- 2-1-1
- An easy-to-remember telephone number that, where available, can be dialed
year-round, at any time of day, to connect the user with important community
services and volunteer opportunities at the local and state level.
Implementation of the 2-1-1 information and
referral system is a joint project of United Way of America (UWA) and the
Alliance of Information and Referral
Systems (AIRS), organizations currently seeking federal funding for
national 2-1-1 service through the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. Some states provide searchable online 2-1-1 service (see Arizona 2-1-1 Online). To learn
more, see the United Way/AIRS 2-1-1
homepage.
- 3-D movie
- See: stereoscopic.
- 8mm film
- A gauge of motion picture film that is 8 millimeters
wide from edge to edge. Introduced for the home market by Kodak in 1932, "Cine
Kodak Eight" utilized a special 16mm film that had double the
number of perforations along
both edges, enabling the filmmaker to run the film through the camera in one
direction, then reload and expose the other half of the film, similar to the
way an audiocassette is
used. After development, the film was slit lengthwise down the center and spliced end to end in the
laboratory, fitting four times as many frames in the same amount of
film. Regular 8mm has 80 frames
per foot and the same size sprocket holes as 16mm film. In 1965, Kodak
introduced cartridge-loading Super
8mm that eliminated the need to flip and rethread the film. Super 8 has 74
frames per foot and smaller sprocket holes, leaving more area for the image.
It is used by both amateurs and professionals and has developed a following
among experimental filmmakers. Many well-known cinematographers and
directors began their
careers using Super 8. Click here to
learn more, courtesy of Kodak. See also: 35mm film.
- 16mm film
- Motion picture
film that is 16 millimeters
wide from edge to edge, with perforations along one
edge and space for a sound track along the
other (silent 16mm
film has perforations on both sides). Introduced by Kodak in 1923 as a safe, nonflammable
alternative for the amateur and educational (documentary) markets,
16mm film is the gauge
most commonly found in the collections of American
archives, libraries, and museums.
Used extensively for military training films during World War II, it has 40 frames per foot and one
perforation per frame.
Sound 16mm film is shot and projected at a speed of 24 frames
per second; silent 16mm at 16 frames per second. Introduced in 1971, Super
16mm is a negative-only
film with a frame area 40 percent greater than regular 16mm, enlarged to 35mm in processing. Because 16mm
cameras and projectors are portable and easy to operate, early enthusiasts
formed cine clubs to share their work and exchange information. Many 16mm
users switched to videotape in the 1970s
when portable video equipment became widely available. The Ann Arbor Film Festival still features
16mm films. Click here
to learn more, courtesy of Kodak. See also: 8mm film.
- 35mm film
- Motion picture
film that is 35 millimeters
wide from edge to edge, with perforations on both
sides. Used by Thomas Edison in his Kinetoscope, a personal
film viewer patented in 1887 and
introduced at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts in 1893, 35mm film was originally
made by cutting 70mm Eastman Kodak roll film in half down the center. It
eventually became the standard gauge for the theatrical
motion picture industry. With the introduction of sound in 1929, the frame was squared to allow
space for the sound
track, but the more visually pleasing rectangular frame was soon restored
by reducing frame size. 35mm sound film has 16 frames per foot, 6 perforations
per inch, and is shot and projected at a speed of 24 frames
per second. Because 35mm film is expensive to use and the cameras and
projectors are too bulky and heavy to be portable, Kodak developed smaller
gauge films (16mm and 8mm) for the amateur and educational markets. Click here to learn more
about 35mm film, courtesy of Wikipedia.
- 70mm film
- A gauge of high-resolution motion picture film introduced in the 1950s
that measures 65mm from edge to edge in the camera. On prints intended for
projection, 2.5mm is added along each side to accommodate magnetic stripes capable
of holding 6 tracks
of surround sound. Each frame has 5 perforations on each
side, with an aspect
ratio of 2.2:1. Well-known theatrical 70mm films include 2001: Space
Odyssey, Lawrence of Arabia, and My Fair Lady. IMAX
70mm films, shot on 65mm film with the frames positioned lengthwise, have no
sound tracks on the projection print; instead, synchronized digital sound is played
separately.
- A&I
- See: abstracting and
indexing.
- AACR
- See: Anglo-American
Cataloging Rules.
- AACR2
- See: Anglo-American
Cataloging Rules.
- AACR2 2002
- See: Anglo-American
Cataloging Rules.
- AACR2-e
- See: Anglo-American
Cataloging Rules.
- AACR2R
- See: Anglo-American
Cataloging Rules.
- AAHSL
- See: Association of
Academic Health Sciences Libraries.
- AALL
- See: American Association
of Law Libraries.
- AAMES
- See: Asian, African, and
Middle Eastern Section.
- A and B rolls
- In motion
picture production, a method of cutting negative or positive film in which the first shot
is placed on one roll (the
"A" roll) with black or blank leader in the corresponding
position on a second roll (the "B" roll), the second shot is put on the B roll
with black or blank leader in the corresponding position on the A roll, and so
on, resulting in a pair of checker-boarded production elements.
When the shots are printed in succession onto
the next generation
stock, the splices between shots are
concealed. The technique is also used to create fades and dissolves not done
in optical printing. A and B rolls are usually unique.
