Glossary of FirstSearch Terms [OCLC]

abstract: A brief summary that classifies, evaluates, or describes the important points in the content of a journal article or library resource.
access method: Method used to log on to a service, download records or reports, or locate additional information. For example, a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is used to find information on the Internet.
accession number: 1) a number or code that identifies an archived library resource; 2) an inventory number assigned to each item in a library's collection. Usually sequentially assigned as the item is added. Typically in the form yyyy-nnnnn, in which the year of acquisition precedes the sequential number.
address: Words, numbers, or symbols that designate a physical or virtual location. Examples: street numbers and names, countries, e-mail addresses, URLs.
ANDOVER: A code that identifies those index records from the Andover Review (Boston, Mass) from vol. 1, no: 1 (Jan 1884) through vol. 19, no. 114 (Nov./Dec. 1893). Used as a valid value in the ATLAReligion product code index. See also ATLAS; ESSCOL; IBRR; MRI; RDB; RIP.
animation: See film technique.
article issue number: A number or code that identifies an article by the issue of the journal in which it appears.
article type: Words or abbreviations that describe the format or medium used to present an article. For example, a review (rev) is an article type. An editorial is another article type.
article volume number: A number or code that identifies an article by the volume of the journal in which it appears.
ATLAS: A code which identifies those index records that are part of the ATLA Serials product, an online full-text collection of major religion and theology journals. Used as a valid value in the ATLAReligion product code index. See also ANDOVER; ESSCOL; IBRR; MRI; RDB; RIP.
Audience: Either Adult or Juvenile; based on MARC Field 008, byte 22: Target audience.
author: The person, persons, or corporate body responsible for the writing or compilation of a work. Usually distinguished from an editor, translator, compiler, although these may be regarded as authors.
author affiliation: Institution an author is affiliated with, as indicated on a title page or following an author name.
author phrase: The exact name of the person(s) or group credited with creating a library resource.
availability: Indicates the institutions from which a library resource can be obtained.

bibliographic record: Contains the cataloging information that describes the physical format and intellectual content of a single entity (a book, video, computer file, CD, etc.). Catalogers create records by encoding this information using tags, indicators, and subfield codes in a standard format called MARC 21 (MAchine-Readable Cataloging). Each record is divided into fields (author, title, subjects, etc.) Fields are subdivided into subfields (place of publication, publisher, etc.).
blank workform: A template for creating an interlibrary loan request or (in Connexion) a cataloging template for creating new records.
Book number: The part of a call number that distinguishes a specific item from other items within the same class number, also called a Cutter number. A book number is composed of letters from the author's name or letters from the title main entry and numbers. There are several systems for creating book numbers.
Boolean operators: AND, OR, and NOT. Used to combine search terms. AND finds only records that contain both terms. OR finds records that contain either term. NOT finds records that contain the first term but not the second term. Combining search terms produces more precise and manageable search results.
Boolean logic (searches): A system of logical thought developed by English mathematician George Boole (1815-64). A Boolean search combines key concepts or search terms with the logic operators AND, OR and NOT to specify the exact information required in a database search.
browse: Scan an index for a match or the closest match to a term (word, phrase, or whole phrase) in records. The system matches the exact text string—character by character, from left to right—against the characters in the specified index. Produces a browse list that highlights the closest match and shows the number of records for each term in the list. Clicking an entry opens the record or a record list, if multiple records match.

call number: A set of letters, numerals or other symbols (in combination or alone) used by a library to identify a specific copy of a work. A call number consists of the class number and book number (or Cutter number).
chemical substance: A five-to-nine-digit number that identifies a chemical substance or an enzyme The number is followed by the name of the substance in parentheses.
citations: A list that contains terms that identify whole or parts of library resources so that they may be found.
classification number: The part of a call number, usually a combination of letters and numbers, used to classify library resources by subject area using a particular classification system.
collection: (1) Library resources grouped by a specific topic or other organization criteria; (2) the entire holdings of a library; (3) all library resources on a particular subject.
conference name: All or part of the name or title of a conference. A conference name could also be included in a title, abstract, notes, or text of a library resource. Examples: names of meetings, exhibitions, expositions, festivals, athletic contests, scientific expeditions.
conference name phrase: The exact name or title of a conference that is the focus of a search. A conference name could be included in a title, abstract, notes, or text of a library resource.
corporate author: All or part of the name of a corporate group responsible for creating a library resource.
corporate author phrase: The exact name of a corporate group responsible for creating a library resource.
corporate name: The names of associations, institutions, businesses, firms, nonprofit enterprises, governments, agencies, performing groups used as entries in records.; All or part of the name of a corporation affiliated in some way with a library resource.
corporate name phrase: The exact name of a corporation affiliated in some way with a library resource.
corporate/conference name derived search: See derived search.
CSD: See OCLC Customer Services Division (CSD).
Cutter number: A book number based on the widely used scheme devised by Charles Ammi Cutter. In colloquial usage, synonymous with book number. See Book number.

