Glossary starting with letter B

Barcode: A barcode is an optical machine-readable representation of data relating to the object to which it is attached. The barcode was invented by Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver and patented in the US in 1951. The barcodes found on the back of books are called Bookland EAN or EAN-13 barcode symbols that can be found on the back on a book. The EAN barcode is created from the ISBN for the book. The EAN-13 barcode is divided into five parts each part separated by a hyphen. It starts with a “978” prefix, followed by a country identifier, a publisher identifier, a title identifier and closes with a check digit that validates the number. In the libraries, barcode numbers are used to charge, discharge and renew books in the integrated library management system.

Below the Fold: The below half of a document printed or online that appears lower horizontal fold. Articles placed below the horizontal fold have lower prominence because most languages are read from top to bottom of the writing / reading surface.

Bibliographer: A person who is able to describe physical characteristics of books by recognized method.

Bibliographic Database: It is a computer based list of record containing the bibliographic information i.e. call number, author, title, and other such kind of information to published literature, including journal and newspaper articles, conference proceedings, reports, government and legal publications, patents, books, etc.

Bibliographical Centre: A place where bibliographies and catalogue of library and those of publisher are assembled and information on books are given. They are associated with books lending agencies, stores or national libraries.

Bibliography: A list of writings related to a specific subject or by a specific author or writings used in producing a specific text which is generally appended at the end of an article, book or other information source.

Bibliometrics: Bibliometrics is the use of statistical methods to analyse books, articles and other publications.

Bindery: The books that need repair and loose issues of journals that are combined or bound into a single volume are sent out of the library system to a company which binds them is called bindery.

Biography: A biography is a detailed description of a person’s life that include information about birth, parents, education, work, relationships, death and other life events.

Bit: The term bit is a portmanteau of binary digit. A binary digit i.e. ‘0’s and ‘1’s is called a bit and it can be define as an electronic signal, which is either On ‘1’ or Off  ‘0’. It is also the smallest unit of information the computer uses.

Blocking: The impressing of gold leaf metal foil, or other medium into a book cover by means of a stamp.

Blurb: A blurb is a short promotional or advertisement piece of information accompanying a creative work on the back or rear dust-jacket of a book written by the author or publisher or quote praise from others with the intent to promote the sale of the publication.

Book Review: A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is analyzed based on content, style, and merit.

Book: A set of sheet of written or printed communication of human knowledge bound along one edge and enclosed within protective covers to form a volume. At UNESCO conference 1964 a book was defined as “a non periodical printed publication of at least 49 pages, exclusive of cover pages”'.

Bookbinding: Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of paper sheets that are folded together into sections or sometimes left as a stack of individual sheets.

Bookmarks: The method of marking, saving or storing and retrieving specific websites in the web browser locally or in a web based bookmark account.

Bookstack: A bookstack is a multi-story storage area where the books are arranged in a systematic order for maintenance, storage and easy retrieval.

Boolean Logic: The algebraic system containing Boolean operators such as AND, OR, NOT, and XOR (exclusive OR) primarily used in database searches and switching circuits. This binary algebraic system is developed by George Boole.

Bound Volume: The periodicals like newspapers, magazines, and joruanls of a particular year which is not considered as a current issue are fastened together by the libraries into a single volume for easy storage, retrieval and preservation and it is called bound volume.

Box file: A container made to stand on a shelf and intended primarily to contain material such as correspondence or newspaper cutting. Most durable kinds are those with wooden sides, board base, the whole being covered cloth and paper and line with paper. A spring clip is usually provided to keep the contents in position.

Browse: To inspect or reading something casually.

Byte: Byte is the abbreviated form of binary term. The byte is the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable unit of memory in many computer architectures. A group of 8 bits is called a byte. 

Badan Barman at present working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Library and Information Science, Gauhati University, Guwahati-781014, Assam, India. He is the creator of the LIS Links (http://www.lislinks.com) - India’s most popular social networking website for Library and Information Science professionals. He also created the UGC NET Guide (http://www.netugc.com) and LIS Study (http://www.lisstudy.com) website.