- AAP
- See: Association of
American Publishers.
- AAS
- See: American Antiquarian
Society.
- AASL
- See: American Association
of School Librarians.
- AAT
- See: Art &
Architecture Thesaurus.
- AAUP
- See: American Association
of University Professors and Association of
American University Presses.
- ABA
- See: American Booksellers
Association.
- ABAA
- See: Antiquarian
Booksellers Association of America.
- abandoned property law
- A statute of particular interest to archivists, describing
the procedures by which an individual or organization may obtain clear, legal
title to material that it holds but does not own. In the United States,
federal statutory law does not address abandoned property; such statutes are
enacted state by state, with less than half of the 50 states having taken the
step. Click
here to learn about New Hampshire's Abandoned Property Law, courtesy of
the New Hampshire State Treasurer. Synonymous with unclaimed property
law.
- AB Bookman's Weekly
- A trade
publication used mainly by antiquarian booksellers to locate rare, out of print, and
difficult to find titles,
AB Bookman's Weekly began as a section of Publisher's
Weekly under the title Antiquarian Bookman. In 1948 it
became an independent weekly of the same title published by R.R. Bowker. Publication under the
current title began in 1967.
- abbreviation
- A shortened form of a word or phrase used for brevity in
place of the whole, consisting of the first letter, or the first few
letters, followed by a period (full stop), for example,
assoc. for association or P.O. for post
office. Some terms
have more than one abbreviation (v. or vol. for
volume). Also used as an umbrella term for any shortened form of a
word or phrase not an acronym, initialism, or contraction, for
example, the postal code CT for Connecticut. The rules governing the
use of abbreviations in library catalog entries are given in
Appendix B of AACR2. Click
here to connect to the Yahoo! list of online acronym and
abbreviation finders. Abbreviated abbr.
In medieval manuscripts,
abbreviations were often used to save time and space, and readers of the time would
have been familiar with them. Michelle Brown notes in Understanding
Illuminated Manuscripts (Getty Museum/British Library, 1994) that Irish
scribes relied on them
extensively in copying
pocket-size Gospel
books used for study.
- ABC book
- See: abecedary and alphabet book.
- Abebooks
- A leading online
market place for used,
rare, and out of print books, Abebooks provides a
list of over 40 million titles available from a
network of over 10,000 booksellers. The company
provides additional services to librarians, such as
consolidated billing and purchase orders. Click here to connect to the Abebooks.com
homepage. See
also: Alibris.
- abecedarium
- See: abecedary.
- abecedarius
- See: acrostic.
- abecedary
- A book containing the
letters of the alphabet and basic rules
of spelling and grammar,
used in Europe as a primer before the invention
of the printing
press. Early printed examples
(sometimes in the form of a broadsheet) displayed
the alphabet in uppercase and lowercase letters in both
roman and gothic type, with separate lists of
vowels, dipthongs, and consonants. By 1700, some ABC books included children's
rhymes. Synonymous
with abecedarium (plural: abecedarii). See
also: horn
book.
- aberrant copy
- A copy of a book containing obvious printing and/or binding errors that
are more serious than minor defects.
- aberrant date
- In archives, a date
that falls outside the chronological
sequence of dates pertaining to the majority of the documents in the record unit described
(Richard Pearce-Moses, A Glossary of Archival
and Records Terminology, Society of American Archives).
- ABF
- See: Association des
Bibliothécaires Français.
- aboutness
- The totality of subjects explicitly or
implicitly addressed in the text of a document, including but
not limited to the meaning(s) of the title, the stated and
unstated intentions of the author, and the ways in
which the information may be used
by readers. Levels of specificity must be
considered in ascertaining the subject(s) of a work. In the case of the
hypothetical title
The Japanese Teamwork Approach to Improving High School
Effectiveness, is the work about:
-
- 1. education?
- 2. educational effectiveness?
- 3. high school effectiveness?
- 4. teamwork?
- 5. a Japanese approach to teamwork?
As a general rule, catalogers and indexers assign the most
specific subject
headings that describe the significant content of the item. In a post-coordinate indexing system such as
the one used in the ERIC database, the descriptors "Educational
effectiveness," "High schools," "Japan," and "Teamwork" would probably be
assigned to the example given above, but in a pre-coordinate
system, such as the Library of Congress Subject
Headings list, the appropriate headings might be "High
schools--Japan," "Teacher effectiveness--Japan," and "Teaching teams--Japan."
See also: summarization.
- above the fold
- The printed half of
a broadsheet newspaper that appears
higher on the page than the
horizontal fold. Articles placed near the
top have greater prominence because most languages are read from
top to bottom of the writing surface.
- abridged
- See: abridgment.
- Abridged Decimal Classification (ADC)
- A logical truncation of the notational and structural
hierarchy of
the full edition of Dewey Decimal Classification,
developed for general collections of 20,000 titles or less. Click
here for more information, courtesy
of OCLC.
- abridgment
- A shortened version or edition of a written work that preserves the
overall meaning and manner of presentation of the original but omits the
less important passages of text and usually any illustrations, notes, and appendices. Often prepared
by a person other than the original author or editor, an abridged
edition is generally intended for readers unlikely to purchase
the unabridged
version because of its length, complexity, or price (example:
The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary). Also spelled
abridgement. Abbreviated
abr. Synonymous with condensation. Compare with simplified
edition. See also: abstract, brief, digest, epitome, summary, and synopsis.