database: A collection of resources assembled into a single unit for a specific purpose. Each entry in the database is called a record. Use FirstSearch to search for a specific record in one or more databases.
date of entry: Date a new or updated bibliographic citation is included in a database.
DBID source: Database Identifier source. An identifying number or term that refers to a source journal or primary database from which a cited library resource came.
DDC: See Dewey Decimal Classification.
default: Selections predetermined by the computer or an application on the computer in the absence of specific selections made by the user.
derived search: A type of WorldCat search that uses a specific number of initial characters from the words in a name and/or title. A shortcut way to enter a search. The "derived" segments of the words are separated by commas. The number and pattern of letters and commas tells the system which index to search. The four types of derived searches (with the pattern that defines it in parentheses) are: Title (3,2,2,1); Personal name (4,3,1); Corporate/Conference name (=4,3,1); Name/Title (4,4).
descriptor: (1) A term that describes the theme or topic of the content of a library resource. (2) a standardized term assigned to database records to facilitate retrieval of records in a search.
descriptor phrase: The exact term that describes the theme or topic of the content of a library resource.
Dewey Class number: See Dewey Decimal class number.
Dewey Decimal class: See Dewey Decimal class number.
Dewey Decimal class number: A classification number that conforms to the conventions used in the Dewey Decimal Classification system. The classes used to identify library resources are: 000, General Works; 100, Philosophy & Psychology; 200, Religion; 300, Social Sciences; 400, Language; 500, Natural Sciences & Math; 600, Applied Sciences (Technology); 700, Fine Arts; 800, Literature; 900, Geography & History.
Dewey Decimal Classification: A general knowledge organization tool conceived by Melvil Dewey in 1873 and first published in 1876. At the broadest level, the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) is divided into ten main classes organized by disciplines or fields of study. Together these classes cover the entire world of knowledge. See Dewey Decimal class number.
Dewey Decimal subject heading: Used in the Dewey Decimal Classification system to identify library resources by disciplines or areas of knowledge.
Dewey subject heading phrase: The specific terms used to identify Dewey subject headings or subsets of those headings. Browse the Dewey subject heading phrase index for valid phrases.
diacritic: A mark that modifies the phonetic value of another character or characters. It does not occur alone but is used in conjunction with another character. In records each diacritic occupies its own position, directly following the modified character, although the display shows correctly.
diorama: A three-dimensional scene in which figures or other objects are arranged in a naturalistic setting against a painted backdrop.
Document Supplier: Major national resource centers and other document suppliers such as the British Library Document Supply Center.
document type: See record type.
domain: All or part of an Internet name, address or element that identifies a computer and the organization that transmits or receives electronic data.
domain phrase: An exact Internet name, address or element that identifies a computer and the organization that transmits or receives electronic data.

electronic document supplier: Document supplier that accepts WorldCat Resource Sharing requests and delivers full-text documents through messages to your library's e-mail system.
e-mail: Electronic mail. The exchange of electronic messages created by a user on a computer and transmitted (via an organization's network or the Internet) to another user's computer.
ESSCOL: A code which identifies the subset of records describing multi-author essay collections and the individual essays within the multi-author work. Used as a valid value in the ATLAReligion product code index. See also ANDOVER; ATLAS; IBRR; MRI; RDB; RIP.
extended author phrase: The exact author name or names or information about an affiliation or institution.
extended title: All or part of a title including subtitle, alternate title, or other information that describes the library resource.
extended title phrase: The exact terms used in a title, including subtitle, alternate title, or other information that describes the library resource.

