Library Acronyms

Also see the Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science, from Libraries Unlimited. 

A

AACR 2
Anglo American Cataloging Rules, 2nd ed. Standards for the descriptive cataloging or the physical description of library material.

AALL
American Association of Law Libraries.

AC
Administrative Council. An elected subset of Delegates Assembly (DA) which guides policy decisions for PrairieCat.

AccuConference
A vendor of telephone conference-call services.

ACRL
Association of College and Research Libraries.

ADA
Americans with Disabilities Act. The 1990 federal legislation that requires public buildings to meet accessibility standards.

AEA
Area Education Agency (in the Quad Cities this is the Mississippi Bend AEA ? a regional Iowa educational administrative agency, similar to the ROE in Illinois).

AECT
Association for Educational Communications & Technology.

AJL
Association of Jewish Libraries.

AL
Academic library.

ALA
American Library Association. The national professional organization for library staff and trustees. Units of it include:

• AASL American Association of School Librarians
• ALCTS Association for Library Collections and Technical Services
• ALSC Association for Library Service to Children
• ALTA American Library Trustee Association
• ACRL Association of College and Research Libraries
• ASCLA Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies
• IFRT Intellectual Freedom Round Table
• LAMA Library Administration & Management Association
• LITA Library Information and Technology Association
• PLA Public Library Association
• RUSA Reference and User Services Association
• YALSA Young Adult Library Services Association
  

ALIHSBA
Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award.

ALISE
Association for Library and Information Science Education. For the library and information studies schools.

ALPLM
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

ALS
Alliance Library System. A library system in IL, headquartered in East Peoria. Formed when 4 library systems combined in 1996?Illinois Valley (IVLS at Pekin), Great River Library System (GRLS at Quincy), Cornbelt Library System (CBLS at Bloomington), and Western Illinois (WILS at Galesburg).

ANSI
American National Standards Institute. The national clearinghouse for voluntary standards development in the U.S.

APC
The system's Area and Per Capita Grant.

AquaBrowser
Product used by PrairieCat to search library collections and subscription databases. Serves as the OPAC for PrairieCat.

ARL
Association of Research Libraries.

ARLIS/NA
Art Libraries Society of North America.

ASCD
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

AS
Adult services.

Ask?Away Illinois
Statewide chat/email reference service, run on OCLC's QuestionPoint and staffed by participating libraries. Subsidized by ISL through the end of 2008.

ASIS
American Society for Information Science.

B, C, D

BTLink
Baker and Taylor?s electronic ordering system.

BI-Pub
Bi-State Public Libraries (Quad Cities Directors of Public Libraries).

BI-SAL
Bi-State Academic Libraries (Quad Cities Directors of Academic Libraries).

BPH
Blind and Physically Handicapped (a statewide program of special library services).

CALL
Chicago Association of Law Libraries.

Capwiz
An online tool used to communicate with legislators and to track legislative bills and activities.

CARLI
Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois.

CBC
Children?s Book Council.

CCD
Cooperative collection development.

CCG
Conforms to Copyright Guidelines. Used when requesting periodical articles. The borrowing libraries does not subscribe to the periodical and the publication date of the article requested is within the last 5 years.

CCL
Conforms to Copyright Law. Used when requesting periodical articles. The publication date of the article is either more than 5 years old or the borrowing library subscribes to the periodical.

CCM
Cooperative collection management.

CCS
Cooperative Computer Services. An integrated automation system for public libraries in NSLS.

CE
Continuing education. Currently known as CL (continuous learning).

CIP
Cataloging in publication. A cataloging service provided by LC to publishers who submit manuscripts prior to publication. The cataloging information usually appears on the back of the title page.

CIPA
Children's Internet Protection Act. The law was passed by Congress and signed in 2000. It requires school and public library that receive certain federal technology subsidies to use content filters. The Supreme Court upheld the law on June 23, 2003.

CL
Continuous learning. Formerly known as CE (continuing education).

CLA
Canadian Library Association.

CLeO
Continuous Learning Online. Event registration system used by PALS until fall 2008. Replaced by L2.

CLIBCON
Chiropractic Library Consortium.

CLIR
Council on Library and Information Resources.

CLOUT
Youth services librarians primarily in the PALS Quad Cities area.