- absenteeism
- The failure of an employee to report for work, usually due to illness,
accident, family responsibilities, or personal business. A persistently high
rate of absenteeism may be a sign of low morale among the staff of a library or library system.
See also: burnout.
- absolute humidity
- See: humidity.
- absorbed title
- See: absorption.
- absorbency
- The capacity of paper
to absorb and retain moisture, which varies with type of paper and is of
particular importance in printing processes that
use liquid ink. See
also: water-damaged.
- absorption
- The incorporation of one serial by another. The note Absorbed:
followed by the title of
the assimilated serial is added to the bibliographic record
representing the assimilating publication, and the
corresponding note Absorbed by: followed by the title of the
assimilating serial is added to the record for the assimilated publication.
The absorbed title usually assumes the title and numbering of the
assimilating publication. Compare with merger.
- abstract
- A brief, objective representation of the essential content of a book, article, speech, report, dissertation, patent, standard, or other work, presenting the main
points in the same order as the original but having no
independent literary value. A well-prepared abstract enables the reader to 1) quickly
identify the basic content of the document, 2) determine its
relevance to their
interests, and 3) decide whether it is worth their time to read the entire
document. An abstract can be informative, indicative, critical, or
written from a particular point of view (slanted). Examples
of the various types of abstracts can be seen in the Appendix of the ANSI/NISO Z39.14 Guidelines
for Abstracts.
Length depends on the type of document abstracted and the intended use of
the abstract. As a general rule, abstracts of long documents, such as monographs and theses, are limited to a
single page (about 300
words); abstracts of papers, articles, and
portions of monographs are no longer than 250 words; abstracts of notes and other brief
communications are limited to 100 words; and abstracts of very short
documents, such as editorials and letters to the editor,
are about 30 words long. In a scholarly journal article, the
abstract should appear on the first page, following the title and name(s) of author(s) and preceding the
text. In a separately published
document, the abstract should be placed between the title page and the text.
In an entry in a printed indexing and abstracting
service or bibliographic database,
the abstract accompanies the citation. Because the
abstract is a searchable field in most bibliographic
databases, attention
must be paid by the abstractor to the keywords included in it.
Authorship of an
abstract can be unattributed or
indicated by name or initials. Compare with summary. See
also: abstracting
journal, author
abstract, and structured abstract.
- abstracting
- The preparation of a brief, objective statement (abstract) of the content of a written work to enable the researcher to quickly
determine whether reading the entire text might satisfy the
specific information
need. Abstracting is usually limited to the literature of a specific
discipline or group
of related disciplines and is performed by an individual or commercial entity,
such as an indexing and
abstracting
service, that provides abstracts regularly to a list of subscribers.
- abstracting and indexing (A&I)
- A category of database that provides
bibliographic citations
and abstracts of the literature of a discipline or subject area, as distinct
from a retrieval
service that provides information sources in
full-text.
- abstracting journal
- A journal that
specializes in providing summaries (called abstracts) of articles and other documents published within the
scope of a specific academic discipline or field of study
(example: Peace Research Abstracts Journal).
Synonymous with abstract journal. Compare with abstracting
service.
- abstracting service
- A commercial indexing service that
provides both a citation and a brief summary or abstract of the content of each document indexed (example:
Information Science &
Technology Abstracts). Numbered consecutively in order of addition,
entries are issued serially in print, usually in monthly or quarterly supplements, or in a
regularly updated bibliographic database
available by subscription.
Abstracting services can be comprehensive or selective within a
specific academic discipline or
subdiscipline. Compare with abstracting
journal.
- abstract journal
- See: abstracting
journal.
- ACA
- See: Academy of
Certified Archivists and Association of
Canadian Archivists.
- ACACC
- See: Association of Canadian Map
Libraries and Archives.
- academic freedom
- The principle that faculty members employed at institutions of higher
education (including librarians with faculty status)
should remain free to express their views and teach in the manner of their own
choosing, without pressure or interference from administration,
government, or any outside organization.
- academic library
- A library that is an
integral part of a college, university, or other institution of postsecondary
education, administered
to meet the information and research needs of its
students, faculty, and staff. In the United States, the professional association for
academic libraries and librarians is the Association of College and
Research Libraries (ACRL), which publishes Standards
for Libraries in Higher Education. For more information on academic
libraries in the United States, see E.D. TAB:
Academic Libraries: 2000, a report published in November
2003 by the National Center for Education
Statistics (NCES). Libweb
provides a list of links to
academic libraries in the United States by region and state. Compare with research library.
See also: college library, departmental
library, graduate
library, undergraduate library,
and university
library.
- academic press
- See: university press.
- academic status
- Recognition given by an institution of higher education that the librarians in its employ
are considered members of the teaching or research staff but are
not entitled to ranks, titles, rights, and benefits equivalent to
those of faculty. The Association of College and
Research Libraries (ACRL) has published Guidelines
for Academic Status for College and University Librarians (June
2002). Compare with faculty status.
- Academy aperture
- See: Academy format.
