computer games and other software, as well as library reference databases, now come on CD-ROM.

CITATION - A brief description identifying a larger work such as a book or magazine article. A citation usually includes the author, title, and publisher information. For a magazine article it would also include things like the date and page number. Librarians use citations in order to have enough information to track down books and articles from other sources. You might use a citation for the same purpose, or also to refer to the book or article in a research paper bibliography.

CROSS REFERENCE - When searching in an index you may not know the correct words that are used to identify books by subject. Many indexes and catalogs have "See" or "See Also" references that refer you to the correct heading, or to related headings on your subject. For example, if you searched in our catalog for "French Cooking" you would see a cross reference telling you to search "Cookery, French" instead.

DEWEY DECIMAL SYSTEM - This is the classification system we use to organize our non-fiction materials by subject, using the number 001 through 999. It is one of the most common systems used in libraries to organize books. For more detailed information check out our Dewey page. Some libraries in our area instead use a different scheme, called the Library of Congress system, to organize their books.

ENCYCLOPEDIA - A reference source that provides a lot of information on a subject or subjects in alphabetical format. The most commonly known ones are general encyclopedias like Britannica or World Book, but there are also many specialized encyclopedias on specific topics such as education, the Middle Ages, cooking, etc.

FICTION - Literature about events that did not actually take place. Sometimes fiction books are loosely basedon real historical events. Then they are referred to as historical fiction. There are also numerous genres or subcategories of fiction such as mystery, romance, suspense, horror, science fiction, and westerns. If you need help deciding on a good book to read, be sure to ask a librarian for help, or check out our Reader's Advisory pages for some suggestions.

FULL TEXT - Some computer databases only include indexing to other sources, while others may provide the complete or full text of the sources themselves. For example, our online magazine indexes often actually have the complete magazine article rather than just the brief citation about it. A database that has the availability of showing complete sources like this is said to have full text.

HARD COPY - The actual physical paper copy of a book, magazine, or other source, as opposed to its online or microfilm equivalent.

HOLDINGS - The list of copies of a book or other item in an index, showing which libraries own the item. For example, in our online catalog you can look at a "holdings" screen to see which libraries in our network own copies of a book.

INDEX - A reference source that helps you find other information by listing, usually alphabetically, where that information is located. Indexes are often at the back of books, telling you what pages certain facts will be found on. Indexes can also be on computer, like our magazine index, which tells you where to find articles on a certain subject.

INTERLIBRARY LOAN - The borrowing of a book from one library to another. Most libraries participate in some sort of cooperative arrangement with other libraries so that books can be obtained when they are not available locally.

INTERNET - A huge, worldwide network of millions of computers and computer files. The best known portion of it is the World Wide Web, but it also includes things like chat groups and electronic mail. To connect to the Internet you need a computer with an Internet connection, and software which allows you to view the files available. If you are reading this page right now on a computer, you're on the Internet. The Library has 24 computers available for you to browse the Internet for free.

KEYWORDS - A way of searching a computer database by asking it to find terms in any order, regardless of where they appear. This is different from the type of searching where you browse an alphabetical list of headings, as you would have with the old card catalog.

MICROFILM - In order to save space, we put many of our newspapers and Wakefield history materials on microfilm. This is a roll of plastic film which has a very small image of the original material. It can then be viewed or printed from special machines that magnify the film onto a screen where it can be viewed normally.

NOBLE - The North Of Boston Library Exchange, which is the network of public and college libraries that Wakefield belongs to. NOBLE maintains our library catalog and other library software, as well as our connection to the Internet.

NON-CIRCULATING - This designation is used for reference books that cannot be checked out or taken home.

NON-FICTION - Literature that describes things or events that actually happened or are supposed to be true. For example, a biography of President Kennedy, a book about fixing your car, or a history of ancient Egypt would be considered non-fiction.

NON-PRINT - Any library material that is not printed on paper. This would include things like videos, computer databases, compact discs, or microfilm.

ONLINE CATALOG - The successor to the library's card catalog. An online catalog contains essentially the same information, authors, titles, subjects, and other general information about a book, but it can be searched using keywords, and is usually linked to a library's circulation system so you can tell whether books are in or out. Online catalogs can also be easily made available throughout the library building, and can also be searched from outside the library.

PERIODICALS - Anything that is published on a regular and usually frequent basis (periodically), such as a magazine or newspaper.

REFERENCE - Reference books are usually used only to look up brief information on subjects, unlike the kind of book you'd read from cover to cover. Our reference collection includes things like dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, almanacs. In most libraries reference books must be used in the library, and are not allowed to be taken home.

RESERVE - A hold placed on something in the library's collection that is checked out to someone else. When the item is returned to the library, the computer notifies the librarian that someone is waiting for it so it can be set aside.

SEARCH ENGINE - A type of search software on the Internet's World Wide Web that allows you to search the millions of files to find what you want. It is similar to using the online catalog to search the library's collections, except a search engine is searching a much larger database. The NOBLE web page has links to a number of the most popular search engines.

SERIALS - Essentially the same as periodicals, but librarians often use this term instead. Technically it includes books such as travel guides or reference books that come out annually, but most people wouldn't call those periodicals.

SPINE LABEL - If you look at the bottom of a library book's spine, you will see a label which indicates where the book should be shelved in the library. For non-fiction books the label will have a Dewey Decimal number. For other books it may just be the author's last name, or some other designation.

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