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International Student & Scholar Services : Library Information

Library resources to support international students.

Find Your Librarian

Need to contact a librarian for help with your research? Select your campus below, or use one of the contacts at left if you're not sure.

Choose Your Campus:

Alpharetta | Atlanta* | Clarkston | Decatur | Dunwoody | Newton | Online College

*on the Atlanta campus list, select your school or major to find your subject librarian

Library Vocabulary

Abstract: "A summary or brief description of the content of another longer work. An abstract is often provided along with the citation to a work."

Article: "A brief work—generally between 1 and 35 pages in length—on a topic. Often published as part of a journal, magazine, or newspaper."

Bibliography: "A list containing citations to the resources used in writing a research paper or other document." 

Browser: "A software program that enables users to access Internet resources. Microsoft Edge, Netscape Navigator, and Mozilla Firefox are all browsers."

Call Number "A group of letters and/or numbers that identifies a specific item in a library and provides a way for organizing library holdings. Two major types of call numbers are Dewey Decimal Call Numbers and Library of Congress Call Numbers."

Catalog "A database (either online or on paper cards) listing and describing the books, journals, government documents, audiovisual and other materials held by a library. Various search terms allow you to look for items in the catalog."

Check out: "To borrow/rent/loan/issue an item from a library for a fixed period of time in order to read, listen to, or view it. Check-out periods vary by library. Items are checked out at the circulation desk."

Database: "A collection of information stored in an electronic format that can be searched by a computer."

Interlibrary Loan (ILL): "A service that allows you to borrow materials from other libraries through your own library."

Keyword: "A significant or memorable word or term in the title, abstract, or text of an information resource that indicates its subject and is often used as a search term."

Peer reviewed journal: "Peer review is a process by which editors have experts in a field review books or articles submitted for publication by the  experts’ peers. Peer review helps to ensure the quality of an information source by publishing only works of proven validity, methodology, and quality. Peer-reviewed journals are also called refereed or scholarly journals."

Periodical: "An information source published in multiple parts at regular intervals (daily, weekly, monthly, biannually). Journalsmagazines, and newspapers are all periodicals."