- Academy Award
- An award given annually in the United States by the voting membership of
the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences for excellence in motion picture performance and
production. To qualify, a film must have opened in Los
Angeles during the preceding calendar year. Nominees are announced in advance
and the ceremony, hosted by a celebrity, is televised nationally. Awards are
given in seven major categories: best picture (feature length), best
director, best actor,
best actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, and best
foreign-language film.
Awards are also given for animated and short films. Also called
an "Oscar" for the nickname given to the
golden trophy statuette received by each winner. See HowStuffWorks
for more information
about the Academy Awards. The Internet
Movie Database provides a summary of past award winners. Click here to connect to the official Academy
Awards Web site.
- academy file
- In archives, a series, often found in
Congressional records,
that includes applications for admission to one of the United States service
academies, often accompanied by letters of recommendation
from appropriate members of Congress. The academies include the Military
Academy at West Point, the Naval Academy at Annapolis, the Air Force Academy
at Colorado Springs, the Coast Guard Academy at Groton, and the Merchant
Marine Academy at King's Point.
- Academy format
- The moving image format chosen by
representatives of the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences, American
Society of Cinematographers (ASC), Society
of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), and American
Projection Society to be the standard for 35mm film. Academy format for
silent film had an aspect ratio of 4:3 or
1.33:1 (width to height of image). When sound film was introduced, the
format changed to 1.37:1, which remained the international standard for about
25 years until widescreen was introduced (the image ratio remained 1.33:1 with
an added area on one side for the sound track). Synonymous
with Academy aperture.
- Academy of Certified Archivists (ACA)
- Founded in 1989 at the annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists,
ACA is an independent, nonprofit professional organization that certifies individuals
who meet specific standards and
requirements for archival education, knowledge, and
experience. To become a Certified Archivist, applicants
must pass an examination given annually in conjunction with the annual meeting
of the SAA and simultaneously at several announced sites and petitioned sites
in the United States and Canada. Click here to connect to the
ACA homepage.
- acanthus
- A stylized representation of the elegantly scalloped leaf-form of
Acanthus spinosus, a species of Mediterranean herbaceous plant with
thick, fleshy leaves, used in Antiquity to ornament Corinthian capitals and
later as a decorative motif in medieval art,
especially in the borders
and initial
letters of illuminated manuscripts where it
usually appears painted in unrealistic colors (red, yellow, blue, purple),
often in combination with small images of flowers, birds, insects, and
animals. Click
here to view acanthus borders in a 15th-century Flemish Book of Hours (Getty Museum, MS Ludwig IX 8) or see this
example in a 15th-century French translation of Saint
Augustine's De Civitate Dei (Koninklijke
Bibliotheek). Another variation on the style can be seen in this
15th-century version of Saint
George and the Dragon (Getty, MS 2). Compare with rinceaux.
- accelerated aging test
- A laboratory procedure used by archivists and special
collections librarians to estimate
the rate at which a material (film, paper, ink, etc.) will deteriorate in
storage, to facilitate prediction of its life expectancy.
According to the Society of
American Archivists, such tests are often based on the Arrhenius function,
which assumes that materials age in a predictable manner relative to
temperature. However, such tests may be of limited usefulness because degree
of permanence is
influenced by conditions of storage, which vary widely. Also, empirical
verification of the accuracy of accelerated aging tests requires experiments
conducted over a number of years.
- acceptable use policy (AUP)
- Guidelines established by a library or library system
concerning the manner in which its computer systems and equipment may be used
by patrons and staff; for example,
most public and academic libraries
prohibit the use of library computers for private commercial or unlawful
activities. In most libraries, a printed copy of acceptable use policy
is posted near the workstations to which
restrictions apply. Some libraries make their policy statement available
electronically, and users may be required to assent to it by clicking on a
small box or icon before access is granted.
Synonymous with Internet use policy.
- access
- The right of entry to a library or its collections. All public libraries and
most academic
libraries in the United States are open to the general public, but access
to certain areas such as closed stacks, rare books, and special
collections may be restricted. In a more
general sense, the right or opportunity to use a resource that may not be
openly and freely available to everyone. See also: accessibility.
In computing, the privilege of using a computer system or online resource, usually
controlled by the issuance of access codes to authorized users. In
a more general sense, the ability of a user to reach data stored on a computer or
computer system. See also: open access and perpetual access.
- access code
- An identification code, such as a username, password, or PIN, which a user must enter
correctly to gain access
to a computer system or network. In most proprietary systems,
access codes are tightly controlled to exclude unauthorized users.
Synonymous with authorization code.
- access copy
- A copy of a motion picture on film, videotape, DVD, or some other medium, used for public
service (viewing, circulation, etc.), as
opposed to a copy used for preservation or a master used for duplication. Similarly,
a copy of a photograph or other document made in any format for normal daily use,
to protect the original
from wear and accidental damage. Synonymous with use copy.
Also, a digital
object, typically a graphic image, scaled down
from a high quality original to a lower quality (often smaller) version to
facilitate transmission over networks of low bandwidth.
- accessibility
- The ease with which a person may enter a library, gain access to its online systems, use its
resources, and obtain needed information regardless
of format. In a more
general sense, the quality of being able to be located and used by a person.
