Glossary of Terms

A

AGENCY Central and branch locations. (Also often called "unit".)

AVAILABLE A status that means the item is theoretically sitting on the shelf and may be checked out.

B

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATABASE CONTROL NUMBER (DBCN) Each record in the database carries a unique control number composed of three letters and four numbers, with a hyphen separating the letters from the numbers.

BORROWER Patron codes reflect different categories of borrowers, e.g. Adult, Juvenile, Staff, Volunteer.

C

CALL NUMBER A number, such as a Dewey Decimal Number that appears on the spine label of a nonfiction book and is used to identify its location and retrieve the item. For example: 307.12 K96H 1996. (Note that works of fiction, such as a novel, are shelved alphabetically by the author's last name. Biographies are preceded by the letter "B".)

CHECKED OUT Item status that indicates that materials are checked out to a patron.

CIRCULATING When we say a book or video or CD "circulates" or is in the "circulating" collection, all it means is that that book, unlike a "reference" book, can be checked out and used outside the library. Reference books are for use inside the library only.

D

DATABASE CONTROL NUMBER Each record in the database carries a unique control number composed of three letters and four numbers, with a hyphen separating the letters from the numbers.

DELINQUENT Status of a borrower who has overdue materials or owes fines exceeding $5.00.

E

(empty)

F

(empty)

G

(empty)

H

HIT LIST A list of records from the Online Catalog matching the information entered for searching. It consists of two or more records.

HOLD Indicates that the request has been filled and the material is being held at the location (at the Circulation desk) where it is to be picked up. A notice has been sent to the patron, or is scheduled to be sent shortly.

HOLDING LOCATION Once an item has been sent from the unit that owns the item to a new location, where it is meant to be picked up by a borrower, it is assigned a "holding location" code. It will continue to reflect this code until it has been returned to the location which owns the item.

I

ISBN International Standard Book Number. Most published books have a unique ISBN. You can search for an item using this number by selecting the "Advanced Search" link in the Online Catalog and then scrolling down to choose the "Numeric Search" button.

ISSN International Standard Serial Number. Most magazines and journals have a unique ISSN. You can search for an item using this number by selecting the "Advanced Search" link in the Online Catalog and then scrolling down to choose the "Numeric Search" button.

J

(empty)

K

(empty)

L

LIBRARY CARD NUMBER The number under the barcode on your library card. It is a unique identification number used for checking in and checking out materials and placing requests.

LOCATION CODE A six digit code assigned to each item which describes where it belongs. The first two digits stand for the system (01 = Dallas Public Library), the second two digits reflect the agency (xx20 = Audelia Road) and the last two digits describe a location within that agency where the material will be found (xxxx07 = easy readers). Thus 012007 would be found at the Audelia Road Branch, with the "Easy Readers", a special shelf or shelves in the children's section.

Each branch and each Central Library unit has a three letter acronym like "BAR" for "BRANCH [Library] AUDELIA ROAD" or "CFA" for "CENTRAL [Library] FINE ARTS". A table showing all of these acronyms and their corresponding, general numerical location codes appears toward the bottom of this page.

M

MARC An acronym for "Machine Readable Cataloging Record". The MARC standard comprises "tags", "indicators" and "delimiters" to identify and separate information in the "bibliographic" or "authority" records stored in the library's computer database. "Bibliographic" records contain information about a work (such as a book or DVD) including the call number, date of publication, publisher, etc. "Authority" records contain the "authoritative" or "official" form of an author's name, the title of a work or a subject heading as determined by an agency such as the Library of Congress.

The MARC record can be displayed in the Online Catalog. It is the most detailed form of the record you see when you pull up a search in the catalog. (You can read all about the MARC standards at the Library of Congress website or see this website for a step by step introduction.)

N

NON REQUEST/CHECKED OUT A 14 day book (most materials are 21 day check outs) which is currently checked out to someone. The 14 day books are new and popular materials that can't have requests (see below) placed on them; therefore, they are called "non request."

O

OPAC Online Public Access Catalog. Our web based Online Catalog is an OPAC.

P

PIN Personal Identification Number. Normally, this is the last four digits of your telephone number. You can change your PIN number by asking the Circulation staff. Use this number when placing requests via the Online Catalog. [Note that it is not the same as your Library Card number (aka "Borrower ID".)]

Q

(empty)

R

READING LEVEL Assigned to each item. The levels used here at Dallas Public Library include "Adult (A)", "Young Adult (Y)", and "Juvenile (J)".

REFERENCE BOOK A reference book is one that is meant to be used inside the library. Unlike a circulating book, it cannot normally be checked out.

REQUEST You place a request when you want the library to hold an item for you. This can be done by logging in to your accounts in the Online Catalog. You will need to know your Library Card Number and PIN. You may request that the item be delivered to any one of our 24 locations. You may also return items to any of our locations, even if it was picked up at a different branch.

ROUTE Item status indicating the item is in transit between library locations.

S

(empty)

T

(empty)

U

UNIT Central and branch locations. (Also called "agency".)

V

VERTICAL FILE MATERIAL Materials such as pamphlets or maps that are stored in file folders.

W

WORKSTATION A personal computer with a Central Processing Unit, or CPU (containing a hard drive, RAM memory, a floppy disk drive, and in some cases a CD ROM drive), a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

X

(empty)

Y

(empty)

Z

(empty)