Also refers to a picture, image, figure, or representation. In Eastern Orthodox religious imagery, a picture of Jesus, Mary, or an apostle or saint. Click here to see a Byzantine icon of the Crucifixion, carved in ivory in the form of a plaque used as an inset in a treasure binding (Metropolitan Museum of Art) and also this painted example. Also spelled ikon or eikon.

Also, a string of characters intended to uniquely identify a bibliographic resource. There are many identifier systems in use for different types of library materials, including the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) for books, the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) for serial titles, the Serial Item and Contribution Identifier (SICI) for serial issues and articles, and the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for journal articles and other digital content.

Also refers to a characteristic style, particularly in the arts, or to the language or dialect peculiar to a specific people, geographic region, or social class.

During the early Middle Ages, illumination was done in monastic scriptoria, where most books were produced, but early in the 12th century independent artists began trading on their skill as illuminators, working mainly for wealthy patrons who filled their private libraries with fine books (example: Les très riches heures du Duc de Berry). The Morgan Library in New York City holds one of the largest collections of illuminated manuscripts in the United States. For online exhibitionions of illuminated manuscripts, see Manuscripts at the Getty Museum, the Morgan Library's CORSAIR collection, and Leaves of Gold. Images of medieval illuminated manuscripts are also provided by the Bodleian Library (University of Oxford). See also Illuminating the Renaissance (Getty Museum) and The Art of the Book in the Ilkhanid Period of Mongol influence on the Islamic world (Metropolitan Museum of Art). Some incunabula and early printed books were also illuminated (see Argonautica printed in 1519 by Josse Bade of Paris, courtesy of Special Collections, Glasgow University Library). Abbreviated illum. See also: chrysography, fraktur, and gilding.

The earliest examples of illustrated texts date from the second millennium B.C. Medieval manuscripts were illustrated with illuminated miniatures. Early printed books were illustrated with woodcuts or wood engravings. In modern books, illustrations are often numbered and listed by number in the front matter. Photographs or plates may be printed on a different grade of paper than the text and added to the sections of a book in one or more groups. Maps, tables, and genealogies are sometimes printed on the endpapers. Magazines, art books, and books for young children are usually heavily illustrated.

The use of illustration in works of general fiction has declined since the early 20th century (see A Petal from the Rose and The Water-Babies, courtesy of the Library of Congress) but continues unabated in children's books (see Picturing Childhood, UCLA Library). The University of Pennsylvania Library provides The Illustrated Book, 1780-1830. An exhibition of Victorian Book Illustration is available from the British Library. The National Museum of American Illustration in Newport, Rhode Island, provides an online gallery of works by American illustrators. Awards are given for children's book illustration (see Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award, Caldecott Medal, and Greenaway Medal). Abbreviated ill. or illus. See also: artwork.

Interestingly, research conducted by Mary Jane Scherdin in 1992 under the aegis of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) reveals that the personality profiles of librarians as a group differ significantly from data on the general population. Using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to measure personal preferences, Scherdin found that librarians scored substantially higher on introversion, intuitiveness, and thinking than the population at large and that individuals with extroverted, sensing, feeling, and perceiving preferences are rare in the library profession. Assuming that 1) introverts are likely to be perceived by extroverts as timid or reserved, 2) those who prefer emotion over reason may find thinkers too serious, and 3) individuals who are flexible and spontaneous tend to regard people who are systematic and well organized as rigid or controlling, Scherdin's findings suggest that the popular stereotype of librarians may have some basis in reality (see "Shattering Our Stereotype: Librarians' New Image" in the July 1995 issue of Library Journal).

Also refers to a visual impression of something real or imagined. See also: picture.

Some image search engines allow the user to specify file type (JPEG, GIF, etc.) and other image characteristics (see Advanced Image Search in Google Images). Most have a default adult content filter that can be turned off by the user. Results usually include a thumbnail of the image, its filename and size, and the URL of the Web page in which it appears. Because most image search engines locate pictorial content by analyzing text adjacent to the image on the same page (including any captions), false drops are common. Like text, online images are usually protected by copyright.