In the Web environment, the
quality of being usable by everyone regardless of disability. See the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).
In information storage and
retrieval, the manner in which a computer system retrieves records from a file, which usually depends on
the method of their arrangement in or on the storage medium.
- accession
- To record in
an accession list the addition of a bibliographic item to a library collection, whether
acquired by purchase or exchange or as a gift. In automated libraries,
the addition is usually recorded by enhancing a brief order record that is
expanded in cataloging to become the
full bibliographic
record entered permanently in the catalog. Also refers to the
material added. The
process of making additions to a collection is known as accessions.
The opposite of deaccession. Compare
with acquisitions.
See also: accession number
and accession
record.
In archives, the
formal act of accepting and documenting the
receipt of records taken
into custody, part of
the process of establishing physical and intellectual control over them. In
the case of donated items, a deed of gift may be
required to transfer legal title.
- accession list
- See: accession record.
- accession number
- A unique number
assigned to a bibliographic
item in the order in which it is added to a library collection,
recorded in an accession record
maintained by the technical
services department. Most libraries assign accession
numbers in continuous numerical sequence, but some use a code system to
indicate type of material and/or year of accession in addition to
order of accession. See also: Library of Congress Control
Number and OCLC
control number.
- accession order
- The arrangement
of books or other documents on shelves in the chronological and
numerical order of their addition to a specific category or class, as opposed to an
arrangement based entirely on a classification
system.
- accession record
- A list of the bibliographic items added
to a library collection in the order
of their addition. Normally such a list includes the accession number,
brief bibliographic identification, source, and price paid for each item.
Synonymous with accession catalog, accession list, and
accession register.
- accessions
- See: accession.
- access point
- A unit of information in a bibliographic record
under which a person may search for and identify items listed in the library catalog or bibliographic database.
Access points have traditionally included the main entry, added entries, subject headings, classification or
call number, and
codes such as the standard number, but
with machine-readable cataloging, almost any
portion of the catalog
record (name of publisher, type of
material, etc.) can serve as an access point. In the MARC record, most access
points are found in the following fields (with XX in the range
of 00-99):
-
- 1XX - Main entries
- 4XX - Series statements
- 6XX - Subject headings
- 7XX - Added entries other than subject or series
- 8XX - Series added entries
In a more general sense, any unique data element that serves as a
point of entry to an organized file of information. In files
indexed with controlled vocabulary,
an access point may be a preferred or
nonpreferred term.
- access policy
- A formal written statement issued by the person(s) or body responsible for
managing archives or special
collections, specifying which materials are available for access and by whom,
including any conditions or restrictions on use, usually posted or distributed
by some method to users.
- access services
- The provision of access to a library's resources and collections, which
includes the circulation of materials (general
circulation, reserves,
interlibrary loan,
document delivery), reshelving, stack maintenance,
security, and signage. Large libraries
employ an access services librarian to manage these activities.
- access time
- The amount of time it takes a computer system to provide stored data to a person who logs on and follows correct
procedures for retrieval. Access time is often slower during periods of peak use.
- Access to Learning Award
- An annual award sponsored by the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and administered by the Council on Library and Information
Resources (CLIR), given to a library, library agency, or
comparable organization outside the United States for efforts to expand free
public access to information, computers,
and the Internet for
all people through an existing innovative program. The winner receives US$1
million to expand its services. Applications are reviewed by an international
advisory committee of librarians and information technology
experts who make the final selection. The award is presented at the World Library and Information
Congress, the annual meeting of the International Federation of
Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). Click here to
learn more about the Access to Learning Award.
- acclimatization
- The process of allowing archival records and other materials
to adapt to environmental changes (in temperature, humidity, etc.),
especially when removed from cold storage for use at
room temperature. Because materials can take hours to adapt to normal room
temperature, the Society of
American Archivists does not recommend cold storage as a practical
solution for preserving frequently
consulted items. Click
here to learn about acclimatization of film, courtesy of the National Film
and Sound Archive of Australia. Also spelled acclimatisation.
- accompanying material
- Related but physically distinct material issued with an item, for example, a floppy disk, CD-ROM, slide set, answer book, teacher's manual, atlas, or portfolio of prints or plates, intended by the publisher to be used and
stored with it, often in a pocket inside the cover or loose inside the container. In AACR2, the presence
of accompanying material is indicated in the physical
description area of the
bibliographic record.
See also: dashed-on entry.
- accordion fold
- A method of folding a piece of paper (or several pieces pasted together edge to edge) in which each
successive fold is parallel
with, but in the opposite direction to, the preceding one. Click here
to see a 14th-century Korean accordion-style manuscript of the
Lotus Sutra on indigo-dyed mulberry paper (Metropolitan Museum of
Art) and here to view an untitled early
19th-century example from Nepal (Library of Congress). See also
this early 20th-century Thai
manuscript in a lacquered cover (Cornell
University Library). Synonymous with fan fold and
z-fold. See also: Chinese style and concertina.
- accountability
- The extent to which persons in government and the workplace are held
answerable for their conduct in office and for the quality of their performance of assigned
duties, particularly when incompetence, dereliction, or malfeasance is at
issue. See also: performance
evaluation.
