Glossary Serial Terms
The following are terms used to describe serials in library settings:
| SERIAL | An all inclusive term for a publication in any medium issued in successive parts bearing numerical or chronological designations and intended to be continued indefinitely. Serials include periodicals; newspapers; annuals (reports, yearbooks, etc.); the journals, memoirs, proceedings, transactions, etc., of societies; and numbered monographic series. |
Periodical |
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| Periodical: | A serial appearing or intended to appear indefinitely at regular or stated intervals, generally more frequently then annually, each issue of which is numbered or dated consecutively and normally contains separate articles, stories, or other writing. Newspapers disseminating general news, and the proceedings, papers, or other publications of corporate bodies primarily related to their meetings, are not included in this term. |
| Journal: | A periodical, especially one containing scholarly articles and/or disseminating current information on research and development particular subject field. |
| Professional Society Journal: | An official or other publication (periodical) issued by, or under the auspices of, a society, association, or institution. |
| Examples of a Professional Dociety Journal: American Libraries JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association |
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| Refereed/Juried Journal: | A periodical or other serial in which the manuscripts are evaluated by at least one subject specialist in addition to the editor before being accepted for publication. |
| Examples of a Refereed Journal: Advances in Nursing Science Chaucer Review Critical Inquiry German Quarterly Journal of Morphology Origins Social Work |
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| Trade Journal or Publication: | A periodical devoted to the interests of a trade or industry and its allied fields. Usually not refereed. |
| Examples of a Trade Journal: Management Accounting New England Economic Review Publishers Weekly |
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Magazine |
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| Magazine: | A periodical for general reading, containing articles on various subjects by different authors. |
| Popular Magazine: | A periodical for general reading, containing articles on various subjects by different authors. |
| Examples of a Popular Magazine: Art in America National Geographic New Yorker Newsweek Nursing Times Scientific American Smithsonian |
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| Consumer/General Interest Magazines: | A periodical that reflects social trends, issues, and interests. |
| Examples of a Consumer Magazine: Aramco World Magazine Consumer Reports PC World Prevention |
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Index |
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| Index: | A list of topics, names, etc. treated in a book or a group of books, with references to pages where they occur. |
| Examples of an Index: Catholic Periodical and Literature Index Essay and General Literature Index Psychological Abstracts Social Work Abstracts |
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| Electronic Index: | Provides subject, author, and/or title indexing to a particular set of periodicals and gives a full citation for each article. The citation includes the title of the periodical, date, volume, pages, as well as the author and title of the article. Citations are provided in an electronic format. |
| Examples of an Electronic Index: Academic Search Eilte CINAH with full-text ERIC Social Services Abstracts |
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Electronic Serials |
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| Electronic Serial: | A work issued in designated parts for an indefinite period of time, which must comprise successive parts bearing numberic or chronological designations, in a computer file format and accessed "via input/output devices connected electronically to a computer" (AACR2); The most frequently encountered types of remote access serials are electronic journals, newsletters, or newspapers available on the Internet. Electronic serials range from those that parallel print publications to serials that lack traditional issues. |
| Electronic Journal: | A publication, often scholarly, that is made accessible in a computerized format and distributed over the Internet. An electronic journal or e-journal may have a traditional paper counterpart or historical antecedent. |
| Examples of an Electronic Journal: Affilia The Economist Nursing Outlook PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) |
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| Zine or E-zine: | Another category of online serials,consisting of popular, unconventional, or informal "electronic magazines" that often cover popular culture, politics, etc. |
| Examples of an E-zine: L.A. Woman Magazine - Lyme Juice W.W.II Today - WWWtips z Times - ZYN!-Magazine |
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Information for this section was gathered from the following sources:
- The ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science. Young Heartsill, Ed. Chicago, IL: American Library Association, 1983.
- Cataloging Manual Module 31 Remote Access Computer File Serials CONSER (Cooperative Program for Serials Cataloging) Library of Congress
- Glossary of Library Terms Cornell University Library