Internet Glossary

$
$ is the wildcard used in MEDLINE to capture any letters falling before or after the root term (depending on the placement).

Abstract
An abstract is a summary or description of an article.

Archie
A program that allows filename searches on the Internet.

Bulletin Board System (BBS)
An electronic message center generally catering to specific interest. Bulletin boards are a particularly good place to find free or inexpensive software products.

BinHex
An encoding scheme that converts binary data into ASCII characters, particularly valuable for transferring files from one platform to another because nearly all computers can handle ASCII files. Encoded files usually end in '.hqx'.

Blinding
Blinding, sometimes called masking, is a condition in a research study when both the subjects and the researchers do not know which group is getting which treatment.

Bookmarks
A marker or address that identifies a document or a specific place through URLs in web browsers.

Boolean Logic
Operators (words) used to link concepts in online literature searching. The most frequently used operators are AND, OR , NOT.

Browser
Short for Web browser, a software application used to locate and display multimedia Web pages.

Cache
Pronounced cash, a special high-speed storage mechanism in the form of either a reserved section of main memory or an independent high-speed storage device. Two types of caching are commonly used in personal computers: memory caching and disk caching.

CC/BCC
Carbon Copy is used to forward copies of an email message to multiple recipients. Blind Carbon Copy performs the same function, but hides the recipient list from others on the list.

CGI
Abbreviation of Common Gateway Interface, a specification for transferring information between a World Wide Web server and a CGI program thereby allowing dynamic interaction with the user. A CGI program is any program designed to accept and return data that conforms to the CGI specification. The program can be written in any programming language, including C, Perl, or Visual Basic.

Chat
Real-time communication between two users via computer by typing text on the keyboard.

Client
The client part of a client-server architecture is an application that runs on a personal computer or workstation and relies on a server to perform some operations. For example, an e-mail client is an application that enables you to send and receive e-mail.

Comparative Research
Comparative Research is a research study that evaluates the differences between to, or more, different procedures.

Database
Library or collection of information, usually accessible online.

E-mail
Short for electronic mail , the transmission of text (and more recently multimedia) messages over communications networks.

Encryption
The translation of data into a secret code for security purposes. Data may be decrypted using a password or a key.

Evidence Based Medicine
Evidence based medicine is an approach to practicing medicine in which the clinician is aware of the evidence in support of clinical practice and the strength of that clinical evidence.

Explode
Command used to "expand" a topic.

Field
Section of a record in an online database where the same type of information is entered.

FTP
Abbreviation of File Transfer Protocol, the protocol used on the Internet for sending files.

Full-Text
Every word of an original document.

GIF
Pronounced jiff or giff, stands for graphics interchange format. A bit-mapped graphics file format used commonly in computing to compress graphics, GIF supports color and various resolutions.

Gopher
A system that pre-dates the World Wide Web for organizing and displaying files on Internet servers.

HTML
Short for Hypertext Markup Language, the authoring language used to create documents on the World Wide Web.

HTTP
Short for HyperText Transfer Protocol, the underlying protocol used by the World Wide Web. HTTP defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and what actions Web servers and browsers should take in response to various commands.

Hypertext
A special type of database system in which objects (text, pictures, music, programs, and so on) can be creatively linked to each other.

Hypermedia
An extension to hypertext that supports linking graphics, sound, and video elements in addition to text elements.

Interface
An interface is what the user sees as the method for providing input to the computer and getting back requested data.

Internet
A global network connecting millions of computers.

Java
A high-level programming language developed by Sun Microsystems. Java is an object-oriented language similar to C++, but simplified to eliminate language features that cause common programming errors.

JavaScript
A scripting language developed by Netscape to enable Web authors to design interactive sites. Although it shares many of the features and structures of the full Java language, it was developed independently. Javascript can interact with HTML source code, enabling Web authors to spice up their sites with dynamic content.

JPEG
Short for Joint Photographic Experts Group, and pronounced jay-peg. JPEG is a lossy compression technique for color images. Although it can reduce files sizes to about 5% of their normal size, some detail is lost in the compression.

Limits
Used in online database searching to rduce the number of retrieved records based on some specified constraint, such as gender, age or time of article.

LISTSERV
An automatic mailing list server. When e-mail is addressed to a LISTSERV mailing list, it is automatically broadcast to everyone on the list. The result is similar to a newsgroup or forum, except that the messages are transmitted as e-mail and are therefore available only to individuals on the list.

Lynx
A text based web browser, not capable of viewing any multimedia content.

Mapping
Feature used to link words or concepts.

Masking
Masking, sometimes called blinding, is a condition in a research study when both the subjects and the researchers do not know which group is getting which treatment.

MEDLINE

MeSH
MeSH, Medical Subject Headings, is a hierarchical controlled vocabulary developed by the US National Library of Medicine.

Newsgroup
An on-line discussion group on the Internet covering every conceivable interest. To view and post messages to a newsgroup, you need a news reader, a program that runs on your computer and connects you to a news server on the Internet.

OVID
Vendor and interface developer for online information systems.

Peer-Reviewed
Peer-reviewed, also known as refereed, indicates that the article(s) have been read by a group of editors and/or colleagues and found to be worthy of publication.

Pretty Good Privacy
A technique for encrypting messages developed by Philip Zimmerman. PGP is one of the most common ways to protect messages on the Internet because it is effective, easy to use, and free.

Plug-in
A hardware or software module that adds a specific feature or service to a larger system. For example, there are number of plug-ins for the Netscape Navigator browser that enable it to display different types of audio or video messages.

Randomized Control Trials
Randomized Control Trials is a type of research study in which subjects are randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group.

Scope Note
A definition or meaning assigned by US National Library of Medicine to each of the Medical Subject Headings, includes indication of the first use of the terminology in MEDLINE.

Security
Techniques used to ensure that data stored in a computer can not be read or compromised without proper authorization.

Server
A computer or device on a network that manages network resources. For example, a file server is a computer and storage device dedicated to storing files. Any user on the network can store files on the server.

Servers are often dedicated, meaning that they perform no other tasks besides their server tasks. On multiprocessing operating systems, however, a single computer can execute several programs at once. A server in this case could refer to the program that is managing resources rather than the entire computer.

Subheadings
Subheadings are used in indexing, cataloguing, and online searching to further specify MeSH headings by describing an aspect of the concept expressed by the subject heading.

Subject headings
Controlled vocabularies used in online searching, such as Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).

Telephony
The term is used frequently to refer to computer hardware and software that performs functions traditionally performed by telephone equipment. For example, telephony software can combine with your modem to turn your computer into a sophisticated answering service.

Telnet
A terminal emulation program for TCP/IP networks such as the Internet allowing access/control to remote servers. Telnet is the most common way to remotely control Web servers.

Textword
May refer to any word appearing in a record of an online system, but frequently refers to words from the title and abstract of an article.

Tree Display
An outline or hierarchical listing of terminology.

URL
Abbreviation of Uniform Resource Locator, the global address of documents and other resources on the World Wide Web.

UseNet
A worldwide bulletin board system that can be accessed through the Internet or through many online services. The USENET contains more than 15,000 thousand forums, called newsgroups, that cover every imaginable interest group.

Video-conferencing
Conducting a conference between two or more participants at different sites by using computer networks to transmit audio and video data.

Wildcard
A wildcard is a special character ($ in MEDLINE) used to tell the program to include all character/string combination appearing before or after it (depending on the placement).

World Wide Web
A system of Internet servers that support specially formatted documents. The documents are formatted in a language called HTML (HyperText Markup Language) that supports links to other documents, as well as graphics, audio, and video files.