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Library Terms Explained: Home

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List of Terms


Assignment Toolkit The MTU Library Assignment Toolkit provides a suite of modules that guides students through the assignment completion process and provides a grounding in academic integrity by using best practice guidance at every stage. Online modules include the following: Getting to know your library, Critical Thinking Skills, Understanding Misinformation, effective Search Techniques, Assignment Planning & Reading, Understanding Plagiarism, Assignment Writing, Referencing.
Audio Visual / AV An AV work is composed of sound, sequence of pictures or both. AV works include motion pictures, videos, audiocassettes, CDs, DVDs, etc. AV should not be confused with multimedia which may include several types of AV materials, but has different guidelines.
Citation In-text citations are the short citations you include in the written text that help a reader understand which sources you are quoting or referring to in your assignment.
Databases A library database is essentially an electronic collection of published works. Most library databases index articles from journals, magazines, and newspapers, and some focus on specific disciplines while others are multidisciplinary.
eBook An eBook is a book in electronic form that can be read on a computer or handheld device rather than in print.
Google Scholar Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines.
Library Catalogue A library catalogue is a fundamental tool for any library as it provides users with the means to locate and access the resources available in the library. In MTU libraries, the catalogue provides access to a comprehensive and organized listing of books, journals, e-Books that have been purchased by the library and other resources held in the library’s collection.
Multisearch MultiSearch is a search engine that provides credible, relevance ranked results from MTU library’s online library and print collections in a single search. It contains everything found in the traditional MTU Library Catalogue, plus thousands of full-text sources from all of our online collections.
Online Journal Article or eJournals eJournals eJournals or electronic journals are periodicals, in the form of magazines or specialist newspapers, which are published in electronic format (online). eJournals in MTU libraries are predominantly academic in content.
Peer Review A process by which something proposed (as for research or publication) is evaluated by a group of experts in the appropriate field.
Print Books Print book refers to printed pages bound together by either hardcover or softcover (aka paperback). This is your physical, traditional book.
Periodical A periodical (also called a periodical publication) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also examples of periodicals. These publications cover a wide variety of topics, from academic, technical, trade, and general interest to leisure and entertainment.
Plagiarism Presenting work or ideas from another source as your own, with or without consent of the original author, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement.
Referencing

Referencing is used to tell the reader where ideas from other sources have been used in an assignment. There are many reasons why it is important to reference sources correctly:

  • It shows the reader that you can find and use sources to create a solid argument.
  • It properly credits the originators of ideas, theories, and research findings.
  • It shows the reader how your argument relates to the big picture.