family name: A name after a given name; a last name or surname.
field: In a record, a marked area in which the same kind of information is consistently entered.
film technique: The technique used to create motion for motion pictures or videorecordings. Can include animation and partial animation techniques.
FirstSearch/ILL Direct Request link: A link between OCLC Direct Request and the OCLC FirstSearch service that allows patrons to generate requests for materials cited in FirstSearch databases.
forename: A name before a surname; a first name.
format: Words or abbreviations that describe the format or production medium used to identify the library resource. For example, a review (rev) is an article type.
frequency: The interval at which a publisher distributes a serial publication.
full text: The complete contents of a library resource that is text based, as opposed to an abstract or a bibliographic record.
full text ISSN list: A list of International Standard Serial Numbers that identify and communicate basic information about the content of library resources for which full text is available.

genre/form phrase: Terms that describe the contents of a library resource within a given form such as art, drama, music, poetry; or sculpture, one-act play, symphony, haiku.
geographic classification codes phrase: Geographic codes, usually alphanumeric terms, that classify library resources by place.
geographic coverage phrase: (1) Major geographic subject headings that classify library resources by place. (2) Geographic subject headings and subheadings that classify library resources by place.
geographic name phrase: The exact place name used to classify or identify the library resource.
given name: A name before a family name; a first name or forename.
government document number: Government-assigned number for materials printed at the expense of and by the authority of any office of the government, for example, United States Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) numbers. Other government numbers may be used such as Canadian government numbers from the Outline of Classification. The form of these numbers varies.

holding library code: See OCLC holding library code.
holdings: The total stock of materials, print and nonprint, owned by a library or library system, usually listed in its catalog. Synonymous in this sense with library collection. In a narrower sense, all the copies, volumes, issues, or parts of an item owned by a library, especially a serial publication, indicated in a holdings statement in the record representing the item in the catalog. Holdings can be recorded in the MARC 21 Format for Holdings Information.; 1) OCLC institution symbols attached to a record, indicating libraries that own the item described by the record. 2) The collective resources owned or held by the library.
holdings information: The location, status and/or copies associated with a single bibliographic item of a specific publication held by a particular institution.

IBRR: Index to Book Reviews in Religion. A code which identifies the ATLA workflow for book reviews and the corresponding book described within the reviews. Records with this code have been created or included within the IBRR workflow. Used as a valid value in the ATLAReligion product code and record stream indexes and ATLAS record stream indexes. See also ANDOVER; ATLAS; ESSCOL; IMAGE; MRI; RDB; RIO; RIP; RIT.
identifier: A significant term, number, acronym, name, or symbol used alone or with other identifiers to refer to a library resource.
identifier phrase: A significant term, number, acronym, name, or symbol used alone or with other identifiers to refer to a library resource.
ILL: Interlibrary loan. When a book or other item needed by a registered borrower is checked out, unavailable for some other reason, or not owned by the library, a patron may request that it be borrowed from another library by filling out an interlibrary loan request form at a service desk or on the library's Web site. Some libraries also accept ILL requests via e-mail or telephone. Interlibrary loan is a form of resource sharing that depends on maintaining union catalogs.
See WorldCat Resource Sharing.
ILL Fee Management service (IFM): A service that provides a means to pay and be paid for interlibrary loan requests through your OCLC invoice.
illustration: Graphics used to clarify or enhance the content of electronic or paper text.
IMAGE: A code which identifies the ATLA workflow for full-text images that correspond to the item described within an ATLA Religion Database bibliographic citation. This code may be used in conjunction with the ATLAS product code to identify citations that correspond to available full-text images within ATLAS. Used as a valid value in the ATLAReligion record stream index. See also IBRR; RIO; RIT.
index: A detailed alphabetical or numerical list for a specific kind of bibliographic data provided by the system for retrieving a record or sets of records from a database such as WorldCat.
institution symbol: See OCLC symbol.
International Standard Book Number (ISBN): A unique identification number assigned to a work by its publisher. OCLC has converted the existing 10-character ISBN to the new 13-character format. The thirteenth character is a check character that may be a number or the letter x. In printed form, the ISBN has three hyphens. Hyphens are omitted in online records. ISBNs are stored in field 020 in bibliographic records.
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN): A unique identification number assigned to a serial through the ISSN Network. Each ISSN has eight characters. The eighth character is a check character that may be a number or the letter x. A hyphen follows the fourth character.
issue: A unique document that is part of a serial that could be identified by words, numbers, or date of publication.

