Scholarly sources - A journal that is refereed - that is, experts in an academic field make up an editorial board that reviews all articles before they are accepted for publication. Scholarly journals contain articles written by researchers doing original work in a subject field. These articles contain bibliographic references to other articles and sources. Most scholarly journals are devoted to a particular topic. For example, The Journal of Neurology or Renaissance Quarterly are two scholarly journals.
See Also: Popular sources, Trade publications
Search strategy - A plan for conducting information research. A search strategy includes a list of databases and indexes to search, a list of keywords and subject headings relevant to the topic, and knowledge of how to enter the search into the database or index.
Search tools - A generic term that includes all types of Internet search tools, including search engines, directories, and metasearchers.
Secondary sources - Sources compiling or critiquing original works. Examples of secondary sources include literary criticism, biographies, encyclopedia articles, and journal articles critiquing the work of others.
See Also: Primary sources
Serial - Any publication printed on an ongoing basis. Magazines, journals, annual reviews, and almanacs are examples of serials.
See Also: Journal, Magazine
Stacks - The area of a library which holds the shelved books, usually arranged in Call Number groupings.
Subject headings - Precisely defined terms and phrases assigned to materials in an index. When you search on a subject heading, you will locate all the materials relevant to that subject. You may also find subdivisions of the subject heading and cross references to other related subject headings.
See Also: Controlled vocabulary, Keywords