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Help with AcornGlossaryAuthorIn library cataloging, the term author is used in a broad sense to include editors, playwirghts, directors, composer, artists, etc. in addition to the writer of a book or poem. A corporate author is the government agency, institution, association, etc. in whose official name a publication is issued. Browse ListThe Browse List consists of catalog record subject headings in the alphabetic vicinity of the entered search term. To the right of each item on the list, the number of items with the term or phrase in a subject heading displays. Once the browse list displays, you can select an item from the list by clicking on it. If the browse list is not relevant to your search, you may change your search words and change your search library, if required. Press the Search button to initiate the new search. A position or combination of positions in a database record reserved for a specific data element or group of elements which constitute a single category of description. Fields in Acorn include author, title, subject, series, periodical title and medical subject. Limiting a search to one of these fields restricts the search to retrieving only those records where the terms appear in the selected field.
Acorn records are in the MARC format, an international standard format for describing bibliographic items, developed at the Library of Congress to facilitate the creation and dissemination of computerized cataloging from one library to another, internationally. Because this standard is followed very strictly, some information that appears in the body of a record may not be retrieved in a search limited to a particular field. For example, the author field contains the standardized version of that person's name, not the name as it appears on the title page of the item. The name in the author field of the Collected Works of Mao Tse-tung is Mao Zedong. "Mao Tse-tung" can be retrieved in a words anywhere search, but an author keyword search retrieves only a list of close matches. A serial is a publication in any format issued in successively numbered and/or dated parts or issues, appearing at regular or irregular intervals and intended to be continued indefinitely. Serials include periodicals as well as nonperiodicals (annuals, yearbooks, transactions, proceedings, and monographic series). A periodical is a serial with its own distinctive title, containing articles or other short works usually written by different contributors, usually issued at stated regular intervals and without prior decision as to when the final issue will appear. Journals, magazines, newspapers and newsletters are periodicals. A group of separately published works issued in succession and in uniform style by a single publisher, usually related in subject. Each volume in a series bears, in addition to its own title, a collective or series title which applies to the group as a whole. Series holdings may not always be retrieved by limiting a search to the series field. Try a less restrictive search, such as entering the series title as a "Keyword Anywhere" search on the Basic Search page. A word or phrase assigned in a catalog record to indicate the most specific subjects of the work being described. Broad subject headings may have narrower subdivisions. For most items, the Heard Library uses Library of Congress (LC) subject headings. The Eskind Biomedical Library also uses the National Library of Medicine's Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). These subject headings are examples of controlled vocabulary, an established list of preferred terms from which an indexer or cataloger may select so that all items with similar subject matter will be described using the same language. Only items with MeSH subject headings are retrieved when a search is limited to the Medical Subject field. A Subject search retrieves both LC and MeSH subject headings. The distinguishing name of a book, periodical, play, score, or other creative work, usually appearing on the title page or somewhere else in it. In films and videotapes, the title is usually given at the beginning. A work published under several different titles is often cataloged under a well-known uniform title. Translations sometimes have an parallel title in the original language. The title given on the title page may differ from that which appears on the spine or on the cover. A distinctive title used for library cataloging purposes to represent a work which has appeared under more than one title, usually in various versions (for example, Bible). Also, the collective title used to collocate publications of an author, composer or corporate body which contain several complete works or extracts from several works. |