journal: A periodical publication usually devoted to scholarly subjects.
journal announcement: Time-bound news or information in a journal or periodical inviting participation in an event, submission of articles, or queries for more information.
journal class: A group of journals classified by one subject or collected by one person or organization.
journal sort: Sorting the results of a search by journals according to subject or collection.
journal subject: Terms that identify the theme or concept behind the information contained in a journal.
journal subject phrase: Specific terms that identify the theme or concept behind the information contained in a journal.
juvenile audience: Indicates the appropriate age for the audience of the particular work.; See FirstSearch online help on Audience type for a listing of valid juvenile audience types.

keyword: A word in a bibliographic record that is indexed. It often conveys subject content in a search for library resources. Keywords are found in titles, notes, abstracts, summaries, descriptions, and subjects. Keywords are also names of people and places that are the subjects of a library resource or a listing in a directory.
keyword search: A type of search that uses a complete word, usually combined with other keywords.
kit: A set of textual and nontextual materials in which no one material dominates and which has a collective title. For example, a workbook that comes with flashcards, worksheets, video recording, gameboard, playing pieces, and dice.

LC call number: See Library of Congress call number.
LCSH: See Library of Congress Subject Headings
Lender policies: Information about potential Lenders available from Find an OCLC Library and the OCLC Policies Directory.
Library of Congress: The research arm of the Congress of the United States, established in 1800 and located in Washington, D.C. Although not officially a national library, the Library of Congress (LC) provides services appropriate to a national library. LC also administers the U.S. copyright system, serving as the nation's copyright depository.
LC is the primary source of original cataloging in the United States. Machine-readable cataloging (MARC) and cataloging-in-publication (CIP) programs originated at the Library of Congress.
Library of Congress call number: Identification number derived from the U.S. Library of Congress classification system. Used to retrieve a library resource.
Library of Congress Subject Headings: Formal and consistent vocabulary words derived from the U.S. Library of Congress classification system used to describe the subject of a work.
limit a search: A technique to make your search more precise. Limiting eliminates from the results whole classes of records so that your search results are more understandable.
Literary form: A mode of literary expression such as poetry, drama, fiction, etc. Each form can be subdivided into kinds of forms, e.g., lyric poetry, comedy, science fiction, etc.
literary text: Indicates the type of a spoken word recording based on its content.

manuscript: A document (including musical scores, maps, as well as text) that is made by hand or transcripts.
Maps format: OCLC-MARC format used for cataloging cartographic material, such as maps, atlases, globes, digital maps. In WorldCat searches, use the Maps index (label: map) as a qualifier to limit results to records for this type of material.
MARC-8 character sets: Approved character sets for MARC 21 cataloging as defined in MARC 21 Specifications for Record Structure, Character Sets, and Exchange Media at http://www.loc.gov/marc/specifications/speccharucs.html. Subsets of UTF-8 character sets.
See also non-Latin scripts; UTF-8 Unicode character sets.
material type: The type of material the record represents. The type can represent a physical type, such as atlas or kit; or content, such as biography or fiction; or focus, such as juvenile or conference publication.; See FirstSearch online help on Material types for a listing of valid types.
media format: Indicates the physical form or the method of information delivery for a library resource described.; See FirstSearch online help on Media formats for a listing of valid formats.
Medical Subject Headings: Formal and consistent vocabulary words and phrases used to describe the subject of a medical work. MeSH is provided by the National Library of Medicine for medical and health sciences libraries.; Used to populate the MEDLINE thesaurus to help retrieve MEDLINE records.
MeSH: See Medical Subject Headings.
molecular sequence: Data consisting of accession numbers assigned by databanks for molecular sequences deposited by researchers. Currently, 11 databanks register molecular sequences. Often, an article references the databank accession number rather than a graphic representation of the sequence itself. These numbers are displayed in the format: databank/number. For example, GENBANK/M96979.
monograph: An item complete in one part or a specified number of parts; compare to serial.
MRI: Methodist Reviews Index. A code which identifies articles and book reviews from five periodicals related to Methodism: Methodist Review, Methodist Quarterly Review, United Brethren Review, Religion in Life, and Quarterly Review. Indexing span 1818-1985. Used as a valid value in the ATLAReligion product code index. See also ANDOVER; ATLAS; ESSCOL; IBRR; RDB; RIP.
music number: See publisher number.
musical composition: Indicates the category under which a work of written or recorded music may fall based on its arrangement, structure, instrumentation, or other musical component.; See FirstSearch online help on Composition for a listing of valid composition types.

