Useful Terms
Although this page is designed to help you understand terminology concerning databases, many of the concepts also apply to search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Altavista, etc.
Don't forget that search engines and databases have their own help pages. Some are actually helpful. Many are not. Give them a try though. Also, you can always call a reference librarian for help.
Finally, although this is not intended to be a comprehensive explanation of everything, if you think there is something we missed use the e-librarian page to let us know. If you are looking for exhaustive explanations try a website like the wikipedia or pcwebopedia.
Abstract - a brief description of an article's contents. Unless instructed otherwise, most databases only look in the citation and the abstract for the search terms.
Acrobat Reader - the program which allows your computer to read .pdf files. It is a free download from www.adobe.com. See full text.
And - a common boolean operator. Using "and" will narrow the search down therefore getting fewer results. Google's default search is an "and" search.
Boolean operator - a fancy phrase describing a word that is inserted into your search terms that help the database or search engine decide what to look for. And, or and not are the most commonly used.
And generally results in fewer hits, while or gives you more. For example, a search "Gunter and Grass" will look for items that have both words and will therefore be more likely to have articles about the German novelist. "Gunter or Grass" will bring in many more results as it is looking for items that have either word, thereby giving some articles written by a guy named Gunter, some articles about taking care of your grass and so on. Not eliminates words from consideration.
Try using the Biography Resource Center to learn more about George Boole, the Victorian era mathematician who inflicted all this upon us.
citation - basic information about an article, such as Author, Title, Publication, Publication Date, subject and so on. Looking carefully at the citation, especially the subject, can provide leads to other search terms. Unless instructed otherwise, most databases only look in the citation and the abstract for the search terms.
database - usually means an organized collection of information. For example, Proquest's ABI/Inform Global is a database containing articles and company data pertaining to international business. The words "online resource" and "database" are often used interchangeably, but technically speaking an "online resource" is usually a collection of databases.
default - This is the type of search a database or search engine will use unless you instruct it differently by, for example, using Boolean operators or by changing the search type. In databases such as those provided by Proquest and Ebsco, the default is usually a phrase search of the citation and the abstract. In Google, the default is an and search of web pages' text.
FAQ - an acronym for Frequently Asked Questions. FAQs are often more helpful than "help" pages.
full text - This usually means you will be able to read the entire article online. There are three formats which are usually called something like, "full text," "text plus graphics," and .pdf. Plain old "full text" means just that. You will get the full text of the article but no pictures, graphs, etc. and the text will not look like the original hard copy publication. "Text plus graphics" means that you will get text and the pictures, charts, etc. but it will not reproduce the original publication. .pdf files are a picture of the original article. This is particularly handy for students who have to cite specific page numbers. You must have Acrobat Reader installed to open .pdf files. Also, they are large files and take longer to download and to print.
Keep in mind that you might be able to find the full text of an article in a different online resource. Also, reference librarians will be happy to get items that are not available through the databases.
keyword search - looks to see if a particular word or words appears within the document and/or the citation and abstract. Unlike a subject search, the words don't have to have any particular meaning, they just have to show up in the item being searched. By the same token, though, a keyword search will not find variations on words (unless you use truncation). For example, if you do a keyword search for "dishwashers," you will not find any articles about "dishwashing machines" (unless the word "dishwashers" also appears).
nesting - combining different combinations of search types, search terms and boolean operators, usually through the use of parentheses. For example, the search "(vampire or undead) and ("more wolfsbane van helsing") and (rice or stoker)" will bring up articles that have either the words vampire or undead and the phrase "more wolfsbane van helsing" and either the words rice or stoker.
not - a common boolean operator. Using "not" eliminates a word from the search. For example, a keyword search "microsoft not gates" should get articles about Microsoft that don't mention Bill Gates. Using "not" is tricky though. In the above example, you also won't get articles on logic gates, an essential part of computer design.
or - a common Boolean operator. Using "or" will give you more results. It is a good way to search for variations of a word such as "dishwashers or dishwashing." See also, truncation.
PDF or .pdf – a type of file that usually displays a document as it originally appeared on paper. To read a .pdf file you need to install Acrobat Reader (a free download). PDF files are large and can take a long time to download and to print. PDF is an acronym for Portable Document Format. See full text.
phrase – a phrase search does just that, searches for a group of words in order. It is a good way to look for something that contains frequently used words such as "to be or not to be." You can also combine phrases with other words in the search using and, such as "Microsoft and “antitrust litigation”". Usually you put quotes around the words of the phrase, but some databases and search enginess use parentheses instead. In Proquest and Ebsco the default is a phrase search unless the search terms are longer than three words.
results - The items found by a particular search. Also known as "hits." Databases and search engines will usually list the number of results of a search near the top. If there are way more results than you would care to look at, consider narrowing your search down by adding search terms, using Boolean operators, using a subject, and so on. If there are too few results, widen your search by using or, keywords, truncation and so on.
Scholarly Journals - publications intended for more academic readerships. They are usually "peer reviewed" which means that authorities in the subject matter have read the article and deemed it worthy of publication.
search engine - a web page, such as Google, Altavista or Dogpile that helps you find other pages on the World Wide Web. The articles in the databases are not web pages which means search engines cannot find them.
search term(s) - the word or words you type in the box before you click “search.”
search type - the method the database is going to use to find articles. Keyword searches, subject searches are two types.
subject - specific words or groups of words drawn from a list that are used to describe the topics of articles. For example, in Proquest's Research Library, the subject assigned to articles about dishwashers is “dishwashing machines.” Every article about a mechanical device used to clean household china is supposed to have the subject “dishwashing machines” and a subject search using “dishwashing machines” will find them even though the words “dishwashing machines” does not appear in the text of the article. A subject search for “dishwashers," however, will turn up nothing. A keyword search, however, will turn up a lot, but not everything. Look in the citation of keyword search results to find the appropriate subject.
truncation - Placing a symbol such as * or ? onto the end of a search term instructs the database to look for variations on the end of a word by substituting a letter or letters for the symbol. For example, in Ebsco's databases the search term, "swimm*" will look for swimming, swimmers, swimmer, swimmingly, and so on. It will not look for "swim" because we are using "swimm" as a base. Different database vendors handle truncation differently, so look in their help section. See also, wildcards for substitutions in the middle of a word.
wildcards - similar to truncation, but the symbol is used to replace a letter in the middle of a search term. For example, "sw?m" will find swim swam and swum.
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