ABSTRACT--A summary of an article or book.

ALPHABETICAL--Arranged by order of the alphabet

BIBLIOGRAPHY--A list of books or other published writings. The list may be of books by one author, or on one subject.

BIOGRAPHY—A person’s life story.  If that person writes it, it is called an autobiography.

BOUND--Secured to a cover by tape, glue, etc.

BOUND PERIODICALS--Several magazines or journals arranged together under one hard cover.

CALL NUMBER--A group of letters and numbers, or just numbers, given to each book and to each serial in the library that acts like an address. Books and serials are arranged in the library by call number. We use the Library of Congress System at this library.

CHECK OUT--To borrow library materials for use outside of the library.

CIRCULATION--The lending for use outside of the library

CIRCULATION DESK--The place to check out your books, get your library card, and obtain reserve materials. The Circulation Desk is on the first floor of the library, to your left as you enter.

CITATION--The written information about a book or article which you will need in order to locate the item. A citation usually includes information such as author, title, pages, and dates.

CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM--Items grouped together by a category. In most libraries, materials are grouped together by subject. The Library of Congress System is used at PLU.

CUMULATE--To build up by adding new materials.

CURRENT PERIODICAL--Issues of a magazine or journal published during the last few months. Our current periodicals are on the first floor of the library.

DUE DATE--The date by which your borrowed books and materials should be returned.

EBSCOHOST—An online database that indexes and abstracts about 4500 journals.  About 3600 journals include full-text online.

FINE--The amount of money that is owed by the borrower if his/her book is not returned on time.

FULL TEXT—The content of a publication in electronic form.  Many of our databases make journal articles available full text online.

INTERNET--An international network of computer networks. PLU has made many research tools accessible through the Internet.

JOURNAL--A magazine published by an institution or professional society. It is more scholarly than a magazine found at a local newsstand or drug store.

JOURNALS AT PLU—A local database that lists the print and online journals PLU owns.

LIBRARIAN LIVE—An online reference service that uses “Chat” software.  Use it to ask a reference question in “real time”.

MICROFICHE--A flat sheet of film that stores periodicals or other documents.

MICROFILM--A roll of film either 16mm or 35mm that stores periodicals or other documents.

MICROFORMS--The general term used for printed items that have been reduced in size. Microforms must be read with the assistance of a special machine.

MULTI-MEDIA—The term we use for videotapes, DVDs, CD-ROMs, CDs, and other forms of information storage.

ONLINE CATALOG--A library catalog that is on a database.

OVERDUE--Material that is not returned to the library by its due date is considered overdue.

PERIODICAL--A magazine or journal that is published at regular time periods. It may come out each week, each month, quarterly, etc.

PERIODICAL INDEX--An alphabetical list that refers you to articles within periodicals. The list is generally arranged by subject or author. Periodical indexes are used to locate articles by subject or author within magazines, journals, and newspapers. We have many print indexes but most people use the online indexes because they are more up-to-date.

PHOTOCOPY MACHINES--Machines that copy books and articles onto paper. They are sometimes called copiers.

ProQuest--A family of databases that includes some full text journals and newspapers

REFERENCE BOOK--A book you may use to find information on a subject. Because most people refer to these books, but do not need to read them from beginning to end, these books do not circulate. Dictionaries, encyclopedias, and almanacs are all reference books.

REFERENCE DESK--Library staff members are on duty in the reference area to help you in using the catalog, reference books, Internet, and to find the material or information you need.  Ask them for help.

RESERVE--Library materials may be placed "on reserve" by faculty members. Reserve materials are kept at the Loan Desk. These materials are loaned for limited periods of time, from two-hours to twenty-four hours. The fines on reserve books are very high.   Some reserves are in electronic form.

SERIAL--A publication that comes out in parts. This includes periodicals such as magazines, newspapers, and journals, as well as books such as almanacs that come out each year.

STACKS--The shelves where books are located. PLU has book stacks on the second and third floors.

gle-11/02 (PLU)