What do these weird words mean?

We try not use weird words and 'jargon', but sometimes these words may show up during your time at the University. The University has a page for many academic words, and we've collected a few library ones here with a brief explanation. If you don't see the word you're confused by you can send us an email at libraryhelp@northampton.ac.uk Sometimes searching for the word online will bring a few quick answers, but if you're still not sure then do ask us.

If you haven't used a library before, or not for a long time, we also have a guide about how libraries work and how you can make the most out of the University library during your studies.

Hold / Holds / Requests / Reservations

If you request a book, sometimes it is called putting a hold on a book. If a library book has a request or a 'hold' on it, it means that someone else has asked the book. It's sometimes called a reservation or request too. It is a bit like a queue for the book, once the book is returned we will 'hold' it aside for the person who requested it for up to a week. There may be a queue of requests on a book, this means that eventually each person who has requested the book can have a bit of time with it.

Journal

A journal is an academic magazine covering a particular subject. They are really useful as they will cover a topic in depth, collecting articles written by people who are studying or working in a particular area of study.

Library Resource

A library resource can be anything from the library collection, whether it's a book or a DVD or a music CD or a map or a journal, or even a box or pack containing multiple different items! We try to say 'resource' instead of book when we're talking about items from the library, as the library collection is much more than 'just' books!

Shelfmark

The shelfmark is the set of numbers followed by three letters that appears on the side of a library resource. These numbers are all about the topic that the resource covers, and are used to help sort the books and resources into order on the library shelves. This means if you are looking for a book you can find out the shelfmark number from NELSON, and then go through the books on the shelves in order until you get to the right number, and then you'll find the book.

Also, because the books are sorted by shelfmark number (which represents the topic), it means that books that are on the shelves around the same number will cover very similar topics!

This is really handy if you're looking for a book or browsing the shelves, but it does look confusing to start with. We never expect people to be experts when looking for library resources, and we look for them very often, so if you can't find the book you're looking for then just ask us and we'll be happy to lend you a hand.

We have a guide and video about finding a book in NELSON, and then on the shelves.

NELSON

NELSON (Northampton Electronic Library Search ONline) will show you all the resources that UON have, online and physically. It's really important that you login before you start to search but then you can browse through all our resources. You can find your library account here by logging in - there is a log in button in the top right. 

Catalogue

We use NELSON as a catalogue and it lists all the resources that we have and where you can find it. You can search for what you are looking for it will tell you if it is available or on loan, and where in the Learning Hub you can find it. You can also log into NELSON and have a look at what you have on loan and renew too.

A-Z of databases

We have a list of all the databases that we have in a list from A to Z. A database is a collection of online resources, like e-books and e-journals. Some are general and cover lots of topics. Some deal with only one topic, like 'Dental Complete' for dentistry or 'Education Research Complete' for titles about education. The list has a short explanation about what the database contains and you access them straight from the list. You can also search and sort the list to find what you need.