Definitions

Advanced Search
A search using more than one search term. (In this database, the three types of search terms are Author, Title, or Keyword.) Search terms are connected by Boolean Operators to focus the search, and Restrictions can be set to refine the search. Need more help with Advanced Search?
Alternative Title
A substitute for the main title of an item.
Author
The name of the person who created the content of the book, journal article, report, etc.
Basic Search
A search using only one search term. In this database, the three types of search terms are Author, Title, or Keyword. If a phrase is entered in the Search Box, the Boolean Operator AND is implied. Need more help with Basic Search?
Boolean Operators
Words used in Advanced Search to combine search terms to either broaden or narrow the retrieval results. Boolean operators tell the database search engine which words you want your search to include or exclude. The Boolean operators in this database are AND, OR, NOT. Need more help with Boolean operators?
Browse Topics
Browse Topics - A type of search that allows you to scroll through an alphabetical list of topics (or subjects) used in the database. These terms are from the Canadian Literacy Thesaurus. The number beside each topic in the list indicates how many records there are in the database for that term. When you click on the term that best describes the topic you're interested in, you'll be able to view those records. You can also use the list to help you choose search terms for keyword searches.
Call Number
A call number is like a book's address. Each item in a library has a unique call number that you use to locate it on the shelf. (A book has a sticker on its spine that lists its call number.) On library shelves, items are arranged in call number order.
Canadian Literacy Thesaurus
The Canadian Literacy Thesaurus is a bilingual list of standardized vocabulary in the area of adult literacy. The thesaurus was developed in consultation with the Canadian literacy community.
Contributing Author
Name of individual(s) or institution(s) that were involved in the creation of a document.
Database
A usually large collection of data organized especially for rapid search and retrieval by a computer. A database contains records, and each record contains information such as Title, Author and Publication Year for a particular document.
Field
Each database record contains fields such as Author, Title or Publisher.
Format
Type of material. For example, book, article, CD-ROM, etc.
A link to downloadable, digitized version of a document such as a .PDF file.
Funder
The sponsoring body who provided funding for the creation of a document.
ISBN
International Standard Book Number is a unique 10 digit number assigned to each published book.
ISSN
International Standard Serial Number is a unique 8 digit number assigned to journals.
Keyword
A word or phrase that describes the topic to be searched. Keywords may occur in any field in a record, including the Summary field. (Examples of fields include Title, Author, and Publisher.)
Pathfinders
Pathfinders are guides to help you quickly find relevant information on a particular topic. Pathfinders include links to Internet resources, to relevant organizations and to resources in the AlphaPlus Library and relevant subject terms to guide your search.
Publication Year
The year in which a document was published.
Record
Each record in a database contains information such as Title, Author and Publication Year for a particular document. A database is a collection of many records. In some cases, a record will include a Full Text link to an on-line version of a document.
Restriction
A limit used to refine a search. For example, a search restricted to items published since 2002, will only retrieve documents published since 2002.
Sector
The sectoral body affiliation. In Ontario these are: College, Community-based, Laubach, School-Board.
Series
A set of uniquely titled books, generally having different authors and a common editor.
Status
Whether a piece of research is in progress or completed.
Stream
The Literacy Service Stream. In Ontario the streams are: Anglophone, Deaf, Francophone and Native.
Subjects
The subject matter or topic of the document. Subject terms drawn from the Canadian Literacy Thesaurus are used by an indexer to describe the content of a document when creating a record for a database. (Search Hint: when viewing a record, click on any of its subjects to find other records on the same topic.)
Summary
A field in a database record which gives a brief description of a document's content.
Title
The title of a book, journal article, report, etc.
Topic
See Subjects.

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