FROM BOBST LIBRARY

Glossary of Database Terms

Abstract

A brief description of an article, book, or other bibliographic entity.

CD-ROM (Compact Disk -- Read-Only Memory)

A popular storage medium for electronic information. Bibliographic CD-ROM products are often updated quarterly or even less frequently.

Descriptor

Subject heading applied to a database record.

Fields

Distinct parts of a database record, such as title, author, or subject.

Online resource

An electronic resource located on a remote computer and searched over the Internet. Online research tools can be regularly updated; some are updated daily.

Record

An individual item in a database; compare with Fields

Truncation

Cutting a search term at its root to retrieve words with different endings. For example, architect? would lead us to architect, architects, architecture, etc. Note that the symbol for truncation differs among database systems.