CLS
Chicago Library System. A former Illinois library system headquartered in Chicago. Became CMLS (Chicago Multitype Library System), and then merged with SLS (Suburban Library System) to become MLS (Metropolitan Library System).

CLUE
Connecting Libraries Using e-mail.

CMC
Cataloging Maintenance Center. The Illinois State Library has awarded grants to Prairie Area Library System, Lewis and Clark Library System and Lincoln Trail Libraries System to set up three Cataloging Maintenance Centers. They process unresolved cataloging records from the OCLC batchloading process and set holdings on OCLC.

CMLS
Chicago Multitype Library System. The library system that serves the academic, school, and special libraries in Chicago. Existed from July 1, 2003-June 30, 2004. Merged with Suburban Library System to become MLS (Metropolitan Library System) July 1, 2004.

CMS
Central Management Services. The Illinois state agency responsible for videoconferencing, telecommunications, etc. ICN came under their umbrella in FY04.

COD
College of DuPage.

CODSULI
Council of Directors of State University Libraries in Illinois.

COPA
Child Online Protection Act. Passed by Congress in 1998, COPA imposes criminal and civil sanctions on any person who uses the Web to display material that is harmful to minors to anyone under the age of 17. In July 2008, a federal appeals court upheld a lower court's decision that COPA is unconstitutional.

COPPA
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.  Effective in 2000, COPPA places restrictions on the online collection of information from children younger than 13.

COSLA
Chief Officers of State Library Agencies. Organization of state librarians in the U.S.

CPDU
Continuing Professional Development Units - school related.

CPLS
Chicago Public Library System. Became an IL library system on July 1, 2003. Consists strictly of public libraries.

CREW
Continuous Review, Evaluation, and Weeding. A methodology for weeding library collections, developed in Texas.

CUG
Circulation Users Group. A committee of PrairieCat.

DA
Delegates Assembly. The governing body for PrairieCat.

DCCA
Department of Commerce & Community Affairs in IL.

DDC
Dewey Decimal Classification.

DLS
DuPage Library System. One of the IL systems, headquartered in Geneva.

Drupal
Free, open-source website software used for SiteMaker.

E, F, G, H

E & A
Educate and Automate grants which were available to all types of libraries, provided they are members of a regional library system.ÿ The primary focus of the state funded Educate and Automate grant is to purchase equipment based on grant categories. (Currently not offered).

EDI
Electronic dissemination of information.

ELI
Every Library in ILLINET. An online directory of Illinois libraries.

E-rate
Education rate. A federal program available to public and school libraries for discounted telecommunications.

ERIC
Educational Resources Information Center.

E-Rich
An Illinois State Library program which subsidizes or negotiates pricing on the purchase of online research database subscriptions for libraries.

FCC
Federal Communications Commission.

Find-It!
Illinois Web portal to Illinois governmental and library information. Eventually will have the ability to hand off searches to various databases. See also GILS.

FirstSearch
OCLC's online searching reference service for librarians and patrons. Formerly known as EPIC.

FMLA
Family Medical Leave Act.

FOIA
Freedom of Information Act.

FOL
Friends of the Library.

FOLUSA
Friends of Libraries, USA. A national organization for Friends of local libraries.

FTP
File Transfer Protocol (Internet).

FTRF
Freedom to Read Foundation.

FY
Fiscal year.

GILS
Global Information Locator Service or Government Information Locator Service. GILS is an open, low-cost, and scalable standard for searching basic information descriptions. Find-It! Illinois is one implementation of GILS.

GPO
U.S. Government Printing Office.

HECA
Higher Education Cooperation Act. Grant funds administered by the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

HOPPER
Helping Our Providers Promote and Encourage Reading Project - a grant project from the mid 90s that was a partnership between public libraries and daycare providers. Some PALS public libraries still partner using the HOPPER materials.

HSLI
Health Science Librarians of Illinois.

HTLS
Heritage Trail Library System. A former library system in IL, headquartered in Shorewood. Became part of PALS on July 1, 2004.

I

IASL
International Association of School Librarianship.

IBBY
International Board on Books for Young People.

iBistro
Online public access catalog from Sirsi-Dynix, used by PrairieCat. Works with AquaBrowser to manage functions for patrons. Re-named eLibrary in summer 2008.

IBHE
Illinois Board of Higher Education.

ICB
Illinois Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, is a non-profit organization promoting books, book arts, libraries and reading in Illinois.

ICCB
Illinois Community College Board.