name/title derived search: See derived search.
named company phrase: The exact name of a company mentioned in a library resource. Browse this FirstSearch index for exact names.
named conference phrase: The exact name of a conference mentioned in a library resource.
named corporation phrase: The exact name of a corporation mentioned in a library resource. Browse this FirstSearch index for exact names.
named person phrase: The exact name of a person mentioned in a library resource. Browse this FirstSearch index for exact names.
named review phrase: Search terms that find information about a review of another library resource.
Natl Ag Lib call number: Identification number used to find a library resource from the National Agriculture Library.
Natl Lib of Canada call number: Identification number used to find a library resource from the National Library of Canada.
nesting: Grouping terms within parentheses to specify the order in which they will be combined. Terms in the innermost parentheses will be combined and searched first. Without parentheses, terms will be combined in left-to-right order.
NLM: Identification number used to retrieve a library resource from the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
non-Latin scripts: Character sets not based on Latin character sets. The Connexion client supports cataloging using the following non-Latin, MARC-8 scripts: Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, and Korean. The following UTF-8 Unicode character sets are also supported: Bengali, Devanagari, Tamil, and Thai.
See also MARC-8 character sets; UTF-8 Unicode character sets.

OCLC: Previously called Online Computer Library Center, Inc. and Ohio College Library Center. Nonprofit membership organization serving libraries around the world to further access to the world's information and reduce library costs by offering services for libraries and their users.
OCLC Customer Services Division (CSD): OCLC's user assistance and support contact desk that provides support for telecommunications, hardware, and software. Formerly called OCLC User and Network Support (UNS).
OCLC holding library code: A unique code that identifies a holding library within an institution. See also OCLC symbol.
OCLC number: See OCLC control number.
OCLC symbol: A unique identifier assigned by OCLC to member libraries and other participants. OCLC symbols in records and in holdings displays identify libraries that have entered, modified, and used the bibliographic records for cataloging. See also OCLC holding library code.
OCLC usage statistics: Reports available on the OCLC Web site on your library's use of OCLC services, including FirstSearch, Resource Sharing, and online cataloging using Connexion. Open from within the client (View > OCLC Usage Statistics).
OCLC User and Network Support (UNS): See OCLC Customer Services Division (CSD).
Online Service Center: The Online Service Center is a secure, Web-based tool that library staff with administrative authority can use to order OCLC products and services as well as view, update and manage their OCLC account information.
OSC: See Online Service Center.

PDF: Portable Document Format. The Adobe Acrobat standard that enables the same graphic display of a document on different platforms. Because the graphical display preserves hard-copy features such as page numbers, logical page breaks, tables of contents, etc., printing a PDF document makes a better hard copy than printing HTML-formatted documents. Most OCLC user documentation is available in PDF as well as HTML.
periodical: A magazine, journal, or other serial publication issued at regular, recurring intervals. Differs from a newspaper in format and publication frequency (annually, quarterly, monthly, weekly rather than daily).
personal name derived search
phrase indexes: Search indexes used to search for an entire field or subfield in records. Phrase indexes are also browsable.
phrase search: Words, numbers, or character strings used to initiate a search for an entire field or subfield in a record. To enter a complete search string using a "command line" search in Connexion or an "expert" search in FirstSearch/Resource Sharing, use a phrase index label in the format xx=.
Example: To search for a personal name phrase, type pn=brooks, gwendolyn.
plurals (+): To search for plurals, add a plus sign (+) to the singular form. The plus sign (+) will search for any plural formed with either -s or -es. For the plural of words that change form, such as mouse or story, search for both forms and combine them with the Boolean operator OR.
proximity (w or n): To find terms within a certain distance of other terms, use the proximity operators w or n followed by a number.
publisher: The person or company responsible for placing a book or other resource on the market. A publisher and printer may be the same person or company, although in modern publishing this is not usually the case.
publisher number: Plate and publishers' numbers for printed music (scores); serial and matrix numbers for sound recordings; videorecording numbers for visual materials, and publisher numbers other than those for sound recordings, music, or videorecordings. The publisher number is located in field 028, subfield ‡a or field 262, subfield ‡c and is used for batchload matching. For example, B 07042 L.

