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Glossary of Library Terms: C

Library words explained briefly with French translation. Indexes for direct links.

Call Number

A  combination of letters and numbers assigned to each item in the library.

The call number allows you to locate your document on the library shelves. High school and public libraries are most likely to use the Dewey Decimal classification system. College and university libraries usually follow the Library of Congress classification system. In both systems an item receives a call number that represents the subject, author and sometimes the publication date of that item. A label with the call number is located on the spine of a book. For information on how to read a call number see UnlockingResearch.

Examples of books and their corresponding Dewey Decimal call numbers

Complete History of the World     909 C737

What is Occupy? Inside the Global Movement      303.484 W555

Examples of books and their corresponding Library of Congress call numbers

A Global History: 1870 to the Present        D 209 W35

Everyday Ethics and Social Change: The Education of Desire       BJ 37 P48 2009

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cote

Chicago Style

One of several styles used to cite sources.

The Chicago style guidelines are found in The Chicago Manual of Style, published by the University of Chicago. Chicago is used in the subject fields of history, the humanities and English. For examples of how to cite sources using the Chicago style please see UnlockingResearch / Citation Styles

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style Chicago

Citation

A reference to a source of information. May also be called a bibliographic entry.

The citation contains all the elements necessary to locate a source of information: author, title, publication details, publication date, and page numbers.  When writing a research paper you must provide citations for all the sources that you have used. There are several citation styles to choose from depending on the subject of the paper. The most common ones at the college level are MLA, APA, and Chicago. Ask your instructor which one to use.

For more information see UnlockingResearch / Cite Sources

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référence bibliographique

Copyright

Copyright gives an author or creator exclusive rights to his work.

In Canada, copyright is defined by the Copyright Act. This act allows only the author or creator the right to produce or reproduce the work. The act applies to all original literary works (including computer programs), musical works (compositions, lyrics), dramatic works (movies, plays, etc.) artistic works (paintings, maps, photographs, etc.) as well as sound recordings and performances.

 Further reading: A Guide to Copyright from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office.

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droit d'auteur

Creative Commons

A nonprofit organization that provides a way for copyright holders (authors, musicians, artists, etc.) to more easily share their work with others.

The creator can decide on how his or her work will be shared. Depending on the Creative Commons license, the work may be copied for commercial or non-commercial use, may be modified, built upon, or copied with no changes. If you are looking for material to use in your project search for works licensed under Creative Commons at CC Search. Be sure to verify the type of license in effect.

Watch the video Creative Commons Kiwi by Creative Commons Aotearoa New Zealand.

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Creative Commons