Abstract: A brief summary of the main points of a journal article, book chapter, or other publication.
Bibliography: A list of citations to books, articles, and other materials on a specific topic. Bibliographies are often included an the end of books and articles and give identifying information such as author(s), article title, journal title, volume number, year of publication, and pages of the article.
Boolean Operators: Specify the relationship between two or more search terms when performing a keyword or subject search:
AND narrows a search: All search terms must be found.
OR broadens a search. Any search term must be found.
NOT
narrows a search. A citation is retrieved only when specific terms
are found and others excluded.
Call Number: A combination of letters and numbers identifying the location of a library item. It is attached to the item and can be found in the GIL online catalog. Most call numbers are derived from the Library of Congress classification; however, U. S. government publications are arranged according to the Superintendent of Documents classification.
Catalog: A paper or electronic listing of the materials contained in a collection. The GIL online catalog includes the holdings of the University Library (including the Alpharetta location) and the Law Library.
Citation: Brief information identifying a book, journal article, or other material. Book citations in the GIL online catalog include such information as the author, title, publisher, place of publication, and date of publication, as well as the call number, location, and whether or not the volume is presently checked out. A periodical citation includes such information as author(s), article title, journal title, volume, issue, date, and page numbers. Periodical citations in GIL include only information on the periodical title, including call number and library holdings.
Controlled Vocabulary: Also sometimes called a thesaurus. The words and phrases used by a subject specialist to create subject headings for an article or book for an index or catalog. The Library of Congress Subject Headings constitute the controlled vocabulary used for the GIL catalog. PsycINFO utilizes subject headings designated by subject indexers and listed in an online and a print thesaurus.
Database: A printed or electronic collection of records, arranged according to fields such as author, that can be searched to identify specific information. Electronic databases are often periodical indexes.
Descriptors. See Subject Headings.
GIL: The online catalog of the Georgia State University Library (including Alpharetta) and the Law Library, listing books, periodicals, government documents, and audiovisual materials in either collection. Reserve materials can also be checked; GSU students, faculty members, and staff can view their circulation records. The GIL Universal Catalog lists the holdings of all libraries within the University System and allows for universal borrowing.
GALILEO: GALILEO stands for GeorgiA LIbrary LEarning Online, an initiative of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. Participating institutions may access over 100 databases indexing thousands of periodicals, including scholarly journals. Over 2000 journal titles are provided in full-text. Other resources include encyclopedias, business directories, and government publications. A password is needed to access GALILEO from an off-campus computer. The password, which changes each semester, can be obtained through GIL.
Home Page: The first, organizational page of a web site. The Georgia State University Library’s home page is available at: http://www.library.gsu.edu/
Index: A printed or electronic resource that indicates where specific information can be located. An index located at the back of a book is an alphabetical list of topics discussed in the book with references to the pages where the topics are covered. Multi-volume encyclopedias such as the Encyclopedia of Psychology often have a separate index volume. A periodical index such as PsycINFO provides access to articles in various ways, including author, keyword, and subject heading. An index may link to an electronic full-text version of an article but often gives only the citation, sometimes including an abstract.
Interlibrary Services: GIL Express and ILLiad are electronic services that allow for the borrowing of books and other materials, and the ordering of copies of periodical articles, from other libraries. GIL Express is limited to books available at other University System libraries. Interlibrary Loan allows for the obtaining of books and copies of periodical articles from any library. Both services are free.
Keyword Searching: A type of online search that looks for words in specific fields or areas, such as article titles, abstracts, or subject headings. A useful type of search when information is incomplete or uncertain; otherwise, a thesaurus search is generally preferred.
Library of Congress (LC) Classification System: A system of organizing books and other library materials according to a combination of letters and numbers. This system is used in the Georgia State University Library.
Limits: Additional filters applied to the results of an electronic search. In PsycINFO some limits include Publication Type, Language, and Form/Content Type.
Nesting: Occurs when a search strategy includes two or more Boolean operators. For example, in the search query “(family violence or domestic violence) and delinquency,” the database will first search for records containing either “family violence” or “domestic violence,” then search for only those that also contain the term “delinquency.”
Peer-Reviewed Journal: Also called Refereed Journal. A scholarly journal in which articles have passed through a rigorous review process by the authors’ peers.
Search Operators. See Boolean Operators.
Subject Headings. Sometimes called descriptors, these are the controlled vocabulary words and phrases assigned to designate the subject matter of the resource. Located through thesauri and other subject heading guides, these terms must be entered exactly as designated for the most accurate search.
Thesaurus: A form of controlled vocabulary that includes an alphabetical listing of terms currently included in an index or database, as well relationships among synonyms, related terms, broader terms, and/or narrower terms.
Truncation: A process that allows for searching on a common root in a database. A symbol such as an asterisk (in PsycINFO) or a question mark (in GIL) is placed at the end of a group of letters forming the root search term. For example, “child*” will allow for searching “children” and “childhood” as well as “child.”
URL: An acronym for “Uniform Resource Locator.” The address of a resource on the Internet.
Web Site: A collection of web pages. The Georgia State University Library’s web site at http://www.library.gsu.edu/ includes instructions about how to find information, descriptions of library services, and general information about the library.