Volunteers @ the Library: L and M

LISTSERV - An e-mail discussion forum which allows participants to subscribe and automatically receive messages posted to the list by other subscribers. Participants may also post their own messages and replies which are automatically disseminated to the other subscribers to the list. "LISTSERV" is actually a brand of software that runs e-mail discussion groups. The preferred term for an e-mail discussion group is mail-list.

LLAMA - Library Leadership & Management Association of the American Library Association.

LAN - Local area network. A local area network links computers and other devices within a library. A LAN enables all users on the network to communicate and to share resources such as computer files and printers.

LC- Library of Congress. The unofficial national library of the U.S. which serves Congress and provides many services to all types of libraries.

LIBRARIAN - A person responsible for the care of a library and its contents, including the selection, organization, and processing of materials, and the delivery of information, instruction, and loan services to meet the needs of its users.

LIBRARY NETWORK – Also referred to as the Statewide Library Network.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS - The library in Washington, D.C. which serves the U.S. Congress and other libraries. LC does cataloging while books are in the publication process so that cataloging information can be available as soon as the book is purchased by libraries.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CLASSIFICATION - A subject classification system for books devised by the LC that divides knowledge into 21 subject areas and has a notation of letters and figures that allows for expansion. It is used mostly in academic and special libraries.

LSTA - Library Services and Technology Act. Authorizes federal aid for libraries and is administered by the West Virginia Library Commission.

LTN – Library Television Network. A department of the West Virginia Library Commission that produces programming, public service announcements, and other materials to assist in informing and educating citizens on public libraries and state government.

MAILLIST - An e-mail discussion forum which allows participants to subscribe and automatically receive messages posted to the list by other subscribers. Participants may also post their own messages and replies which are automatically disseminated to the other subscribers to the list.

MAIN ENTRY - The basic catalog entry for a document, usually the author entry, giving all the information necessary for the complete identification of the item.

MARC - MAchine Readable Cataloging. Originally developed by the Library of Congress, MARC is an international standard digital format for bibliographic information that allows one particular type of machine, a computer, to read and manipulate the information. MARC records are the basis for automated catalogs.

MEDIA - A generic term for non-print materials such as slides, video recordings, audio compact discs, audiotapes, DVDs, CDs, machine-readable data files, and computer software. Synonymous with audio-visual.

MICROFILM - A continuous roll of photographic film, used to store of miniaturized text which can be magnified and copied only with the aid of a reader-printer machine. In some libraries, back files of periodicals are routinely converted to microfilm to save space.

MICROFICHE - A card-shaped sheet of photographic film, usually 4x6 or 3x5 inches in size, used to store miniaturized text in a grid pattern which can be magnified and copied only with the aid of a microform reader-printer machine.

MICROFORM - A generic term for any medium which contains miniaturized records, such as microfilm or microfiche.

MLA - Medical Library Association.

MLS-Master's degree in Library Science. The graduate degree for a professional librarian.

MONOGRAPH - 1) A separate treatise on one subject or person, usually detailed in treatment, but not extensive in scope, and often containing bibliographies. Frequently published in a series. 2) In cataloging, any publication that is not a serial.

MULTITYPE LIBRARY SYSTEM - A cooperative system in which two or more types of libraries—academic, public, special, school—participate. See also consortia/consortium.