qualifier: A means of limiting a WorldCat search to specific classes of records, for example: type of material (index label - mt:), years of publication (index label - yr:), microform or not microform (index label - mf:), cataloging source (index label - cs=). Qualifiers are elements from the bibliographic record that are used in combination with a search term to narrow a search.
qualify a search: A technique to make a search more precise by limiting results to specific classes of materials. Produces more manageable search results. See also qualifier.

RDB: A code that identifies all records contained in the ATLA Religion Database, an index to journal articles, book reviews and collections of essays in all fields of religion. Used as a valid value in the ATLAReligion product code index. See also ANDOVER, ATLAS, ESSCOL, IBRR, MRI, and RIP.
record: A machine-readable record in a database that contains bibliographic information about a separately cataloged library item, set, or serial. A record can describe a book, journal article, or any other library resource, including electronic resources. It also contains coded information used to retrieve and work with data. In WorldCat, a bibliographic record is in OCLC-MARC format.
record standard: A standard for representating and exchanging data in machine-readable form. See also record structure.
record type: Term that identifies the format, genre, or medium of a document for cataloging and for retrieving a specific type of record. Valid values vary by database. In FirstSearch/Resource Sharing searches, use the advanced or expert search screens to select a valid document type from the drop-down menu. In Connexion, type a full search in the command line of the Search WorldCat screen or window, or select from a dropdown list in the guided search area of the screen or window.
reference: Information referring to a document or information source.
report number: Uniquely identifies a technical report; not a series number. There are two kinds: Standard Technical Report Numbers and other nonstandard numbers.
Resource Sharing: See OCLC WorldCat Resource Sharing.
resource type: See record type.
RIO: Religion Index One: Periodicals. A code which identifies the ATLA workflow for serials and journal articles. Records with this code have been created or included within the RIO workflow. Used as a valid value in the ATLAReligion and ATLAS record stream indexes. See also IBRR, IMAGE, and RIT.
RIP: Retrospective Indexing Project. A code which identifies those index records from 133+ periodical titles that pre-date the beginning of Religion Index One (RIO ). The periodical coverage extends backwards for decades and, in some instances, even a century or more. Used as a valid value in the ATLAReligion product code index. See also ANDOVER, ATLAS, ESSCOL, IBRR, MRI, and RDB.
RIT: Religion Index Two: Multi-Author Works. A code which identifies the ATLA workflow for multi-author works and the individual essays within a multi-author work. Records with this code have been created or included within the RIT workflow. Used as a valid value in the ATLAReligion record stream index. See also IBRR, IMAGE, and RIO.

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S

SCIPIO record

SCIPIO = Art and Rare Book Sales Catalogs. SCIPIO records cover art auction and rare book catalogs for sales from the late sixteenth century through the present. SCIPIO records were incorporated into WorldCat during the integration of RLG (Research Libraries Group) into OCLC.

searching

The process of retrieving records from a database.

serial

A publication issued over time in installments. Include annual reports, continuing directories, electronic journals, journals, magazines, monographic series and newspapers, etc. Serial is one of the material types in the continuing resource MARC format for bibliographic records. See Continuing Resources format.

series

Uniform volumes of a library resource that are related by subject matter, issued successively, and generally by the same publisher in a uniform style.

session

Time between logon and logoff when an OCLC library is logged on to the OCLC system to use a production or service.

SIC code

The Standard Industrial Code is an alphanumeric identifier that classifies businesses by type. For example, 078200 is the SIC code for Lawn & Garden Services.

stopwords

Words to be omitted from a search because they are so common that they have no informational value. Stopwords are not indexed and are therefore ignored by the system if entered in a search. See stopword lists in the Help for Connexion or the Help for FirstSearch/Resource Sharing. Examples: a, an, and, or, and the.

