Utilizing library resources for college level research will require you to have a good understanding of library jargon and their definitions. Because of this, we've compiled a short list of vocabulary that you'll encounter the most during your time here at Carleton. If you stumble across a term not listed here, feel free to reach out to one of the reference librarians for assistance!

Tip: Use Ctrl+F (or Command+F for Macs) to search for a term in this list if you're looking for a definition of a specific one!

Library Stacks

The stacks are the bookshelves that store the library’s print collection. At Carleton, we store our physical journals and books in the stacks. They are stored by call number and sorted into sections by subject. Our stacks are open, which means that anyone can browse them (and of course, check them out) when looking for resources.

Call numbers

The Library of Congress (LOC, or LC) number system is a method for organizing a library’s resources by subject matter. Like the Dewey Decimal system, it is designed to make it easier to find books and other physical materials. The LOC system uses letters and numbers to create call numbers, which are a unique combination that represents a particular book, DVD, journal, etc. For example, the book “The Old Man and the Sea” has the call number PS3515.E37 O52 1996. “PS” indicates that the book is categorized in the LOC system as American literature and the rest of the call number helps you locate the book within the PS section. 

Peer-reviewed Journal Articles

Scholarly articles that meet certain criteria set by a journal and has been read and approved by peer scholars. It presents original research, has been written for an audience of other experts, is often lengthy in nature, and has an extensive bibliography, evidence to mean that it has taken several years to write. You can find such articles in a periodical/journal.

Permalink

Also known as a persistent link, is a static hyperlink that gives you permanent access to a specific citation or a webpage. You can generate a permalink from Catalyst and some databases.

Sources

A source is anything from a book, journal article, newspaper article, blog, just to name a few. You will most likely use a variety of sources when writing a research paper. Sometimes professors will just say “source” as shorthand -- make sure you know what they’re talking about!

Monographs

A monograph is an academic book written about a scholarly subject, often published by a University Press. It usually has one author (i.e. each chapter isn’t written by a different person), and it’s not a reprinted primary source or a piece of fiction or poetry.

Primary Sources

A primary source is an original work that scholars analyze in order to produce insight. These works can include correspondence, diaries, fiction/poetry, data sets, news media, phenomena, artwork, patents, artifacts, illustrations, manuscripts, and photographs. In the sciences, It can also include some peer-reviewed journal articles that report original research.

Secondary sources

Are the publications such as a monograph or peer-reviewed journal articles in which scholars present their analyses, insights, and claims. This can include works such as scholarly criticism, some peer-reviewed journal articles, or reviews of a text or scientific study. On occasion, things that were originally published as secondary sources can be analyzed by future scholars as primary artifacts about what scholarship was like at the time of the original publication.

Reference Sources

Are also known as tertiary sources. In most cases, a reference source is a book or database that allows you to build context for a topic by offering overviews and definitions or descriptions of people, events and more. Most reference entries have short lists of books or other scholarly material that was used to create the overview/definition. They are very useful for beginning a research project because they contain quick facts and allow the reader to get acquainted with the vocabulary of a topic.