ICN
Illinois Century Network is the telecommunications backbone for public and private not-for-profit schools and colleges, libraries, museum, and government agencies.

IDA
Illinois Digital Archives.

IF
Intellectual freedom. It is the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction.

IFLA
International Federation of Library Associations. The international professional organization for librarians.

IGI
Illinois Government Information. A search engine that indexes State of Illinois Web servers.

ILA
Illinois Library Association. The state organization for library staff and trustees.

• GODORT Government Documents Forum.
• IACRL Illinois Association of College and Research Libraries
• I-READ Illinois Reading Enrichment and Development
• LSRF Librarians for Social Responsibility Forum
• LTF Library Trustee Forum
• PLF Public Library Forum
• PPC Public Policy Committee
• RSF Reference Services Forum
• RTSF Resources and Technical Services Forum
• YSF Youth Services Forum
• YASF Young Adult Services Forum

ILA also stands for Iowa Library Association.

ILCSO
Illinois Library Computer Systems Organization.

ILDS
Illinois Library Delivery System, formerly Intersystem Library Delivery System.

ILL
Interlibrary loan. The term used for the process of borrowing materials which the library does not own for its customers.

ILLINET
Illinois Library and Information Network. All members of PALS and the other regional library systems are ILLINET members.

ILS
Integrated library system. A suite of software that usually provides cataloging, circulation, and OPAC services.

ILSDO
Illinois Library System Directors Organization.

ILSPO
Illinois Library System Presidents Organization. Disbanded in 2002.

IMC
See LMC.

IMLS
Institute of Museum & Library Services. The federal department from which funds for libraries are distributed.

INAC
ILLINET Network Advisory Council. An Illinois State Library committee to provide input to the ISL on permanent public access to State of Illinois electronic documents and publications.

IO
ILLINET Online. Former name of the I-Share catalog.

IOUG
Illinois OCLC User?s Group.

IPLAR
Illinois Public Library Annual Report.

IPTIP
Illinois Public Treasurer's Pool. An investment pool located in Springfield available to governmental agencies. Now called Illinois Funds.

IRA
International Reading Association.

I-READ
Illinois Reading Enrichment and Development summer reading program, sponsored by the Illinois Library Association.

IRLBPH
Illinois Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.

ISBE
Illinois State Board of Education.

ISBN
International Standard Book Number that appears in most published materials, is unique to that title, and is frequently required when ordering a book.

ISDN
Integrated Services Digital Network (type of telecommunications connection).

I-Share
Consortial catalog of more than 70 members of CARLI. Formerly called ILLINET Online.

ISHL
Illinois State Historical Library. Predecessor of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library.

ISL
Illinois State Library.

ISLAC
Illinois State Library Advisory Committee.

ISLMA
Illinois School Library Media Association.

ISN
Illinois Satellite Network.

ISO
Information Standards Organization (governs international standards).

ISPL
Institute for School and Public Librarians. Sponsored by the ISL and usually held on the campus of Bradley University of Illinois in Peoria in June.

ISP
Internet service provider.

ISSN
International Standard Serial Number.

ISTE
International Society for Technology in Education.

J, K, L

KIDS
Kishwaukee Intermediate Delivery System. Audio-visual materials co-op housed in the Boone/Winnebago ROE's office.

L2
Library Learning. The statewide continuous learning scheduling tool. Replaced CLeO in fall 2008.

L & L
Live and Learn (a category of grants from the Secretary of State/State Librarian).

LAC
Librarians' Advisory Committee.

LACONI
Library Administrators Conference of Northern Illinois.

LBSS
Library Book Selection Service.

LC
Library of Congress. Also refers to the Library of Congress classification system.

LCCN
Library of Congress Card Number.

LCLS
Lewis and Clark Library System. One of the library systems in IL, headquartered in Edwardsville.

LCSH
Library of Congress Subject Headings.

Library Learning
See L2.

LIMRiCC
Library Insurance Management and Risk Control Combination. An insurance consortium managed by MLS.

LINC
Library Integrated Network Consortium (A group of public libraries in DLS who have a shared automation system).

LITA
Library and Information Technology Association.

LLSAP
Local Library System Automation Program. Regional database coordinated by the Illinois library systems. The PALS LLSAP is called PrairieCat (PC).

LMC
Library Media Center in a school. Also referred to as the School Library Media Center).

