Serial
Items that are published over time in discrete parts are called "serials." Common serials are magazines, newspapers, and journals. Other publications that are considered serials by libraries include reference books published yearly. Recently libraries began using "continuing resource" as a blanket term to describe these items and other resources published on a continuing basis.
Source: Semantic Web Standards
Statement of Responsibility
The "statement of responsibility" is a string of characters that follows the title in the library catalogue record, usually preceded by a slash ("/ "). In the case of books and other printed materials, the content of the statement of responsibility is taken directly from the title page of the resource, and can read something like: "by John Smith with illustrations by Maggie Jones." Its role is to show the user how the resource described itself on the title page.
Source: Semantic Web Standards
Subject Heading
Subject headings: a standardised word or phrase describing a topic or concept. Also called descriptors or controlled vocabulary.
Scholarly Journals
A publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny and discussion of research. They are usually peer-reviewed or refereed. Content typically takes the form of articles presenting original research, review articles, and book reviews.
Search term
A word or words typed into a search box of an online catalog, database, or search engine to retrieve relevant information. Quality search terms represent one of the main concepts in a research question or thesis statement.
Secondary Source
A secondary source is something written about a primary source. Secondary sources include comments on, interpretations of, or discussions about the original material. You can think of secondary sources as second-hand information. If I tell you something, I am the primary source. If you tell someone else what I told you, you are the secondary source. Secondary source materials can be articles in newspapers or popular magazines, book or movie reviews, or articles found in scholarly journals that evaluate or criticize someone else's original research. See also: Primary Source.
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Soft Copy
Soft copy (sometimes spelt "softcopy") is an electronic copy of some type of data, such as a file viewed on a computer's display or transmitted as an e-mail attachment. Such material, when printed, is referred to as a hard copy.
Source: TechTarget
Special Collection
A collection of materials segregated from a general library collection according to theme, ownership or origin. One collection may consists of different media.