- account book
- A blankbook, ruled or unruled, in which
the details of transactions, usually financial, are recorded, often in the form
of a ledger with columns
tallied at the end of each day, week, month, or year to show the profitability
of the enterprise. Account books can be a valuable source
of historical information. Click here
to see the manuscript
account book of the 18th-century Philadelphia joiner, John Head, courtesy of
the American Philosophical
Society, and here to
see a page from a
19th-century household account book (National Museum of American
History). Compare with cash book.
- accounts binding
- See: stationery
binding.
- accreditation
- The voluntary nongovernmental evaluation process by which an educational
or service organization regularly establishes that its programs, or the
institution as a whole (or one of its schools or units), meets pre-established
standards of quality
and integrity. In higher education, accreditation is a collegial process
based on self-assessment and peer evaluation for the improvement of academic
quality and public accountability. In the United States, institutions of
higher learning are evaluated by regional accrediting bodies. Evaluation of academic libraries is
included in the institutional process. Graduate programs of library and information science are
evaluated by the Committee on
Accreditation (COA) of the American Library Association
(ALA). Formal evaluation of individual competence is called certification.
See also: accredited program and
credential.
- accreditation action
- One of seven possible decisions by the Committee on Accreditation
(COA) of the American Library
Association (ALA) affecting the accreditation status
of a library and information
studies program under the Standards
for Accreditation of Master's Programs in Library and Information
Studies (1992), conveyed to the dean of the program and to the
institution's chief executive officer in a formal Decision Document. The
actions are:
- Precandidacy granted - the program’s and institution’s
commitment to achieving ALA accreditation is accepted
- Candidacy granted - the program is ready to begin the
two-year process culminating in the Program Presentation document, comprehensive review,
and COA accreditation decision
- Initially accredited - the program is accredited for the first
time
- Accreditation continued - the program continues to
demonstrate conformity to ALA Standards (synonymous with
Accredited)
- Conditionally accredited - the program needs significant
and immediate improvement to maintain conformity to ALA Standards
- Accreditation withdrawn - the program is no longer
accredited by the ALA, as of the date specified by the COA (an
appeal may be filed)
- Initial accreditation denied - the program or institution
may file an appeal
The Committee on Accreditation may withdraw accreditation for serious lack
of conformity to the Standards, for failure to participate in the
evaluation process, or for not meeting financial obligations to the COA.
- accredited library school
- See: accredited program.
- accredited program
- In the United States, a professional degree program in library and information science,
regularly evaluated by the Committee on Accreditation
(COA) of the American Library
Association (ALA) and found to meet or exceed pre-established standards of quality, as
distinct from an approved
program recognized or certified by a state
board or educational agency as meeting its
standards. Some approved programs are also ALA-accredited.
See also: accreditation action
and retroactive period
of accreditation.
- accumulation
- In library collection development,
the policy of
acquiring as much
of the published literature as possible
on a subject, or in an
academic discipline,
usually in support of primary research in the field. The
collections of large
academic and research libraries
typically reflect this priority, in contrast to public libraries,
where weeding is done
regularly on the basis of usage, and special libraries
operating under constraints that require maintenance of the collection in a steady state. In archives, the accumulation
of recurring records is
often governed by a disposition
schedule.
- accuracy
- The quality of correctness as to fact and of precision as to detail in information resources
and in the delivery of information services. In libraries, it is essential
that the resources used by librarians to provide reference service be
free of error. Accuracy is also an important criterion in judging the
reliability of information provided on the Internet. The accuracy of
a statement is verified by consulting other sources that provide the same
information. The opposite of inaccuracy (the quality of being
incorrect or mistaken).
In cartography, a
measure of the degree to which the coordinates of points shown on a map conform to actual survey coordinates. In
a broader sense, the degree to which a value or set of values, either measured
or calculated, approximates a specific standard for that value
(Cartographic Materials; A Manual of Interpretation for AACR2, 2002
Revision, ALA, 2003).
- acetate decay
- The chemical deterioration of film that has an acetate plastic base, an autocatalytic process
caused by moisture, heat, and high relative humidity. According to
The Film Preservation Guide (National Film Preservation
Foundation, 2004), decay occurs in five stages, accelerating at it
progresses: (1) the film releases acetic acid, emitting a characteristic
vinegar odor; (2) the film base begins to shrink, curling and
warping along both dimensions (length and width); (3) the film loses
flexibility; (4) the emulsion begins to crack
(see crazing) and flake
off; and (5) a white powder appears along the edges and surface of the film.
Acetate decay cannot be reversed, only slowed by cold storage. The Image Permanence Institute
(IPI) recommends freezing film in an
advanced state of decay until the content can be evaluated
for transfer to new film stock or copying in another
medium. Synonymous with
vinegar syndrome. Compare with nitrate decay.
See also: A-D strip and molecular sieve.
- acetate film
- See: cellulose acetate.
- acid barrier
- A sheet of acid-free or buffered paper, or polyester film, placed
loose between an acidic
component of a book, such
as a bookplate, and
the adjacent leaf or board to prevent acid migration.
- acid-free
- Materials with a pH value
of 7.0 (neutral) or higher (alkaline), preferred in printing and binding to prevent deterioration caused
by acid over time. Acid-free papers are
often buffered to
counteract acids that may develop with age as a result of bleaching and sizing or be introduced
through acid
migration or atmospheric pollution. Synonymous
with nonacidic.