Also refers to copies of a book that contain printing or binding defects, for example, the accidental omission or duplication of a signature or insert. The publisher will usually exchange or perfect such copies and reimburse shipping costs when booksellers or retail purchasers return them, but only for defective make-up, not the insertion of errata slips (corrigenda). See also: out.

In computing, to read or receive data from a different application or computer system, which may require that it be converted into a compatible format. Popular applications are usually equipped to convert a variety of formats. Compare with export.

Also refers to the result of the transfer of wet ink under pressure from type or plates to the surface of a sheet or roll of paper, as in printing, engraving, etching, etc.

In binding, the name of the publisher and/or the publisher's device stamped at the base of the spine, or the name of the binder stamped on the inside of the back board of the cover, usually near the bottom.

In the management of serials, the term is used in the holdings statement of a serial title for which the library owns 50-94 percent of the published run. Compare with complete. See also: completeness.

Recently, the term has been used in reference to Cubans who, in response to Fidel Castro's 1998 announcement that there are no prohibited books in Cuba (only books that no one had the money to buy), began lending banned materials from their homes. The following year, human rights activists in the United States formed the group Friends of Cuban Libraries to oppose the intimidation and arrest of "independent librarians" in Cuba, including confiscation of their book collections, and began lobbying the ALA in support of the position that intellectual freedom was at issue. After hearing arguments on both sides of the controversy at its January 2001 meeting, the International Relations Committee (IRC) of the ALA issued a report recommending that no action be taken, based on information that the Cubans suffering persecution were not librarians but political dissidents supported by anti-Castro groups.

Also refers to an open-end finding guide to the literature of an academic field or discipline (example: Philosopher's Index), to works of a specific literary form (Biography Index) or published in a specific format (Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature), or to the analyzed contents of a serial publication (New York Times Index). Indexes of this kind are usually issued in monthly or quarterly paperback supplements, cumulated annually. Citations are usually listed by author and subject in separate sections, or in a single alphabetical sequence under a system of authorized headings collectively known as controlled vocabulary, developed over time by the indexing service. Indexing can be either pre-coordinate or post-coordinate. Compare with abstracting service and catalog. See also: author index, classified index, cross-index, geographic index, meta-index, name index, periodical index, subject index, and title index.

The professionally trained indexer reads or scans the text of each document to determine its content, then selects appropriate headings (names, places, subjects) to facilitate retrieval. Cross-references are made from synonyms, and the entries are arranged in the desired sequence (alphabetical, numerical, classified, etc.). In an open-end index, content descriptors are usually selected from a list of preferred terms (controlled vocabulary), developed over time by the indexing service. Indexing can be pre-coordinate or post-coordinate. See also: assignment indexing, automatic indexing, derivative indexing, indexable matter, machine-aided indexing, and string indexing.

Also refers to unpublished works, especially the memoirs or correspondence of a writer who is deceased.

More concretely, all the facts, conclusions, ideas, and creative works of the human intellect and imagination that have been communicated, formally or informally, in any form. In his inaugural address of 1801, Thomas Jefferson listed the "diffusion of information" as one of the fundamental principles of the republican form of government established under the Constitution of the United States. Compare with knowledge. See also: disinformation and misinformation.

IAA's first step was to commission the legal firm Ropes and Gray to draft a white paper to provide the Department of Justice and members of Congress with background on the effects of mergers and concentration in the publishing industry on scholarly communication. An international symposium on antitrust issues in academic publishing was co-sponsored with the American Antitrust Institute (AAI) at the Georgetown University Law School on February 11, 2005 (see Lee Van Orsdel's report in the May 2005 issue of C&RL News). IAA is also building a network of key spokespersons who recognize the essential role of access to information in maintaining the health and welfare of society. IAA members are devoted to finding alternative models of scholarly communication and are promoting efforts to move toward an open access environment. Click here to connect to the IAA homepage.

In a broader sense, the free flow of information and ideas as a public good, as distinct from the for-profit marketing of information as a commodity by the corporate mass media, the publishing industry, and other market-driven enterprises. The advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web has created new opportunities for information exchange in the public interest, but has also posed new problems, for example, equity of access.

