Database: a general term for an electronic resource that allows searching of information. Content available in databases can include article abstracts, aggregated full-text, datasets, e-books and journals.
Electronic book (e-book): a book formatted as a digital file.
Electronic journal: commonly referred to as just "journal", it is a periodical publication published in electronic format.
Publisher: a person or business that sells printed and electronic material.
Vendor: third-party organization that sells products to libraries. Products could include packages of hundreds to thousands of titles, e-books, databases, and much more.
Concurrent User Access: (see also Simultaneous User Access) restricts the maximum number of concurrent users (users accessing the content at the same time). Concurrent user access models only allow a maximum set of users accessing electronic materials at the same time.
Demand Driven Acquisition (DDA): a library acquisition program that automatically purchases titles after they have a certain number of uses by patrons. Also called Patron Driven Acquisition (PDA).
Digital Rights Management (DRM): Digital rights management (DRM), also called digital restriction management and copyright protection, is the term used to describe any technology designed to control the use of digital content, such as digital media and software. E-Books with DRM have limits on who can access them, how much can be copied or downloaded, and how long downloads can be kept. DRM-free e-books have no such limits; see the definition of DRM-free below.
DRM-Free: is a model where titles have no digital rights management (DRM) software. DRM-free titles have no user access, download size, download length, saving, printing, or copying limitations.
E-book Reader: a computer software or device that is designed specifically to read e-books. Common electronic book readers are Kindle, Nook, and Kobo. The most common electronic book reader software is Adobe Digital Editions.
Evidence Based Acquisition (EBA): a library acquisition program that provides e-book collections by vendors for libraries for a specified period of time. At the end of the loan period, the library will purchase titles based on usage during the loan period.
Limited User: an access model where a set number of users can access the same title at a time. The most common limited user models are Single User (1U) and Three User (3U).
Non-Linear Usage (NL): when a title has a set number of lending days per year.
Open Access (OA): resources available to users for free.
Patron Driven Acquisition (PDA): See Demand Driven Acquisition (DDA).
Simultaneous User (SU) Access: (See also Concurrent User Access) an access model that restricts the number of users who can access the same item at the same time. Could also be thought of as how many copies of a book the library has on the virtual shelf.
Unlimited User (UU): Unlimited usage have no limits on the number of uses or simultaneous users. May still have download or copying restrictions.
Browser: (see also Web Browser) a computer program that downloads webpages; installed on computers and used to access websites and webpages on the Web. Some recommended browsers are the following:
Digital Object Identifier (DOI): a permanent identifier given to any kind of entity, physical or online. A DOI may look similar to a URL string (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2017.11.014), or it could be a string of unique numbers (doi:10.1080/02626667.2018.1560449). Visit DOI.org to search the DOI system or to register a DOI to an entity.
Cache: a small fast memory holding of recently accessed data, designed to speed up subsequent access to the same data. A part of your computer's memory management system. Definition provided by Free Online Dictionary of Computing.
Cookies: a small string of information sent by a web server to a web browser that will be sent back by the browser each time it accesses that server. The most common use of cookies is to identify and authenticate a user who has logged in to a website, so they don't have to sign in every time they visit. Definition provided by Free Online Dictionary of Computing.
EZproxy: (see also Proxy entry) a web address to access a proxy server. UAB Libraries uses a unique proxy string in order to authenticate off-campus patrons. Completed proxy links are created by combining the unique proxy with a resource's main URL. When users click on the finished link, a connection is immediately sent to the libraries' EZproxy server, asking the user to being authenticated to that resource. Once the user is verified to be an active patron, access is granted to the electronic resource.
EZproxy server: type of proxy server UAB Libraries uses to authenticate off-campus patrons. When patrons click on the unique library proxy string, a connection is sent to the EZproxy server in order to authenticate patrons for access to electronic resources.
Internet Protocol (IP) authentication: an authentication method based upon comparing the IP address of a computer trying to access a resource with a range of IP addresses; if the IP address falls within the specified range, access is permitted.
Internet Protocol (IP) address: assigned to a computer by an internet provider. An IP address changes based on where you are located and what Wi-Fi service you are using. Visit What is my IP address? to find out your IP address.
Link resolver: software that converts or formats requests into the physical URL of the target data. It allows library users to access a single resource across multiple databases in order to help users find full text access to content.
OpenURL: similar to a permalink, these links direct to a permanent resource, like an online article or e-book, no matter the website it's hosted on.
Permalink: a permanent connection to a specific web page, permalinks can appear either as permanent links or as stable URLs which will always pull up the same page when entered into a browser’s address bar.
Proxy: (see also EZproxy) a web address to access a proxy server. UAB Libraries uses a unique proxy string in order to authenticate off-campus patrons. Completed proxy links are created by combining the unique proxy with a resource's main URL. When users click on the finished link, a connection is immediately sent to the libraries' EZproxy server, asking the user to being authenticated to that resource. Once the user is verified to be an active patron, access is granted to the electronic resource.
Proxy server: a computer that mediates between two networks by collecting the data sent from the first network and sending it to the second network, which is often the internet. Since all requests sent by a proxy have the same IP address, a proxy server is used to provide access to resources using IP authentication from computers with IPs not in the provided range.
Shibboleth: a single sign-on service and secured identity management solution that libraries use to authenticate patrons in order to provide access to electronic resources and content. The Shibboleth authentication pop-up prompt usually appears after patrons click a full text link from the library's catalog. The prompt is simple and only requires users to choose their home institution from a drop-down list of academic institutions.
Single Sign-On (SSO): a single sign-on service allows users to use one login credentials to access multiple resources, sites and application.
Web browser: (see also Browser) a computer program that downloads webpages; installed on computers and used to access websites and webpages on the Web. Some recommended browsers are the following:
Webpage: an Internet-based document, usually in HTML format, that can contain a wide variety of information and multimedia content.
Web session: a series of actions by a user on a site within a given time. Session data can be removed by clearing cache and cookies in a web browser, creating a fresh browser. Web session data is a recording of search engine searches performed, scrolling and browsing on a webpage, online research, and more.
Website: a collection of webpages or a single page.
Virtual Private Network (VPN): a private network for users that hides their IP addresses which ultimately makes users untraceable. For more information on using UAB's VPN, please visit UAB IT's guide titled "Using Duo 2FA to Login to UAB's New VPN".