Table of Contents

Subject Guides middle-left

Librarians like to throw around a lot of technical terms and phrases and pretend everyone knows what we are talking about.

The purpose of this guide is to explain what these terms mean in plain English.

What is an article?
Find out what an article is and where to find them.
What is a journal?
Find out what journals are and which ones you can access as an SBU student.
What is a database?
Learn what databases are all about and how they can save you a lot of time.
What is reference?
Learn what we mean by reference, so that you can get help whenever you're confused about doing research for a class, presentation, or you just can't find anything in the library!
What is a periodical?
Ever been lost in that huge periodical section?
What is circulation?
That big desk up front and how it can help you.