It is the job of collection development librarians to anticipate the information needs of a library's clientele, sometimes with the aid of survey research, in order to select materials to meet those needs. Patrons with questions that cannot be answered using the resources of the library may be referred to other information providers in the local community or elsewhere.

See also: anthropomorphic initial, arabesque initial, architectural initial, armorial initial, beatus initial, champie initial, drop initial, faceted initial, figure initial, foliate initial, gymnastic initial, inhabited initial, pen-flourished initial, penwork initial, puzzle initial, raised capital, vine-leaf initial, white-vine initial, zoo-anthropomorphic initial, and zoomorphic initial.

Prior to the late 19th century, printing ink (called carbon ink) was traditionally made from lampblack mixed with a linseed oil base. To create colors, lampblack was replaced with other substances, such as vermilion (mercuric sulfide) to produce red. The quality of printing ink depended on the quality of the oil base, which varied because most printers made their own ink according to recipes handed down from master to apprentice. Although lampblack remains the basic ingredient of black printing ink, the complex formulas used today are the product of chemical technology. The typographer must carefully match choice of ink to grade of paper in planning a print job. See also: indelible ink, inkhorn, permanent ink, and show-through.

In case binding, the strip of heavy paper or card added as a lining between the inner edges of the boards to stiffen the spine when the case is covered in cloth, paper, or some other protective material. See also: backstrip.

Also refers to information appearing in printed form, i.e., in a journal or book, as opposed to information transmitted orally or electronically.

SS - System-supplied - data generated by the cataloging system that cannot be altered by the cataloger

M - Mandatory - data the cataloger must enter to meet the designated standard for a specific encoding level

R - Required if applicable or readily available - must be entered if appropriate under AACR2 and available on the item or from other records

O - Optional - cataloger may decide whether to enter

C - From copy only - data entered from cataloging copy, usually provided by the Library of Congress, National Library of Medicine, etc.

X - Obsolete - not used (older records may contain data elements no longer used)

Also refers to a phrase, sentence, or paragraph added to the text of a publisher's proof and included in the revised or final proof before the work goes to press.

Also refers to a small diagram, map, or illustration printed within the area of a larger illustration, usually enclosed in a border of ruled lines. See also: inset map.

Within 6-8 weeks of the compliance review, a copy of the Inspection Report and recommendations is forwarded to the library director, the documents librarian, and the librarian in charge of the regional depository library, identifying any steps that must be taken to comply with minimum standards set forth in Instructions to Depository Libraries. A library that earns noncompliance ratings in three or more categories is placed on probation for the legally mandated probationary period of six months, and a re-inspection is scheduled at a later date. Click here to learn more about the inspection process. See also: Biennial Survey.

Also, a smaller amount paid at regular intervals, instead of a lump sum payment of the total amount owed.

Interlibrary loan is a form of resource sharing that depends on the maintenance of union catalogs. The largest interlibrary loan network in the world is maintained by OCLC, which uses the WorldCat database as its union catalog. The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) of the American Library Association (ALA) has developed an Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States (2008). Compare with document delivery service and intralibrary loan. See also: Ariel, borrowing library, fill rate, lending library, and reciprocal agreement.

Also, a bible in which a translation is given beneath the lines of the text in the original language (see this example in Greek with English translation).

The ISBN is divided into four parts separated by a space or hyphen: a group identifier one to five digits in length identifying the national, language, geographic, or other area in which the edition is published; a publisher prefix one to seven digits in length uniquely identifying the publisher; a title number one to six digits in length identifying the title, volume, or edition of the work; and a check digit that allows any transcription errors in the preceding sequence to be detected by a computer. For example, in the ISBN 0-8389-0847-0, the 0 at the beginning identifies the United States as the country of publication, the second element (8389) identifies the American Library Association as the publisher, the third element (0847) identifies the 2003 edition of the book Metadata Fundamentals for All Librarians by Priscilla Caplan, and the 0 at the end is the check digit. When a calculated check digit is the number 10, the letter X is used, but in the other parts of the ISBN only the arabic numerals 0-9 are used.

