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Bibliographic record - information about an object, such as its name, author, publisher, date of publication, location, date, format, and any identifying notes. Cross-collection search - a search performed across almost all AM collections. For collections that are either wholly or partially excluded, see What American Memory resources are included in this search. Descriptive information - bibliographic information that is given for items in American Memory. Since the information given about an item is not a complete bibliographic record, the term 'descriptive information' is more accurate. On some collection search pages, there is a choice between searching descriptive information and the full text of the collection. Finding aid - an index, list, timeline, table of contents, map, or other means that organizes the contents of a collection to assist the researcher in finding particular items of interest. Full text search - a search of the text of the documents of a collection. In American Memory, the transcriptions (not the original page images) are searched. The search does not include the descriptive or bibliographic information about the documents. Exceptions are text collections where transcriptions are not available. Hit list - InQuery, the American Memory search mechanism, will return a page with a list of items that match the search request. This list is referred to as a 'hit list.' Because the number and kind of search requests is as varied as the needs of each researcher, the hit list is not a permanent web page and cannot be bookmarked for future reference. It remains available while the researcher is actively exploring the items on the list. InQuery - the American Memory search mechanism developed by MIT. InQuery searches databases of information about the items in the collections of American Memory. InQuery searches can be done across all collections (minus the few exceptions mentioned in What is Searched), across collections of one media type, and within a collection. Item record - the name of the web page of an item that contains descriptive or bibliographic information. Keyword - any word or phrase typed into a search box to initiate a search request. Primary source - American Memory contains original works in various media formats: for example, photographs, drawings, letters, diaries, documents, books, films, posters, playscripts, speeches, songs, sheet music, and first person accounts. Relevancy ranking - InQuery, the American Memory search mechanism, returns a list of 'hits' as the result of a search request. When two or more words are used in the search request, InQuery looks for items containing (first) both words, (second) both words near each other, and (third) either word. In other words, InQuery ranks the hits according to their relevancy to your search request. Subject term - terms from the Library of Congress Subject Headings, the Thesaurus of Graphic Materials, or other approved thesauri which are used in collections in American Memory. Subject terms used in a collection may appear as a list linked off the collection home page or on individual item record web pages. Subject terms are hot-linked to lists of items within the collection having the same subject term. Clicking on a subject term will yield other items with the same subject term, shortcutting your search process. |
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| Last updated 09/26/2002 |
