This is a list of words and definitions related to the library which you may find useful. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask a librarian for assistance.

A

Abstract--- An abstract is a summary of the contents of a book, article or other work. Abstracts help you determine if the work would be of use to you in your research.

Annotation---Annotations are critical evaluations of works, often found in bibliographies. Do not confuse an annotation with an abstract, which is a noncritical summary of the work.

Archives---Archives are special collections of materials, such as personal papers, photographs, manuscripts, rare books, etc. The South Texas Archives of Texas A&M University Kingsville was established to make available to the public materials about the history and natural history of South Texas. The Archives are housed in Baugh Hall on Richard Street.

Audio-Visual Material---These are sound or video recordings rather than textual objects. In James C. Jernigan Library, most audio-visual material is held at the Circulation Desk. You will still need the item's Call Number when you approach the desk.

B

Bibliography---This is a list of citations at the end of a paper, article or book. Sometimes these are referred to as "Works Cited" lists or "Reference Lists." These lists of citations allow the readers of the work to find the items in the list. There are whole books which are lists of bibliographic citations. These are often lists of citations covering a specific subject.

Book Return---This is where you will bring the books you have borrowed back to the library. There is a drop box outside of the library for returning your books. Inside the library there is a drop box at the Circulation Desk, or you can give your returned books to the Circulation employee who is staffing the desk.

Boolean Operator---Boolean Operators help you to refine your searches in electronic databases and when using the WWW. These Operators are AND, OR, and NOT (in some databases the NOT is replaced with AND NOT; in some WWW search engines the AND is the + sign, and the NOT is the - sign.) For more information on Boolean Operators, go to our "Help" pages, linked from the Jernigan Library homepage, or click on this link: Boolean Operators

Browser---This is a software program that allows you to view pages on the WWW. These programs make it possible to click on links to other documents which are stored on other computers.

C

Call Number---Call Numbers are alpha-numeric codes given to each item in the library. They are used to organize and find materials. Our library uses the Library of Congress Classification System for most of the collection. Other Call Number Systems are those used for Government Documents and the Juvenile Collection. If you would like to see an outline of the Library of Congress Classification System click HERE.

Card Catalog---These are catalogs which make use of printed cards to maintain a listing of library holdings by author, title and subject. We no longer use the printed card catalog and cards have not been added since 1997. Our catalog is now electronic and is called OASIS. If you would like to access the electronic catalog, click HERE. If you need assistance using OASIS, do not hesitate to ask.

CD-ROM---Many journal indexes, government resources, and other reference sources are available on CD-ROM's. These are thin disks that hold vast amounts of information. Many are easily searchable at a computer workstation in the Electronic Resource Center on the first floor of Jernigan Library.

Circulation Desk---The Circulation Desk is where you will go to check out or return items. It is located on the first floor of Jernigan Library as you exit the library. The Circulation Desk also keeps many current issues of popular magazines, audio and video tapes, Course Reserves, and theses and dissertations. Circulation Staff will also help you if you need assistance with copy machines.

Citation---Citations include the essential information about a specific work, i.e. a book, journal article, musical piece, etc, which allows the reader to actually find that specific work. Citations include such information as the author/composer, editor, title of the work, title of the journal an article appears in, publication date, place of publication, publisher name, etc. Citation styles vary depending on the discipline or the requirements of a publisher. APA, MLA, Chicago, and Turabian are examples of some citation styles. Always check with your professors to find out what citation style is required for your research papers.

Course Reserves---These are items kept at the Circulation Desk and placed on Reserve by your professors. These items have shorter checkout times than material in the Main Collection. These checkout times have been determined by your professor and may range from one hour to a day or two. You may look up Course Reserves on the computer by the Circulation Desk or in the Electronic Resource Center by Course Number or Professor's Name. You will need the item's Call Number when you go to the Circulation Desk to request the item.

D

Database---Databases are electronic collections of computer records, often records that contain either citations or full text of journal articles. Jernigan Library has more than 100 electronic databases, many of them offering full text of periodical articles and other types of print resources. Many of these are also accessible electronically from outside the library.

Databases are searchable. Often, you can enter a keyword, author, title or subject and you will get a list of results related to your search. For those databases that do not offer full text articles, many do provide a notation telling you if Jernigan Library carries the specific journal in which the article appears. This allows you to find the print format journal in the library and make copies of the article you need. If you would like assistance formulating a search strategy using any one of our databases, or would like help finding the print format journal, do not hesitate to ask any librarian for assistance. We also offer workshops each semester on searching subject-specific databases (i.e. engineering databases, agriculture databases, etc.)

Due Date---Each time you check out a book, you will be told when it is due back to the library. There will also be a slip of paper in the book stamped with the due date. Undergraduates can check out books for 2 weeks, graduate students can check out books for 1 month. Both undergraduate and graduate students can renew their items online as long as the item is renewed BEFORE the due date. To renew an item, you must go to your library record, enter your name and University ID (this should be your social security number), and then select the item(s) you wish to renew. If you wait until the due date, you must bring the item to the library to renew it. Other items have different check out lengths. For instance, theses and dissertations can be checked out for 1 week and videos can be checked out for 3 days. Remember, if your items are overdue, there will be fines and Jernigan Library can put a hold on your account so that you cannot register for classes until the fines are paid. If you would like more information about Circulation Policies, click HERE.