Stopwords are identified in a few indexes in selected databases.

subject

The topic that is the main focus of the content of a library resource.

subject headings

The most specific word or phrase that describes the subject, or one of the subjects, of a work, selected from a list of preferred terms (controlled vocabulary) and assigned as an added entry in the bibliographic record to serve as an access point for retrieving records in a database.

A subject heading may be subdivided by the addition of subheadings (example: Libraries--History--20th century) or include a parenthetical qualifier for semantic clarification, as in Mice (Computers).

The use of cross-references to indicate semantic relations between subject headings is called syndetic structure.

The process of examining the content of new publications and assigning appropriate subject headings is called subject analysis.

subject phrase

Exact terms that describe the topic that is the main focus of the content of a library resource.

supplier

An institution that supplies items requested via OCLC WorldCat Resource Sharing. The institution's interlibrary loan polices may determine what items the institution supplies via WorldCat Resource Sharing.

text: The type matter on a page or in an electronic document that is distinct from illustrations or graphics.
title: A word, phrase, character, or group of characters, appearing on an information source that names the item.
title phrase: The exact term(s) used to name a library resource such as a book, article, transcript, video, recording, song, score, or software. Tip: Use the exact terms that appear in the title. For example, type THX-1138 to search for the videotape with this title.
title phrase index list: A display of titles resulting from a title phrase search.
title derived search: See derived search.
truncation (*): Truncation allows you to search for a term and its variations by entering only the root of the term or phrase followed by an asterisk *. Use the truncation symbol only at the end of a term. See also wildcard (# or ?).

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U

UNS

See OCLC Customer Services Division (CSD).

URI

Uniform Resource Identifier. Provides electronic access data in a standard syntax. The URI is located in field 856, subfield ‡u and can be used during batchload matching.

URL

Uniform Resource Locator. Address or location of a Web page or other electronic resource.

UTF-8 Unicode character sets

USC Transformation Format-8—8-bit, byte-oriented encoding for Unicode characters. Includes, but not limited to, Basic Latin (ASCII) character subset and MARC-8 subsets of non-Latin characters (USC = Universal Coded Character Sets).

The Connexion client supports cataloging in the following four UTF-8 Unicode character sets: Bengali (character range U+0980 to U+09FF); Devanagari (character range U+0900 to U+097F); Tamil (character range U+0B80 to U+0BFF); Thai (character range U+0E00 to U+0E7F). The client also supports MARC-8 character sets.

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W

whole phrase index

Search indexes used to search for entire indexed fields of records. Whole phrase indexes are also browsable.

whole phrase search

All words, numbers, or character strings used to initiate a search for an entire indexed field in records. To enter a complete search string using a "command line" search in Connexion, use a whole phrase index label in the format xxw= (where xx represents the label).

Note: FirstSearch/Resource Sharing supports only one whole phrase index—Subject. This index label has a different format; see example below.

For a whole phrase search, enter all field data or truncate using an asterisk.

Examples:

To search for a subject field in Connexion, type suw=library science computer* (field data is truncated).
To search for the same subject field in FirstSearch/Resource Sharing, type sa=library science computer* (field data is truncated).

wildcard (# or ?)

A special character used to represent one or more characters in a search term. The pound sign (#) represents a single character, and the question mark (?), alone or with a number, represents zero or more characters. Wildcards must be preceded by at least three characters in a term. Example: wom#n retrieves women or women; col?r retrieves color or colour. See also truncation (*).

word indexes

Search indexes used to search for a word or number in specific indexed fields of records. Word indexes are also browsable.

word search

A word, number, or character string used to initiate a search for a word in an indexed field in records. To enter a complete search string using a "command line" search in Connexion or an "expert" search in FirstSearch/Resource Sharing, use a word index label in the format xx:.

Example: To search for an OCLC control number, type no:10998406 (or #10998406 or *10998406).

WorldCat Resource Sharing

See OCLC WorldCat Resource Sharing.

FirstSearch glossary

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D

E

F

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I

J

K

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M

N

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Q

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