American Language Program- all levels: Home

Electronic Resource: any library material that is made available electronically, such as an eBook, database or journal article.

Encyclopedia- A collection of information usually in many volumes such as The World Book Student or The Encyclopedia Britannica.

Keyword - Any significant word or phrase, especially a word used to describe the contents of a document.

Library Resources - A collection of sources of information. Many valuable resources are available at the library, such as books, e-books, CDs, DVDs, streaming videos, magazines, newspapers, journals, encyclopedias, textbooks, etc.

Non-fiction- A factual or true story such as history, biography, etc.

Reference desk -The place where you go to find a librarian and ask for help.  

Reserve -Textbooks or other items that you can use in the Library. At BCC, reserve materials are at the Service Desk.

Service Desk -The place to check out or return a book. Also where the reserve books are found.

Abstract- a brief summary of the main point of an article.

Citation- information used to identify or to help locate a book or a magazine article. A journal citation, for example, contains the author's name, title of the article, title of the journal, volume number, date and page number.

Database - a list of articles and/or books generally arranged by subject. Most library databases are accessed through the internet.

Full text- the complete article or book and not just the abstract or citation.

Inter Library Loan: a way to obtain materials not owned by BCC Libraries, such as copies of journal articles, books, etc.

Journal- a periodical with long articles reporting on original research. These are written for professionals or scholars in the subject.

Periodical- something published on a regular basis- daily, weekly, monthly- such as a newspaper, magazine or journal.

Bibliography: a list of resources on a specific topic. Also known as 'references' or 'works cited'.

Annotated bibliographies include brief descriptions of the resources. 

PDF (Portable Document Format) - A file format that allows files to be viewed as an images, maintaining the original look of the document.

Peer Reviewed - refers to a scholarly journal that requires an article to be critically evaluated by one or more experts on the subject.

Research Guide - helpful aid that students can use to research certain topics. These guides usually contain listings of recommended resources for finding information, such as databases (for finding articles), books, web pages or other useful resources.

Scholarly Journal - A periodical devoted to a specific field of scholarly knowledge. Articles appearing in scholarly journals are peer reviewed (reviewed by an authorizing board).

Search Engine - On the internet, a program that finds Web resources and indexes them. Users perform searches and are returned results that match their request. All the Web, Google and Firefox are examples of search engines.