LOI
Letter of intent.

LPT
Library Partnership Trust, a foundation formed by NSLS which negotiates and offers discounts on online research databases and related products.

LRC
Library Research Center (University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana). Also: Learning Resource Center in a school.

LTLS
Lincoln Trail Libraries System. One of the library systems in IL, headquartered in Champaign.

LSTA
Library Services and Technology Act. Federal funds for library projects. Formerly the Library Services and Construction Act.

LTA
Library Technical Assistant. A two-year degree offered through area community colleges that provides basic library technical education.

LVIS
Libraries Very Interested in Sharing. A national network of OCLC members that are willing to share resources with other LVIS members at no charge.

M, N

MAGIC
Multitype Automated Group in Consortia. The official LLSAP of DLS.

MAN
Metropolitan Area Network.

MARC
Machine Readable Cataloging. An LC standard for cataloging which enables record sharing through automated/electronic databases..

MeSH
Medical Subject Headings.

MLA
Medical Library Association; Modern Language Association; Music Library Association.

MLNC
Missouri Library Network Corporation. ILLINET member libraries may join to purchase electronic resources at competitive prices.

MLS
Master of Library Science. The graduate degree for librarians; exact name may vary by institution: Master of Library Studies, Master of Library and Information Studies, etc.

MLS
Metropolitan Library System. One of the library systems in IL, headquartered in Chicago and Burr Ridge. Chicago Library System and Suburban Library System merged July 1, 2004 to form MLS

NCATE
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.

NCIP
NISO Circulation Interchange Protocol. A standard for information exchange between circulation and other systems; used by some PrairieCat members for remote patron access to FirstSearch.

NCIPA
Neighborhood Children?s Internet Protection Act. Couples with CIPA, it requires an Internet Safety Policy for libraries that receive e-rate funding.

NCLIS
National Commission on Libraries & Information Science. The commissioners are appointed by the President of the U.S. and serve as an advisory committee on library issues.

NCTE
National Council of Teachers of English.

NCTM
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

NEH
National Endowment for the Humanities. Federally funded agency which provides funds for programming in the humanities.

NIC
Northern Illinois Cooperative. A consortium of 8 libraries in PALS that use a shared ILS.

NIKY
Northern Illinois Kids and Youth.

NILRC
Network of Illinois Resources in Community Colleges.

NILS
Northern Illinois Library System. A former Illinois library system, headquartered in Rockford. Became part of PALS, July 1, 2004.

NISO
National Information Standards Organization. A nonprofit association that develops and promotes technical standards used in a wide variety of information services.

NLM
National Library of Medicine.

NLS
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.

NREN
National Research and Education Network.

NSLS
North Suburban Library System. One of the library systems in IL, headquartered in Wheeling.

O, P, Q

OCLC
Online Computer Library Center, Inc. A nonprofit library computer organization that offers an international database of library holdings through shared cataloging, resource sharing through interlibrary loan, and research databases.

OERI
Office of Educational Research and Improvement.

OIF
Office for Intellectual Freedom (ALA).

OMA
Open Meetings Act.

OPAC
Online Public Access Catalog. A computerized ?card? catalog.

OPAL
Online Programs for All Libraries. A tool to facilitate online training and meetings. Supported by an annual subscription.

OSMOSIS
See TMQ.

PALI
Private Academic Libraries of Illinois.

PALS
Prairie Area Library System. The name of the system created by the merger of HTLS, NILS, and RBLS on July 1, 2004.

PC
PrairieCat. The PALS online consortial catalog or LLSAP.

PL
Public library.

PLD
Public library district.

PLA
Public Library Association.

PLMF
Public Library Management Forum (Illinois Library Association).

Plone
Free, open-source website software used for the PALS website and the PrairieCat secure site.

Polycom
A vendor which PALS uses that makes both videoconferencing and audioconferencing equipment.

PolyTalk
A network of volunteer interpreters who provide services to Illinois libraries over the phone.

POTS
Plain old telephone service (voice lines).

PPC
Public Policy Committee (Illinois Library Association).

P'pedia
See Programapedia.

PR
Public relations.

Programapedia
A wiki product created by an LSTA grant to link libraries to performers and consultants.

QCABC
Quad Cities Area Biomedical Consortium.

R, S

RA
Readers' advisory.

