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It's All Geek to Me

G - L

Gale

Publishers of many of the bibliographic databases that the Wallace Library subscribes to, including Academic OneFileBusiness Collection and Biography in Context.

Headword

A word or phrase used as a main entry in a dictionary or encyclopedia, usually printed in boldface or some other distinctive type at the beginning of a definition or other entry. In most dictionaries, headwords are arranged in a single alphabetic sequence. In classified reference works, headwords may be listed alphabetically within each section, usually with a subject or keyword index to the entire work at the end of the last volume.
 

HELIN

The library consortium of which Wheaton College is a member. HELIN libraries share a joint catalog, which enables users to borrow materials from both their home libraries and all other member libraries. In other words, Wheaton users can request books from other HELIN libraries that Wheaton does not own; they are usually delivered to Wheaton within one or two business days.
 

Hold

A request by a user to a library that a book checked out to another person be saved for that user when it is returned.
 

Holdings

The materials (e.g. books, journals, videos, maps) that a library owns or subscribes to.

Index

1. A list of names or topics—usually found at the end of a publication—that directs you to the pages where those names or topics are discussed within the publication.

2. A printed or electronic publication that provides references to periodical articles or books by their subject, author, or other search terms.
 

Information Desk

Here you can check-out and return library materials, pick-up interlibrary loan materials, request course reserves, get help with computers, MFPs, and finding things in the library. The Info Desk is located in the Wallace Library atrium.
 

Information Literacy

The set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning.
 

InterLibrary Loan (ILL)

A service that allows you to borrow materials from other libraries through your own library. For more information on ILL at Wallace Library, check our website.
 

In-text Citation

A reference to an outside source made by the writer within the text of a paper or publication, usually by enclosing the name of the author and the page number(s) in parentheses immediately following the portion of text to which the citation refers, as opposed to indicating the source in a footnote or endnote. Proper form can be found in a suitable style manual.
 

Issue

1. To produce books or other printed materials for public sale or distribution, usually in quantity.

2. All the copies of a newspaper or periodical published on the same date and bearing the same issue number and including the same font. Purchase of a subscription entitles the subscriber to receive one copy of each successive issue for a prescribed period of time. In libraries, all the issues for the same publication year may be bound in one or more physical volumes, with the bibliographic volume number stamped on the spine(s), to create a back file.

Journal

A publication, issued on a regular basis, which contains scholarly research published as articles, papers, research reports, or technical reports.: See also: Periodical.
 

Journal Finder

Located on one of the tabs on the search box in the center of Wallace Library’s homepage, this option allows you to search for journals by title to see if the library subscribes to a certain journal, the years covered in our collection, and where you can access it.
 

JSTOR

A bibliographic database of over 2,500 core scholarly journals in humanities, social sciences, and sciences. For most journals, JSTOR does not include the most recent 1-7 years of content.
 

Keyword

A significant or memorable word or term in the title, abstract, or text of an information resource that indicates its subject and is often used as a search term.

Liaison

Wallace Library’s team of liaison librarians are responsible for information literacy instruction through research consultations, in-class instruction, and faculty collaboration. They also work with individual departments and the library’s Collections and Resources group to maintain the library’s collections. Each liaison is responsible for a set of departments related to their educational background. Form more information, see our website.
 

Libraries Worldwide

Also known as WorldCat, this bibliographic database allows you to search the catalogs of libraries around the world. In the Library Catalog, click the "Libraries Worldwide” box on the left of the results screen to expand your search to include these libraries. This can help you discover sources beyond what is held at Wallace Library and in the HELIN libraries. To submit an interlibrary loan request for a source in the Libraries Worldwide catalog, click the "Request Item” button.
 

Library Database

See: Bibliographic Database.
 

Library of Congress Classification (LCC)

A system of classifying books and other library materials developed and maintained over the last 200 years by the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. In LCC, human knowledge is divided into 20 broad categories indicated by single letters of the Roman alphabet, with major subdivisions indicated by a second letter, and narrower subdivisions by decimal numbers and further alphabetic notation.

For example, in the call number PE 3727.N4 M34 1994 (assigned to the book Juba to Jive: A Dictionary of African-American Slang, edited by Clarence Major), P represents the main class "Language and literature," PE the class "English language," 3727 the subclass "English slang," and N4 African Americans as a special group. M34 is the Cutter number for the editor's surname and 1994 is the year of publication. In the United States, most research libraries and academic libraries use LCC. An outline of LCC is available at the Library of Congress website.
 

Library of Congress Subject Heading (LCSH)

A descriptive word or phrase selected by a subject specialist at the Library of Congress from the list of Library of Congress Subject Headings and assigned to a book or other item when first published to indicate its subject. Multiple subject headings are assigned when necessary or desirable. See also: controlled vocabulary, subject heading, descriptor.
 

Limits / Limiters

Options used in searching that restrict your results to only information resources meeting certain criteria. Limiting options vary by database, but common options include limiting results to materials available full-text in the database, to scholarly or peer-reviewed publications, to materials written in a particular language, to materials available in a particular location, or to materials published at a specific time.
 

Literature Review

A comprehensive survey of the works published in a particular field of study or line of research, usually over a specific period of time, in the form of an in-depth, critical bibliographic essay or annotated list in which attention is drawn to the most significant works. (Click here for tips on writing a literature review, courtesy of UC Santa Cruz.) An annual review is a type of serial devoted to the publication of literature reviews. Synonymous with literature survey and review of the literature.

In scholarly journals, particularly those publishing original research in the physical and social sciences, the second section of each article, devoted to a review of the previously published literature on the subject, with references in the text to footnotes or a list of works cited at the end.