- acid-free paper
- Paper that has a
neutral or alkaline pH level (7.0 or higher) at the
time of manufacture, commonly used for fine art prints, limited edition printing, and photo albums, and in the preservation of library materials. Lignin contained in wood pulp is the primary source of
acid in paper and board. Acid-free paper is not
necessarily permanent, but permanent papers are
acid-free. See
also: buffering.
- acidic
- Substances that have a pH
value less than 7.0 (neutral). The main source of acid in paper products is
lignin contained in wood
used for pulp. Because acid
causes the paper and board used in printing and binding to deteriorate over
time, lignin is removed in all but the lowest-grade papers. A buffer such as calcium
carbonate or magnesium carbonate may be added in papermaking to
neutralize acids that develop or are introduced after the manufacture of
paper. The opposite of alkaline. Compare with acid-free.
- acid migration
- The movement of acid from a material containing acid to one that is less
acidic, pH neutral, or alkaline. The process can
occur through direct contact or vapor transfer. One of the most common
problems in document preservation is the
migration of acid from the boards, endpapers, or paper covers of a book to the less acidic paper
of the text block (or
vice versa). Acid can also migrate from bookplates, inserts, tissues used in interleaving, and labels that are not acid-free. The result may
be discoloration and
eventual embrittlement
(click here to see an
example of acid migration from a newspaper clipping to the pages of a book). The process
can be arrested by removing the contaminating
material and subjecting the sheet(s) or volume to deacidification.
Synonymous with acid transfer. See also: buffered paper.
- acid paper
- Paper that has a pH value less than 7.0
(neutral). The primary source of acid in paper is lignin, an organic substance
contained in untreated wood pulp, but acid can also
develop from the addition of certain types of size or from residual chlorine used in
bleaching. It can also be introduced by acid migration or
atmospheric pollution (sulfur
dioxide). Because acidity
weakens the cellulose
in plant fiber, it can cause paper, board, and cloth to yellow and become brittle over time, making
it an important factor in the preservation of printed materials. To
ensure durability, publishers are encouraged
to use acid-free permanent paper in
printing trade
books. Buffering
helps neutralize acids that develop after manufacture. Acid can be removed
from fiber-based materials by an expensive process called deacidification.
The opposite of acid-free-paper.
- acid transfer
- See: acid migration.
- acknowledgments
- The section of the front matter of a book in which the author gives formal
recognition to the contributions others have made to the work. The acknowledgments
usually follow the preface or foreword and precede the
introduction. Some
authors include their acknowledgments in the preface. Also spelled
acknowledgements. Compare with dedication.
- ACL
- See: Association of
Christian Librarians.
- ACMLA
- See: Association of
Canadian Map Libraries and Archives.
- ACP
- See: Association of
Canadian Publishers.
- acquisition number
- A unique number used
by the acquisitions
department of a library
to identify a specific bibliographic item on a purchase order. Some
libraries use a standard number such
as the ISBN (International
Standard Book Number) or ISSN (International Standard
Serial Number) as the acquisition number.
- acquisitions
- The process of selecting, ordering, and
receiving materials
for library or archival collections by purchase,
exchange, or gift, which may include budgeting and negotiating
with outside agencies,
such as publishers, dealers, and vendors, to obtain resources to meet the
needs of the institution's clientele in the most
economical and expeditious manner.
Also refers to the department within a library responsible for selecting,
ordering, and receiving new materials and for maintaining accurate records of such
transactions, usually managed by an acquisitions librarian. In small
libraries, the acquisitions librarian may also be
responsible for collection development,
but in most public
and academic
libraries, this responsibility is shared by all the librarians who have an
active interest in collection building, usually on the basis of expertise and
subject specialization. For
a more detailed description of the responsibilities entailed in acquisitions,
please see the entry by
Liz Chapman in the International Encyclopedia of Information and Library
Science (Routledge, 2003). Click here to connect to the
homepage of
AcqWeb, an online resource for
acquisitions and collection development librarians. Compare with accession. See
also: Acquisitions
Section.
- Acquisitions Section (AS)
- Created in 1991, AS is the section of the Association for Library
Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) within the American Library Association
(ALA) charged with (1) promoting the effective acquisition of information resources
in all formats, through
purchase, lease, and other methods, in all types of institutions; (2)
developing sound ethical, fiscal, and legal policies and procedures in acquisitions
management, including relationships with suppliers; and (3)
assessing and advancing awareness of the organization and role of the
acquisitions function within the library and in
relationships with other functional areas (purchasing, accounting, collection
management, etc.). Click here to
connect to the AS homepage.
- ACRL
- See: Association of
College and Research Libraries.
- Acrobat
- See: Adobe Acrobat.
- acronym
- A new name or word (neologism) that is
pronounceable and hence memorable, coined from the first or first few letters or parts of a phrase or compound term (example:
ERIC for Educational Resources Information
Center). Click
here to connect to the Yahoo! list of online acronym and
abbreviation finders. Compare with abbreviation and initialism.