RBLS
River Bend Library System. A former Illinois library system headquartered in Coal Valley. Became part of PALS on July 1, 2004.

RBP
Reciprocal borrowing program. Reciprocal borrowing allows persons to borrow materials directly from ILLINET libraries.

RCYRBA
Rebecca Caudill Young Readers? Book Award. A children?s choice award.

REFORMA
National association to promote library services to Latinos and the Spanish speaking.

Refwiki
A PALS website for libraries to share information about their collection strengths and other resources.

RFI
Request for information.

RFP
Request for proposal.

RIF
Reading is Fundamental, a children?s literacy organization.

RLG
Research Libraries Group.

RLS
Regional library system - e.g., PALS.

ROE
Regional Office of Education.

RPLS
Rolling Prairie Library System. One of the library systems in IL, headquartered in Decatur.

RUG
Reference Users Group of PALS

SAA
Society of American Architects.

SASSY
Storytelling and Sharing Skills for Youth (YS group at PALS).

ScalPALS
Shorewood Center Administrative Librarians of PALS.

ScL
School library.

SHARE
Share Holdings and Resources Easily. A resource-sharing collaboration amoung several ILS consortia in northern Illinois.

ShLS
Shawnee Library System. One of the library systems in IL, headquartered in Carterville.

SIG
Special interest group.

SILC
Statewide Illinois Library Catalog - a database in OCLC of Illinois library holdings. A subset of WorldCat.

SILO
Serials of Illinois Libraries Online (a subset of WorldCat).

SILRC
Southern Illinois Resources Cooperative.

SIP2
Session Initiation Protocol, version 2. A technology standard used by self-checkout and other applications which require information exchange.

Sirsi-Dynix
ILS vendor for PrairieCat.

SiteMaker
A PALS project that allows libraries to easily create and maintain websites.

SL
Special library.

SLA
Special Libraries Association. The national professional organization for library staff working in special libraries such as businesses.

SLD
School & Libraries Division. The administrative unit which presides discounts, known as the e-rate, on telecommunications services for schools and libraries.

SLP
Summer library program.

SLS
Suburban Library System. A former Illinois library system headquartered in Burr Ridge. Merged with the Chicago Library System July 1, 2004 to become the Metropolitan Library System (MLS).

SOS
Secretary of State (State Librarian of Illinois).

SP&D
System Presidents and Directors. A system organization sponsored by the ISL.

SPLMI
Small Public Library Management Institute. Sponsored by the ISL and usually held on the campus of the University of Illinois in Springfield in June.

SPLMF
Small Public Library Management Forum (Illinois Library Association).

SRP
Summer reading program.

SSLI
Society of School Librarians International.

SubCUG
Subcommittee of Circulation Users Group - a PrairieCat committee.

SuDoc
Superintendent of Documents (U.S. Government).

T, U, V

T1
A common type of high-speed Internet connection.

TBC
Talking Book Center.

TLC
The Library Corporation. A database company used primarily for electronic library holdings.

TMQ
The MARC of Quality. A company assisting with OCLC batchloading of Illinois library holdings.

TSUG
Technical Services Users Group. A PrairieCat committee.

ULC
Urban Libraries Council. A professional organization for libraries serving urban areas.

URL
Uniform Resource Locator. A web address.

VC
Videoconference.

VOV
Voices of Vision Talking Book Center is one of the five Illinois sub-regional talking book centers in Illinois that provides materials in large print, audio, etc. Its service area includes the eastern half of PALS.

VTEL
A vendor of videoconference systems.

VR
Virtual reference, a broad term that refers to reference services provided electronically. This includes, but is not limited to, e-mail and online chat.

W, X, Y, Z

WCRS
WorldCat Resource Sharing. The interlibrary loan service available through OCLC's FirstSearch.

WHCLIS
White House Conference on Libraries and Information Science.

Wimba
An OCLC product used by the Illinois State Library and systems for online classes and meetings. Supported by an annual subscription fee.

WJ-IL
WebJunction Illinois.

YA
Young adult.

YALE
Young Adult Librarians? Exchange.

YS
Youth services.

Yugma
A desktop sharing tool that facilitates viewing another computer desktop or to share desktops. Used by PALS for some online meetings.

Z39.50
A technology protocol for information retrieval. Allows different library automation systems to do searches and retrieve information.

Compiled by DuPage Library System, modified by Prairie Area Library System