In the Second College Edition of the American Heritage Dictionary the first definition for ‘Jargon’ is “Nonsensical, incoherent, or meaningless talk.” But the third is “The specialized or technical language of a trade, profession or similar group.”

Jargon allows people in the same field to talk in a sort of shorthand, but it also makes it hard for others to understand what is meant.

We hope this list of library words and explanations will make using the library and doing research easier and better.