The ten-digit ISBN system had a theoretical numbering capacity of one billion. As ISBNs were assigned in over 150 countries, the rate of depletion accelerated, especially with the proliferation of new publishing formats. To increase numbering capacity, ISO introduced a thirteen-digit ISBN on January 1, 2007, identical to the EAN-13 barcode version of the ten-digit ISBN, which has an added three-digit prefix (978- for books) and a recalculated check digit. In the U.S., a five-digit add-on code is used in the publishing industry for price information, the lead digit identifying currency (5 for the U.S. dollar, 6 for the Canadian dollar, 1 for the British pound, and so on). In the United States, allocation of publisher prefixes and assignment of ISBNs is managed by Bowker. ISBN codes for publishers are listed in the Publishers' International ISBN Directory available from Bowker. Click here to learn more about the ISBN. Compare with International Standard Music Number and International Standard Serial Number. See also: Book Item and Contribution Identifier.

Composed of the letter M followed by nine digits, the ISMN is divided into four parts (two of which are of variable length) separated by the hyphen. In the example M-2306-7118-7, the letter M distinguishes the code from standard numbers used to identify other types of material, the second part (2306) is a unique publisher identifier assigned by an ISMN agency coordinated by the international ISMN Agency in Berlin, the third part (7118) is an item identifier assigned by the publisher, and the fourth part (7) is a computer-generated check digit that allows any errors in the preceding sequence to be detected. Bowker is the independent agent for the ISMN system in the United States. Click here to learn more about the ISMN. See also: International Standard Recording Code.

Broadly speaking, an "internet" is any group of interconnected but logically independent networks. Compare with extranet and intranet.

Also refers to the insertion of a new subject at any point in an existing library classification system. See also: hospitality.

In employment, a formal meeting at which the employer or a search committee meets the candidate by invitation for the first time, providing an opportunity for the two parties to answer questions about the position and the applicant's qualifications. The candidate may also be introduced to the people in the organization with whom he or she would work most closely, and be given the opportunity to meet with a personnel officer to discuss the policies, benefits, etc., associated with the position. See also: exit interview and panel interview.

Also refers to a book written for persons unfamiliar with its subject to provide information at an elementary level, the title often beginning with the words Introduction to... or ending in the subtitle An Introduction.

In magazine publishing, a similar promotional device in which a heavily discounted price is offered to new subscribers, usually for a one- or two-year subscription, after which the subscriber is billed at the normal rate.

In the book trade, the total stock of materials available from a publisher, jobber, or dealer at a particular point in time. In the United States, publishers strive to keep the size of a printing as close as possible to estimated demand to avoid paying inventory tax, a practice that has caused books to go out of print more rapidly than they did before inventories were taxed. See also: out of stock.

Symbols and abbreviations commonly used on publisher's invoices:

BO - back order

C or OC - order canceled

CWO - cash required with order

EX - see explanation or full exchange on returns

NEP or NE - new edition pending

NOP - not our publication

NR - nonreturnable (no returns allowed)

NYP - not yet published

OP - out of print

OPP - out of print at present

OPS - out of print, searching

OS - out of stock

OSC - out of stock, canceled

OSI - out of stock indefinitely

TOP - temporarily out of print

TOS - temporarily out of stock

W - will advise shortly

XR - nonreturnable

Also, all the copies of an edition of a book printed as a unit from the same setting of type as the first impression, with minor variations or revisions such as a redesigned title page, supplemental material added as an appendix, an updated bibliography, or a slightly different format. Also used synonymously with state to refer to the priority of copies within a first edition. Compare with variant. See also: as issued and reissue.

Also refers to all the copies of a newspaper or periodical published on the same date and bearing the same issue number. Purchase of a subscription entitles the subscriber to receive one copy of each successive issue for a prescribed period of time. In libraries, all the issues for the same publication year may be bound in one or more physical volumes, with the bibliographic volume number stamped on the spine(s), to create a back file. See also: back issue, convention issue, current issue, first issue, sample issue, and special issue.

When an article published in a numbered issue of a periodical is cited, the issue number is usually given in the citation following the volume number and a colon or period. In the following example, the article appeared on pages 116-123 in the third issue of volume 9 of the journal Research Strategies, published in the summer of 1991:

Example:

O'Hanlon, Nancy. "Begin at the End: A Model for Research Skills Instruction." Research Strategies 9:3 (Summer 1991), 116-123.