- acrostic
- A verse or list of
words composed in such a way that certain letters of each line
(usually the first and/or last), when read in order of appearance, spell a
word, phrase, or
sentence. An abecedarius is an acrostic in which the pattern consists
of the letters of the alphabet in traditional
order. An acrostic can be single, double, or
triple, depending on how many words in each line are composed in this
way. As a matter of policy, newspaper and magazine editors routinely check
verses for acrostics prior to publication to avoid
embarrassment. The following well-known example is an all-around
acrostic in Latin:
-
- S A T O R
- A R E P O
- T E N E T
- O P E R A
- R O T A S
- act
- One of the major divisions in the action of a play, usually marked by the
dropping of the curtain and followed by an intermission. In modern drama, most
plays are divided into three acts, which may be further subdivided into
scenes. See also: one-act play.
Also refers to a piece of legislation (a bill) after it has been passed
into law (example: Digital Millennium Copyright
Act of 1998). Click
here to view an early American printing of the Stamp Act
of 1765, courtesty of the Lilly
Library at Indiana University.
- Acta Diurna
- A daily gazette published in ancient
Rome from the period of the late Republic onward, devoted primarily to matters
of state (official events, public speeches, legal proceedings,
public building projects, major military actions) and announcements of births,
marriages, and deaths. It also contained news of unusual occurrences
(earthquakes, strange accidents, portents) and information about the
private lives of prominent persons (scandals, divorces, lawsuits). The text was posted on public
buildings, and copies were
made for wealthy Romans living in the city and provinces or away temporarily
on public business. The actuarii responsible for gathering the news
were sometimes misled by persons intent on manipulating commodity markets and
political events for personal gain. Surviving fragments, preserved in
the writings of Petronius, read very much like a modern newspaper.
- acting edition
- An edition of a play intended for the use of
actors and others directly involved in theater production, which includes
fuller stage directions (entrances, exits, stage properties, etc.) than one
intended for reading, usually published in limp paper covers and priced lower than other
editions of the work.
Compare with script.
- active records
- Records required by
an agency or individual
to function effectively on a daily basis, usually kept close at hand,
organized to render them readily accessible.
Synonymous with current records. The opposite of inactive records.
See also: intermediate
records.
- active relation
- See: semantic relation.
- activity book
- A book designed to
engage the user in a pursuit other than (or in addition to) reading, for
example, an instruction manual for science or craft
projects, or a volume
containing puzzles or word games. Some children's activity books are oversize. Libraries select judiciously,
avoiding formats that
require the reader to
fill in the blanks or otherwise alter the physical state of the item. When an activity book
is part of a kit, its
presence is indicated in the physical
description area of the
bibliographic record.
- activity card
- A card or set of cards printed with symbols, words, numerals, and/or pictures intended for use
by an individual or group in performing a specific action (or set of actions)
or in following a pursuit. Compare with flash card. See
also: game and kit.
- actuality
- A nonfiction motion picture (documentary), usually
of very short length, made prior to 1910 to demonstrate the technological
advance of moving
images over still photography. Most
examples capture familiar scenes of everyday life (people, places, and events)
with authenticity but, in some instances, a bit of manipulation. Exotic
novelties borrowed from 19th-century commercial photography were also popular.
The earliest public venues were nickelodeons--peep show parlors with
machines that played short film loops. By the turn of
the century, "movies" were being shown in store-front theaters and traveling
carnivals. During the first decade of the 20th century, when they also began
to be projected in vaudeville and burlesque theaters, the
growing popularity of the fiction film eclipsed the actuality,
which peaked in 1903. Click here to
learn more about actualities and view examples, courtesy of the American Memory project
of the Library of Congress.
- ADA
- See: Americans with
Disabilities Act.
- adaptation
- A work that has been edited or rewritten, in part or in
its entirety, for a new use, audience, or purpose.
Also, a work converted to another literary form or
artistic medium to serve
a different or related purpose, while retaining as much of the action, characters, language, and tone of the
original as possible,
for example, a novel or story adapted for performance on the
stage (see these
examples), a play
adapted for the motion
picture screen, or an engraving based on a
painting. In AACR2, adaptations of texts are cataloged under the
name of the adapter, or under the title if the adapter is
unknown, with a name-title added
entry for the original work. Abbreviated
adapt.
In music, a work that is a distinct alteration of another musical work (for
example, a free transcription), or that
paraphrases parts of
various works or imitates the style of another composer, or that is
somehow based on another musical work (AACR2). Cataloging follows the
practice used for texts. See also: arrangement.
- adaptive technology
- Systems, devices, and software specifically
designed to make library materials and
services more accessible to people
with physical and/or cognitive disabilities, including large print books, closed captioned videorecordings, Braille signage, voice
amplification devices, screen magnification and screen reading software, voice recognition
software, etc. Some libraries have found focus groups helpful in
selecting adaptive technologies. Synonymous with assistive
technology. See also: alt tag.
- ADC
- See: Abridged Decimal
Classification.
- added charge
- A further charge made by a publisher or vendor against a subscriber's account
after initial payment has been received, usually to cover (1) an increase in
the subscription
price that occurs after billing, before the order is processed; (2) publication of additional volumes; or
(3) fluctuations in currency exchange rates. The charge is made in the form of
a supplemental
invoice.
- added copy
- A copy of an item already owned by a