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Harmful Language Statement

Glossary

Catalog: A comprehensive list of the books, periodicals, maps, and other materials in a given collection, arranged in systematic order to facilitate retrieval (usually alphabetically by author, title, and/or subject). In most modern libraries, the card catalog has been converted to machine-readable bibliographic records and is available online.

Catalog record: An entry representing a specific item in a library catalog or bibliographic database, containing all the data elements necessary for a full description, presented in a specific bibliographic format. In modern cataloging, the standard format is online, but prior to the use of computers, the traditional format was the catalog card.

Classification: The process of dividing objects or concepts into logically hierarchical classes, subclasses, and sub-subclasses based on the characteristics they have in common and those that distinguish them.

Finding aid: A published or unpublished guide, inventory, index, register, calendar, list, or other system for retrieving archival primary source materials that provides more detailed description of each item than is customary in a library catalog record. Often a finding aid places archival resources in context by consolidating information about the collection, such as acquisition, processing, or provenance, including administrative history or biographical notes.

Metadata: Literally, "data about data." Structured information describing information resources/objects for a variety of purposes.

Subject heading: The most specific word or phrase that describes the subject, or one of the subjects, of a work, selected from a list of preferred terms (controlled vocabulary).

Glossary source: Reitz, Joan M. (2014) ODLIS: Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science. https://products.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/ Retrieved April 19, 2022.

Published September 27, 2022

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