This book explores the rich history of the keyword from its earliest manifestations (long before it appeared anywhere in Google Trends or library cataloging textbooks) in order to illustrate its implicit and explicit mediation of human cognition and communication processes. The author covers the concept of the keyword from its deictic origins in primate and proto-speech communities, through its development within oral traditions, to its initial appearances in numerous graphical forms and its workings over time within a variety of indexing traditions and technologies. The book follows the history all the way to its role in search engine optimization and social media strategies and its potential as an element in the slowly emerging semantic web, as well as in multiple voice search applications. The author synthesizes different perspectives on the significance of this often-invisible intermediary, both in and out of the library and information science context, helping readers to understand how it has come to be so embedded in our daily life. This book: Provides a thorough history of the keyword, from primate and proto-speech communities to current times Explains how the concept of the keyword relates to human cognition and communication processes Highlights the applications of the keyword, both in and out of the library and information science context

The only things librarians seem to encounter more often than acronyms are strings of jargon and arcane technical phrases—and there are so many floating around that even just reading an article in a professional journal can bewilder experienced librarians, to say nothing of those new to the profession! Featuring thousands of revised and brand new entries, the fourth edition of ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science presents a thorough yet concise guide to the specific words that describe the materials, processes and systems relevant to the field of librarianship. A panel of experts from across the LIS world have thoroughly updated the glossary to include the latest technology- and internet-related terms, covering metadata, licensing, electronic resources, instruction, assessment, readers’ advisory, and electronic workflow. This book will become an essential part of every library’s and librarian’s reference collection and will also be a blessing for LIS students and recent graduates.

This enlarged and expanded edition is designed to be a valuable resource for librarians and users of information sources, clarifying the bewidering number of new acronyms that appear every year in the information science field. Nearly 30,000 acronyms in 35 languages are listed. As libraries are to a large extent interdisciplinary, the dictionary covers language forms used in computers, publishing, printing, archive management, journalism and reprography, as well as in the library and information science fields Acronyms reproduced here represent institutions, library and information systems, pr.