Summary
of the thesis and content of a work, generally
an article. These are generally objective in that there is
simply description of the content of the work.
Annotation
A description
of the content of a single work going further than the
abstract in that the author's
qualifications and other works are discussed in this type of
work.
Bibliography
List of
works on a topic, person, place OR a list of works cited.
Canon
A collection of works encompassing what are considered to be
the best and most representative of quality literature.
There is no one list and in the sense of being a proscribed
list, canons are under fire from many sides as dated and
exclusionary of more current literary genres and works.
Catalog (as library jargon)
An index to books
(and the chapters in the books), dissertations, videos,
slides, CD’s and journal TITLES (not for individual
articles) held in the library's collection (see
UNION Catalog).
Concordance
"[A]n
alphabetical index of the principal words in a book or the
works of an author with their immediate contexts." Webster’s
Collegiate Dictionary (10th ed.) A variation of
this is a Quotation Dictionary.
Controlled Vocabulary
The specific terminology used by a catalog or database to
identify the content of a work, regardless of what the
wording or language used. In catalogs, this is normally
found in the 'subject headings' field and, in databases will
frequently be called a 'descriptor'. A Thesaurus, if
available, will provide the approved term.
Correspondence
Personal papers and letters, not to be confused with
Manuscripts.
Criticism
Commentary and analysis of the author’s meaning
in a body of works (subjective). See also
Review and
Variorum.
Database (library usage)
Collection of articles, books or annotations, provided to
CSUSM researchers
through fee-based license agreements for electronic access.
Dictionary
Alphabetically-arranged list of definitions, general
(language) or specific (Shakespeare)
Directory
Work that identifies people, organizations, or things within
a certain category.
Editions
Versions of a work produced at different times, difficulties
in authority arise due changes made in subsequent revisions.
(Careful! Other countries use this term for ‘reprint’.)
Encyclopedia
More in
depth study of a person or other topic than a dictionary
entry, articles may have attribution and references or be
more analytical in the subject-specific works.
Finding Aid (archival usage)
A list
of items constituting a specialized collection organized by date, topic or other arrangement in
a special collection.
Holdings
All that a library owns in a collection. This
term can be further defined to mean the run (extent) of a periodical
title.
Indexes
Guide to
the contents of a collection or text.
Manuscripts
Original version of a work, not a reproduction or printing, early works
are handwritten.
Review
Critical (subjective) evaluation of one work, generally a
book, film, work of art or music. See also
Criticism and Variorum.
Translations
A
work produced in a different language than originally
written, difficulties can arise in disagreement in meanings
and word choices
taken by different translators.
Union
List or Union Catalog
One list
indexing the holdings of a number of libraries or archives.
See Catalog.
Variorum
A work which includes critical comments from both
contemporary (this edition's editor) and earlier editions.
The collection may also contain earlier editions or versions
of the work. See also Criticism.
Judith Downie,
Humanities Librarian
(760) 750-4374 OR come by my office (KEL
3424), I am available if my door is open (most of the
time) OR make an appointment by phone or
email.