E

E-mail Reference---Jernigan Library has now added a service called E-mail Reference. This service is monitored from: Mon through Fri, 8am to 5pm, excluding holidays. Responses to questions you may submit are normally sent by email within 72 hours. If you have a question that requires significant interaction with library staff you will want to visit the library rather than ask an email question. Types of questions that can be answered via E-mail Reference include: availability and location of materials in Jernigan Library; inquiries about library services or hours; requests for brief statistical or other factual data; verification of citations; requests for brief biographical data or business/organization contact information; assistance on the use of OASIS (our online catalog) or the databases made available by Jernigan Library. If you would like to submit an E-mail Reference question, please click HERE.

F

Field---When searching most databases, you will see boxes for entering search terms in various "fields." A field consists of one part of a bibliographic citation. For instance, there is an author field, an [article] title field, a journal title field, a publisher field, etc. Keep in mind that not all databases offer the same searchable fields.

H

Hold---There may be times when a book you want is checked out by someone else. If that is the case, it is possible for you to put a hold/request on that item so that when it is returned you will be pre-designated as the next person able to check that book out. When a hold/request is placed on the item, the person who has checked it out is not able to renew the item. To place a hold or "request" for a title that is already checked out, go to the OASIS record for that item and click on the button that looks like this:

You will then be asked to enter your name and University ID (your social security number).

HTML---HTML is a programming language used to create Web pages. The acronym stands for Hypertext Markup Language.

I

InterLibrary Loan---Sometimes referred to as ILL, InterLibrary Loan is a way libraries share resources for their users. When a title you want is not available at your library, you can fill out an InterLibrary Loan request online. Books, Dissertations, Government Reports, Proceedings, Journal Articles and other materials may be borrowed. Keep in mind that items you receive through ILL, such as journal articles, may be photocopies of originals. Please allow two weeks for your request to arrive. The InterLibrary Loan office is located on the first floor of Jernigan Library.

Internet---The Internet is the infrastructure including a worldwide network of computers which allows a local computer to access information from other computers around the world. People often use the terms Internet and WWW interchangeably; however, the World Wide Web is only one part of the Internet.

ISBN---This acronym stands for "International Standard Book Number." ISBN's are unique to each edition of a title and consist of ten digits, thus identifying the exact title. Book stores and libraries often use ISBN's to order and track titles. Some countries do not use ISBN's.

ISSN---This acronym stands for "International Standard Serial Number." Each ISSN is a unique eight digit code that identifies a specific serial title. (Serials are items published on a continuing, regular basis.)

J

Journal---A journal is a periodical (or serial) which publishes peer-reviewed articles written by scholars in a specific field. Journals are quite different from popular magazines, which contain articles which, while they have gone through the editorial process, have not gone through a peer-review process. Journal articles tend to look different than magazine articles: they are longer, often with statistical data in the form of charts, graphs or tables, usually have extensive footnotes and/or bibliographies and often contain little or no advertising.

K

Keyword Searching---In our online catalog (OASIS) and in most electronic databases available through Jernigan Library, users have the option to search for materials by keyword. These are descriptive words that relate to the specific topic forwhich you need material. The online catalog or database which you are using will retrieve all records which contain the words you enter in any field, (i.e. title field, subject heading field, etc.) Sometimes keyword searches yield too many results. When this is the case, you may have the option to use Boolean Operators to limit your search results.

L

Library of Congress Classification System---This system of classifying library materials was developed by the Library of Congress, as the name implies. It is the system used by most academic and research libraries. Materials are assigned unique alpha-numeric identifiers which organize the material by subject. These alpha-numeric identifiers are called Call Numbers and each begin with a letter or letters, followed by a series of letters and numbers, and sometimes include the publication date of a particular book. To see the detailed Library of Congress Classification System, click HERE.

Loan Period---This is the amount of time a library user has to borrow material from the library. The amount of time varies according to the type of material being borrowed. Some materials may not be borrowed and taken outside of the library, journals for instance. If you would like to see our policies on loans please click HERE.

M

Magazine---(see also Journal) Magazines are periodicals/serials, meaning they are published on a continuing, regular basis. They contain articles written by various authors, often journalists. Magazines are quite different from journals. Often they contain advertising; articles are usually shorter than in journals, and they do not usually contain bibliographies and footnotes.

Manuscripts---These are documents which have not been printed by a publisher, often personal papers such as letters or diaries. TAMUK's manuscripts are housed in the South Texas Archives and Special Collections, a division of James C. Jernigan Library.

Microforms---These are materials which have been photographed or filmed and are not in their original printed formats. Jernigan Library has both microfilm and microfiche. They are in cabinets on the first floor at the West end of the library. Microfiche and microfilm reader printers can be found along the back wall of the library on the first floor. There is no viewing charge, but printouts cost 10 cents for each page.

O

OASIS---This is the name of our online catalog. Remember the old card catalogs? Well, now they are electronic. OASIS allows you to search for all of our cataloged material, including books, audio-visual materials, theses and dissertations, and journal titles. You can search the catalog for a specific title or author or call number, or you can use a keyword search or a subject search. OASIS can be accessed from the library's homepage, or, if you'd like to see the OASIS search options, click HERE.

OPAC---This acronym simply stands for Online Public Access Catalog. At our library, the OPAC is called OASIS. OPAC's are electronic card catalogs that provide you with information about materials held by the library.

P

Periodical---A continuing publication that is published at regular intervals: daily, weekly, or monthly.